"Within These Lines is a moving story of love, hope, and family set
against the dark history of Japanese internment in America. This book
had me captivated!" --Maureen McQuerry, YALSA award-winning author of
The Peculiars
Evalina Cassano's life in an Italian-American family in 1941 is quiet
and ordinary ... until she falls in love with Taichi Hamasaki, the son
of Japanese immigrants. Despite the scandal it would cause and the fact
that interracial marriage is illegal in California, Evalina and Taichi
vow they will find a way to be together. But anti-Japanese feelings
erupt across the country after the attack on Pearl Harbor, and Taichi
and his family are forced to give up their farm and are incarcerated in
a Japanese internment camp.
Degrading treatment at Manzanar Relocation Center is so difficult,
Taichi doubts he will ever leave the camp alive. Treasured letters from
Evalina are his sole connection to the outside world. Embracing the
boldest action she can to help Taichi, Evalina begins to radically speak
out at school and at home, shining a light on this dark and shameful
racial injustice.
With their future together on the line, Evalina and Taichi can only hold
true to their values and believe in their love against all odds to have
any hope of making it back to one another.
Within These Lines is:
- A historical YA novel set against the backdrop of WWII and the
shameful era of American injustice surrounding Japanese internment
camps
- Told from the dual points of view of an Italian-American woman and
Japanese-American man brought together by love then separated by war,
injustice, and hatred
- As haunting and unflinching as it is hope-filled and love-driven
- Perfect for fans of Monica Hesse, Ruta Sepetys, and Elizabeth Wein
