Farewell to Manzanar, by Jeanne Wakatsuki Houston , is a touching and memorable story that kids-and adults-of all ages will love.
In 1942, Jeanne Wakatsuki was seven years old. That was when Pearl Harbor was bombed, when Jeanne's father was taken away, when the Wakatsuki family was sent to Manzanar, California, to a Japanese internment camp. The government had sent them because of their Japanese last names, their Oriental eyes, their black hair, although some were American. Manzanar, in the middle of the California desert, is just like any other small town: it has a school, sock hops, choir, neighborhood gossip, a beauty parlor, and much more. But the only thing that the internees at Manzanar don't have is freedom. This a true story.
2 comments:
Hi!
My 7th grade English class just finished this book. It was AMAZING but so so so so sad that Japanese people were kept in internment camps when they were American and deserved to be free, too! My parents are Japanese, and if they were sent to a camp like Manzanar I would be really sad. the book might look boring on the outside, but on the inside it is a really interesting book. I learned a lot from it!
Another excellent book. You know how to pick them!! I read this in seventh grade, and still remember how harrowing it was. I was particularly sad for the mother and her loss of privacy and dignity. This is a very sad period in U.S. history, one that everyone should know about and remember.
- Lesley M. M. Blume
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