GO by Holly Uyemoto (Plume/Penguin: $10.95;...

GO by Holly Uyemoto (Plume/Penguin: $10.95; 200 pp.). Wilhemina, the narrator of this ambitious first novel, is recovering from a romantic breakup that led to a psychological breakdown. Unlike her vapidly pretty cousins, she’s unable to meet the expectations of her Japanese American family. As she struggles to rebuild her identity, she discovers the pain hidden behind their masks of stoic propriety: Anger at the injustice of the World War II relocation camps, alcoholism and unresolved grief from a young cousin’s accidental death emerge like hills after a retreating glacier. Watching her distant mother, Wilhemina reflects: “ ‘Perfect’ is the most punitive word in the English language. Hell doesn’t even come close. My mother is shackled by her obligation to perfection like a woman in chains of iron.”