“The very last photo is of me. It’s colorful and rich. I’m barely smiling but my eyes are content. My ears still poke through my hair, and my nose still seems too wide for my face, but I don’t see the ugly version of myself I normally do. I see what Jamie wanted me to see” (Bowman 139). Kiko is a half-Japanese American living with her divorced mom. Ever since what happened with her uncle, she’s blamed herself for her parents’ separation. However, when she reunites her childhood friend, Jamie, at a party everything changes for her. In Starfish, Akemi Dawn Bowman expresses Kiko’s challenges such as conflicts in her childhood and personal problems, further establishing Kiko’s character development as she overcomes them.

Extremely shy and socially awkward, Kiko has a difficult time to display her confidence. During a house party, Kiko couldn’t interact with anyone except her friend, “I’m floundering. All I can think about is Emery coming back so I can have someone to hide behind… I want to leave. I don’t belong here. But I can’t go home-” (Bowman 28).  Further into the novel, she’s invited to Rei’s party. She hesitates to join, yet joins for Jamie, “I make a decision. I’m going to do something for Jamie. I’m going to be the one giving something up for him” (Bowman 238). This scene highlights that Kiko has grown in development by giving to others. Although she felt uncomfortable, Kiko tried her best to enjoy the party. Another scene in the book is when Kiko refuses to tell anyone but her mom about the incident with Uncle Max. With her trust in Jamie, Kiko explained to him the upsetting truth about Uncle Max, “...that I tell the story about my uncle. I tell him everything” (Bowman 291). Whenever Jamie asked about Uncle Max, Kiko typically dodged his questions. Since the beginning, Kiko never had enough courage to stand up for herself. Slowly as the novel advances, Kiko evolves from the feeble girl she was, into a person she respects.

Due to childhood experiences, Kiko had always thought she wasn’t exceptional because of her race. Henry Hawkins, Kiko’s old “crush”, made his friend reject Kiko for him, “I guess Henry was embarrassed too, because he made his friend Anthony pull me aside to tell me that Henry wasn’t interested in girls who looked like me… For years I’ve watched him hold hands with girls who didn’t look anything like me… But they all had one thing in common: None of them were Asian” (Bowman 10). That wasn’t the only time she was degraded for her appearance, her mom constantly insults her, “And then I think of Mom. I think of her going through my yearbook, inadvertently reminding me how I’ll never  be as pretty as the other girls at school, how pretty she was when she was my age, how I’ll never be as pretty as her” (Bowman 13). All the humiliating words thrown at Kiko promotes her self-hate and reduces her confidence. Nevertheless, when Jamie came along Kiko started to think differently. At the carnival Jamie took a photo of Kiko, she stared at it and thought of how horrendous she looked. Despite that, when Kiko focuses at the photo again, she realizes that no matter how imperfect, she wasn’t ugly, “I see what Jamie wanted to capture. I see what he wanted me to see. And it’s not terrible” (Bowman 139). In Chinatown, Kiko saw numerous people like her, and once exploring around Chinatown she slowly discovers more about her culture and learns to cherish it. As Kiko realizes her Asian features don’t limit her, she views no ugly in herself.

Constantly in the novel, Kiko always has an urge to say something, but never says it. Until she couldn’t take it anymore from Mom’s erratic behavior, “Nobody took advantage of you, nobody molested you, and you don’t have any repressed memory of your childhood. I was the child that was hurt, not you… Why are you trying to diminish the horrible thing that happened to me and make it about you?” (Bowman 329). Those words escaped Kiko’s mouth, and told Mom exactly what she wanted to say. Out of all the times Kiko desired to say something, she didn’t, only at the end of the novel, she was able to do so. This moment represents Kiko, finally emerging out of her shell, at least to her mom.

Each step Kiko overcomes, her character progresses into a stronger person. Her confidence, self-love, and the thoughts she itched to say has improved immensely. Kiko builds herself up along with the support from Jamie. Overall, Kiko had a huge change in character development.