- It's not until she's talking to her friend Penny Barker that Naomi acknowledges that her father is dead. The words don't sound right in her mouth. This happens after they move out of the hut.
- In 1951 the family moves from the hut into a house in the town. There is no water, and no bathroom, but at least it's a house and way bigger than the hut they used to live in. Now that they live in town, Stephen practices music even more than before. He's also getting popular with the ladies.
- When Penny comes over to their new house, Naomi shows her the picture with the whole family celebrating Stephen's birth. She points to her father, but Penny says that doesn't look like her father. That's when Naomi tells her that her father is dead. That's also when Naomi gets a terrible stomachache.
- No one knows what happened to Naomi's mom and Grandma Kato. Nakayama-sensei was the first Japanese Canadian to visit Japan after the war, but he couldn't find out anything. The family just assumes that they are dead.
- Even though everyone else has accepted that they are dead, Naomi still imagines that they live somewhere. They just have memory loss. Of course, she doesn't tell this to anyone.
- Or at least people say they don't know. There are two strange letters in Aunt Emily's parcel. They seem to imply that she was in touch with Naomi's mom. What's up with that?