“We will make it a village.”Ī powerful and unforgettable story of loss, hope and the resilience of the human spirit, Lois Sepahban’s 2016 middle grade debut proves that there is no age limit on an exceptional story. “The soldiers say it will be a village,” Father says. The buses will drive us to our destination.Īs we get closer, I see bits and pieces through my window. We step off the train and board the waiting buses. In the days, weeks, and months that follow she and her family will be forced to navigate an increasingly difficult and uncertain reality in confinement as Manami continues to search for Yujiin, as well as her voice. Forced to reduce their lives to what can be packed within the confines of a single suitcase, Manami is left with no choice but to leave Yujiin behind in a heart-wrenching separation that renders her mute. Nothing upsets her more, however, than the prospect of saying goodbye to her loyal and beloved dog, Yujiin.
When Manami and her family are informed that they must relocate to an interment camp for American residents of Japanese ancestry in the stark and arid desert landscape of the Sierra Nevada, Manami is understandably confused and unsettled at the idea of leaving behind the only home she has ever known. “The rest of me is American.”įrom the mysterious posters – “Evacuate!” – to her family’s stolen glances and whispered secrets, Ten-year-old Manami Tanaka is beginning to suspect that something is very wrong in the quaint, seaside community of Bainbridge Island, Washington. “But only my face and my name are Japanese,” I say. They think: Maybe these people with Japanese faces and Japanese names will betray us,” Grandfather says. “When the soldiers see you, they are scared, too,” Grandfather says. “When I see the soldiers, I am scared,” I say. It isn’t until she finds a way to let go of her guilt that Manami can accept all that has happened to her family. She is devastated but clings to the hope that somehow Yujiin will find his way to the camp and make her family whole again. Manami decides to sneak Yujiin under her coat, but she is caught and forced to abandon him.
Manami is sad to go, but even worse is that they are going to have to give her dog, Yujiin, to a neighbor to take care of. It’s 1942, after the attack on Pearl Harbor, and Manami and her family are Japanese American, which means that the government says they must leave their home by the sea and join other Japanese Americans at a prison camp in the desert. Ten-year-old Manami did not realize how peaceful her family’s life on Bainbridge Island was until the day it all changed. ChaptersĪ moving debut novel about a girl whose family is relocated to a Japanese internment camp during World War II – and the dog she has to leave behind.Source & Format Received an advance reader copy from the author for review (Thanks, Lois!), Paperbackįind It On Goodreads Published January 5th, 2016 by Farrar, Straus and Giroux (BYR)
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