Four starred reviews!
"Evocative prose and illustrations bring to life...[the]
heart-wrenching decisions and considerations that Japanese Americans had
to face...[and] their endurance, sacrifices, and resilience." --Susan
H. Kamei, author of When Can We Go Back to America?
Told in a brilliant blend of prose and graphic novel, this
"magnificent, essential" (Booklist, starred review) middle grade story
about a Japanese American family during World War II is written and
illustrated by Asian/Pacific American Award for Literature winner Matt
Faulkner.
Manzanar is nothing like home. Yet the relocation center is where Mari
and her family have to live, now that the government has decided that
Japanese Americans aren't American enough. Determined to prove them
wrong, Mari's brother Mak has joined the army and is heading off to war.
In protest, Mari has stopped talking for the duration of the war. Or at
least until Mak comes home safe.
Still, Mari has no trouble expressing herself through her drawings. Mak,
too, expresses himself in his letters home, first from training camp and
later from the front lines of World War II, where he is fighting with
the 442nd Regimental Combat Team. But while his letters are reassuring,
reality is not: Mak is facing danger at every turn, from racism within
the army to violence on the battlefield.
In turns humorous and heartbreaking, Mari and Mak's story will stick
with readers long after the last page.
