Water Moon

Hana Ishikawa is the new owner of a pawn shop in Tokyo. She wakes up on the first day of work to find the shop ransacked, and the most precious item stolen, and her father missing.

A handsome stranger arrives offering his assistance. Together, they travel to a mystical world where there are rain puddles, animated paper cranes that offer rides to travelers, and a dreamworld that exists between the midnight and morning hours, and a night market that only exists in the clouds.

The author Samantha Sotto Yambao lives in Manila in the Philippines. She is the author of six novels with the latest, The Elsewhere Express released this week on Tuesday, January 20th.

The new novel also has a dreamlike quality from the design of the book, to the contents. It follows Raya who once aspired to be a musician. The death of her brother changed that. She put aside that dream.

One day while on the subway, her mind wonders, and she meets the handsome Q, also a lost soul with a wish to become an artist. They begin to travel together in a magical world where a train car has a meadow and lily pond. Another car has jellyfish and a whale swimming through pink clouds.

Originally Published on January 22, 2026