Uprooted: The Japanese American Experience During World War II by Albert Marrin

When I finished this I wanted to turn around and reread it again. I really liked author Albert Marrin's turn of phrases and found myself wanting to write them down. I read it on the elliptical machine and writing notes wasn't in my wheels - I'm not that skilled at multi-tasking. The overall message is that racism exists all over the world and that people need to learn from the past or they will repeat it. The framework of the book begins with racist views promoted by the Japanese during World War II in Japan, a bit of China, Germany, and last America. The views in America and the questionable decisions by leaders to incarcerate Japanese Americans without due process during WWII is brought to light. Marrin puts the issues in historical context and shows how the actions by leaders and the justice system as well as the use of media influenced and later changed the public's mind to overturn the unjust laws infringing on civil rights. He points out leaders that had racist views and shows how it mirrored the national or global dialogue at the time. He argues that racism harms countries and the civilians leading to poor decisions and harmful consequences. A well-written and thoughtful book that I highly recommend.

5 Smileys

Paper Wishes by Lois Sepahban

The personal anguish of being uprooted and sent to a prison-like internment camp are captured in the character of a young Japanese girl in Lois Sepahban's debut novel. Manami is forced from her home in Bainbridge Island, Washington with other Japanese during World War II. She has no idea what is going on when they leave and sneaks her dog with her under her coat. When soldiers force her to abandon the dog and she arrives at the internment camp, she is traumatized by the event and becomes mute losing her dog, her voice, and her home.

The author targets young readers and simplifies the story focusing on Manami and her internal turmoil. The subplots regarding the forbidden romance between two teachers, the riot at the camp, and residents and not developed or elaborated much. Manami doesn't know why she is at the camp and seems oblivious to the war which didn't ring true. The author shows that Manami's parents don't tell her anything, but wouldn't she hear about it at school? As a 10-year-old she would at least know about the Pearl Harbor attack by the Japanese. She arrives at the camp as an incredibly clueless person. The short choppy sentences reflect a younger person and also one that is from a bilingual home, although this is never stated in the story. I found the story somewhat slow with little character development, but I think students will like the thrust of a girl's grief over losing her pet and home.

3 Smileys

Echo by Pam Muñoz Ryan

Fairy tales, magic, suffering, and music in four parts that swirl together at the end like an imaginary symphony. I am always swept up in Pam Munoz Ryan's stories. Her musical way with words and terrific character developments are full of tension and emotion hitting the right chords with me. The author takes risks with this story creating a complex blend of fairy tale and historical genre. Her ending tells and doesn't show. This removes the climax and results in sections ending on cliffhangers. However, the characters are not left dangling and they do have emotional resolutions. This is not the norm for narrative fiction so some might not like the style. I did. More importantly the story reminded me that in dark times there is beauty whether it is in music or reading or spending time with loved ones.

The story is framed by a fairy tale that sets the tone for a magical instrument that makes it way through the real lives of Friedrich, Mike, and Ivy. The instrument symbolizes hope, for when the current owner plays it, he or she feels strong and optimistic about the future regardless of his or her bad circumstances. The beauty of literature is that readers can make connections between the plot and their lives; thus finding meanings that help in the pursuit of understanding life. I happened to be reading this when my mom died and was comforted by the symbolism of music in this story. Music in the fairy tale prologue helped the sisters in the drudgery of their lives. When the witch cursed them, their souls were tied to a woodwind instrument or a harmonica. It is not a flashy instrument and is often overlooked or considered inferior. This rich symbolism and imagery can be applied to humans too. My mom preferred to not be in the limelight and I kept thinking she was like a harmonica in our family.

In the fairy tale, the three sisters want to go home but the jealous witch wants them for herself and curses them. They can only leave if they save a soul from "death's dark door." Their story, read aloud by the character, Otto, was unfinished and they had the choice of how to write their own ending. Their future was not determined by Fate. However, their fate did rely on a messenger bringing them out of the woods and them helping someone on the brink of death. This is the setup for the next three parts where the harmonica travels through different peoples lives and saves them. The parts end on a cliffhanger and there is no climax. Instead the author ties the stories together in an unusual way using leitmotifs found in the beginning prophecy.

Strong themes on death, tolerance, and loyalties fill the pages. Death can manifest in physical, mental, and spiritual ways for people. Friedrich lives in Germany as the Nazi's come to power and changes are made in his community that marginalize Jews, outspoken citizens, disabled people, or anyone outside the norm established by the Reich. Twelve-year-old Friedrich has a large birthmark on his cheek and likes to swing his hands in the air conducting an imaginary symphony. He is bullied at school to the point where his arm is broken. His father is an honest, good man that does not like the changes in his country where friends turn against friends and neighbors turn against neighbors out of fear. He does not have much self-preservation nor foresight for he suffers a bit from denial. He cannot believe how people will only look at the outward appearances rather than internal character in each other. When his daughter joins the Nazi Youth he is crushed and afraid for the first time. But nothing is as it seems and the author catches the complexity of humans and how people get trapped by the promises of a government that become more and more extreme in its persecution. Again, music rises above all prejudices and draws no lines in the sand. The end of the story refers to the fairy tale in the beginning by making Friedrich the new messenger (versus Otto) who must save a soul.

The second part involves eleven-year-old, Mike, and his seven-year-old brother, Frankie that live in an orphanage. Mike is a gifted pianist. When Mrs. Sturbridge takes the two boys in, Mike and Frankie have gone from poor to wealthy. It seems too good to be true and sure enough Mike discovers Mrs. Sturbridge only wants to keep Frankie. He makes a deal with her that he will leave by earning an internship with a harmonica band. In a subplot the boys are mistreated at a department store because they are dressed shabby. Again, people are wrongly accused based on appearances and not what is inside of them. In part one entire races are deemed worthless based on what is on the outside; whereas, here appearances and intolerance are examined on an individual basis.

There is foreshadowing that a soul needs to be saved from death. This is one leitmotif that is carried from the fairy tale beginning. The prophecy in the prologue talks about fate not sealed, stars shining in the darkest night, and bells chiming to signal a path for a person to choose. Before the reader knows Mike's fate he thinks, "Above him, the dark, gnarled branches of the elm reached toward the heavens like a witch's crooked fingers. And yet, even in this strange limbo, Mike saw stars above him, tiny dots of light bobbing in and out from behind the fluttering leaves." And added to that "...the wind blew a chord through the harmonic clutched in his hand." The prophecy contains leitmotifs (death, stars, bells, messengers) and recurring themes that can be found throughout the entire book connecting the stories. This original and unique plot layout was interesting for me, but I can see others that might not like it. I'll be curious what the students think at my school.

Part three covers Ivy, a flute prodigy, and first generation Mexican-American living in the 1940s. She plays in a harmonica band at school before having to move. Her father got a job watching the Japanese-American Yamamoto's family farm who was forced to move to a U.S. internment camp. Ivy must adjust to losing a friend and being forced to go to an inferior school in Orange County, Los Angeles. Her father fights the discriminatory laws that affect his daughter's education but change is slow. Meanwhile, Ivy makes friends with a white girl but they must meet in secret because the girl's father will disapprove. He has been buying up local farms owned by Japanese families forced to sell by the U.S. government and has his eye on the Yamamoto's farm. He has lost his sons in the war and is full of anger and grief. Again, music is woven into the story with parents that don't appreciate Ivy's talent and a Japanese farming family that loves music. Again, appearances are not everything and I was reminded of Jacob Grimm's "The Bremen Town Musicians."

"Echo" shows how bleak the world was for the characters during this time in history, and how music lifted them up to a beautiful place. The music also showed not only the physical but the emotional state of the characters and how it helped them understand what was going on around them and inside of themselves. Reading stories is like that too. The inner state of the reader can be illuminated by the plot or character development. At least for me and I found an emotional resonance in Munoz's words. You'll have to see what chord it plays inside you.

5 Smileys

Denied, Detained, Deported: Stories from the Dark Side of American Immigration by Ann Bausum

Immigration policies have not always represented the ideals of freedom and this nonfiction text shows the cycle of prejudice, fears, and exploitation that have been directed at marginalized immigrants in American history. The text is only an introduction and focuses on major immigration policies and attitudes that affected Chinese, Russians, Jewish, Japanese, and Mexican immigrants negatively. Grade 5 students study immigration and this is a good text for research and a look at laws that have not reflected the rights guaranteed in the Constitution. The author's message is to learn from the past and stop the cycle of exclusion and exploitation that is directed at those looking for freedom and a better life.

The primary resources and photos enhance the text and the timeline, resource guide, and bibliography help the reader continue research using other sources. While the Russian, Jewish, and Japanese section follows particular families or people and their struggles with anti-immigration laws, the Chinese and Mexican sections are more factual and not as interesting. The personal touch adds some emotion to the fates and shows how difficult it was for them to overcome the injustices inflicted by the government. I thought that African Americans and Native Americans might get a section of their own or be added with some of the other laws that affected them as well, but they follow the laws moreso than ethnic groups. Arab Americans are briefly mentioned and the current immigration mess with Mexico is not covered at all as the book is five years old and written before the influx of thousands of Mexican children illegally crossing the border.

This morning the paper had information on a migrant crisis in Indonesia where hundreds of Rohingya and Bangladeshi are fleeing their countries from religious persecution. The Syrian Civil War has displaced millions of people. Immigration is a global problem and not just unique to the United States. The arguments are similar with people from the existing countries feeling threatened by loss of jobs, food shortages, and other economic factors. Racism and national security are tied up in the conflict as well. This book doesn't give the cons to immigration for the most part. It recognizes it in the Introduction, but doesn't support it throughout the text. The main focus is for immigration as a right to freedom in the constitution and a study of immigration policies that are short-sighted and cruel versus humane.

This text could be coupled with picture and fiction books to enhance the message of laws that are unjust. The book, "Separate Is Never Equal: Sylvia Mendez & Her Family’s Fight for Desegregation," by Duncan Tonatiuh shows how a Mexican family used the courts to get unjust immigration laws changed. The fiction chapter book, "Esperanza Rising," by Pam Munoz Ryan, shows the difficulties and poverty that migrant works experience in the U.S. "Barbed Wire Baseball," by Marissa Moss, shows the Japanese community building a baseball stadium at a internment camp to give them hope during a grim time. The fiction book, "A Diamond in the Desert," by Kathryn Fitzmaurice describes life in a Japanese internment camp. "The Harmonica," by Tony Johnston is a picture book on the Holocaust. The fiction book, "Number the Stars," is one of many Holocaust fiction books. Patricia Polacco is my go-to author for Russian culture in picture books. A fiction book is "Breaking Stalin's Nose," by Eugene Yelchin on Communist Russia. Further information on the Russian revolution is in the excellent book, "The Romanov Family," by Candace Fleming. Chinese picture book, "Coolies," covers the migration during the 1800s and a fiction book on it is "The Iron Dragon Never Sleeps," by Stephen Krensky.

4 Smileys

A Diamond in the Desert by Kathryn Fitzmaurice

Twelve-year-old Tetsu's life in California is uprooted when the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor and he is forced to relocate to Gila River camp in Arizona. His father is sent to North Dakota because the government suspects him of being a spy. Tetsu's father is incarcerated with no due process for years while Tetsu, his mom, and young sister, Kimi, go to the internment camp. Tetsu was a ball player and he meets others players at the camp. When a baseball team is formed, he finds some happiness until a disaster befalls his sister. I love the story of a Japanese man that built a baseball field in an internment camp during World War II and while it is not the focal point it is worked into the storyline. It's such a wonderful example of the human spirit rising above injustices and bad circumstances to bring hope to others. While the details and plot are well done, the characters are not particularly memorable; however, this is a story worth telling and noting.

The plot is solid and looks into the unique friendships formed under harsh conditions. Tetsu is at first bullied by a boy who later makes peace with him when he saves him from drowning. Another boy, Horse, is a large boy that never talks. He has been traumatized by an event and Tetsu is determined to find out why he won't speak. Horse is loyal and kind, connecting with Tetsu's younger sister who seems to intuitively understand his pain. The historical details are interesting and the camp loosely run. The guards are Japanese and sympathetic toward the inmates, turning a blind eye as kids repeatedly sneak out of the fenced-in camp. Violent dust storms seep into one room homes and desert animals become pets to lonely children. Some detainees built ponds by their homes and put fish in them. The bathrooms are communal and life is difficult with long slow days. Building a baseball stadium gave purpose to many of the people's lives and relieved their boredom by providing entertainment.

The characters fell short for me with the exception of Kimi. I liked her spunk and wisdom presented in the simplicity of a child. I really wanted more of the culture represented in the book. It doesn't capture the Japanese customs much and complexity of the culture. The Japanese forced into the camps were first and second generation Japanese, so I would have expected more customs and language prevalent at the camp. When Tetsu built the pond, I was expecting some elaboration on the importance of the garden in architecture and religion. The baseball was somewhat glossed over and could have revealed the emotional relief and joy brought to the internment camp. The chapters are extremely short and while this makes it accessible to the reluctant reader, it makes for less depth and texture.

Like I mentioned before, most of the Japanese put in internment camps were American citizens and second-generation. In 1980, the Japanese American Citizens League put pressure on the government to redress the wrongs done to them during this period. The result was Reagan signing the "Civil Liberties Act" in 1988 that apologized on the behalf of the U.S. government for the wrongful internment and awarded $20,000 dollars to camp survivors. While the past cannot be undone at least this is a move in the right direction toward healing a wrong.

3 Smileys