Reviewed by Evan, MAP, 8th Grade, May 2008
Eleven-year-old Joe Hanada likes basketball with his best friend, Ray, and thinking about the upcoming Christmas holiday. But then the Japanese bomb Pearl Harbor. His country goes to war. The FBI takes his father away. Neighbors and friends in his hometown near Seattle Washington begin to suspect Joe, his family, and all Japanese Americans are spying for the enemy. When the government orders people of Japanese heritage living on the West Coast to move to internment camps, Joe turns to his journal to record his thoughts and feelings. Writing journal entries and haiku poetry offers some relief as Joe struggles to endure life in the Tule Lake War Relocation Camp. The days are filled with boredom, concern for his father, and worry for his brother, who joins the American army to prove the bravery and loyalty of Japanese American citizens.
I have really enjoyed this book. I think the author’s purpose for writing this book is to show the harm racism could cause and how the victims learn how to live their lives. I would recommend this book to any middle schooler or anyone interested in the historical fiction genre or anyone who wants to know what life was like in the internment camps during World War Two.
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