It's 1941 and ten-year-old Norman Mineta is a carefree fourth grader
in San Jose, California, who loves baseball, hot dogs, and Cub Scouts.
But when Japanese forces attack Pearl Harbor, Norm's world is turned
upside down.
Corecipient of The Flora Stieglitz Straus Award
A Horn Book Best Book of the Year
One by one, things that he and his Japanese American family took for
granted are taken away. In a matter of months they, along with everyone
else of Japanese ancestry living on the West Coast, are forced by the
government to move to internment camps, leaving everything they have
known behind.
At the Heart Mountain internment camp in Wyoming, Norm and his family
live in one room in a tar paper barracks with no running water. There
are lines for the communal bathroom, lines for the mess hall, and they
live behind barbed wire and under the scrutiny of armed guards in
watchtowers.
Meticulously researched and informed by extensive interviews with Mineta
himself, Enemy Child sheds light on a little-known subject of American
history. Andrea Warren covers the history of early Asian immigration to
the United States and provides historical context on the U.S.
government's decision to imprison Japanese Americans alongside a deeply
personal account of the sobering effects of that policy.
Warren takes readers from sunny California to an isolated wartime prison
camp and finally to the halls of Congress to tell the true story of a
boy who rose from enemy child to a distinguished American statesman.
Mineta was the first Asian mayor of a major city (San Jose) and was
elected ten times to serve in the U.S. House of Representatives, where
he worked tirelessly to pass legislation, including the Civil Liberties
Act of 1988. He also served as Secretary of Commerce and Secretary of
Transportation. He has had requests by other authors to write his
biography, but this is the first time he has said yes because he wanted
young readers to know the story of America's internment camps.
Enemy Child includes more than ninety photos, many provided by Norm
himself, chronicling his family history and his life. Extensive
backmatter includes an Afterword, bibliography, research notes, and
multimedia recommendations for further information on this important
topic.
A California Reading Association Eureka! Nonfiction Gold Award
Winner
Winner of the Society of Midland Authors Award's Children's Reading
Round Table Award for Children's Nonfiction A Capitol Choices
Noteworthy Title
A Junior Library Guild Selection
A School Library Journal Best Book of the Year
A Bank Street Best Book of the Year - Outstanding Merit
