No-No Boy By John Okada

Reviewed by Sampson McSimpson

No-No Boy is the story of a Japanese American man named Ichiro who has just gotten out of prison for not fighting in World War 2. All Japanese American men were asked two questions, if they would fight in the war and if they were willing to sever allegiance with the Emperor of Japan. Those who answered no to both questions were known as no-no boys. Ichiro deals with a fiercely pro-Japanese mother who was in favor of his choice to go to jail instead of fighting. Because of his past decisions his friends and family view Ichiro as neither Japanese nor American.
I, the distinguished reader, thought that this was a good book. It wasn’t the most interesting at some times but it pulled you through those parts quickly and brought you something good. If I ever recommended books to people I would probably recommend this to older readers. It deals with lots of racism and has some language that people might consider inappropriate. Over all it was a great book and I enjoyed it a lot.