CW: Animals are harmed early in the book. DNF. This is not the quarantine book I need right now.

A fictionalized account of one of the most atrocious violations of American civil rights in our nations history, the imprisoning of loyal Japanese citizens (120,000 men, women, and children) into remote "internment camps" during WWII, and signed into law by President FDR. Oh, and upheld by SCOTUS!

It is the story of a mother and her two children (the father was illegally imprisoned earlier elsewhere) and is very well written and moving, but I wish it was longer than its 144 pages. I think however, that it would be perfect for middle or high school students (or college) to make them aware of a very terrible and horrific event in our Nation's history. I am sure the book is probably banned in schools and libraries in some states. As Ray Bradbury (Fahrenheit 451) said “You don't have to burn books to destroy a culture. Just get people to stop reading them.”

And sadly, we do not learn from history. This type of racism is still happening in the U.S. involving other races, creeds, or orientations and getting worse... ( )

So well done. This simple, stark tone is often imitated but so very hard to do well, especially as well as it is here. ( )

audio historical fiction, ~3 hours. 1940s Berkeley CA - Japanese internment/imprisonment and eventual release, 3 yrs and 5 months later, as told by the different viewpoints of a mother (remaining loyal to the Emperor of Japan but not wishing war or misfortune on her American neighbors) and her two children.

I recently read The Swimmers on a friend's recommendation and decided to listen to Otsuka's first bestseller. Here is more of the author's renowned storytelling, with so much being communicated through the straightforward relay of each characters simple, quotidian actions. As with the letters between the boy and his (separately incarcerated/interned) father, there is as much said in what is not written than what is actually written. ( )

Dieses Buch über eine japanische Familie, die während des zweiten Weltkrieges in ein Internierungslager muss, hat mich sehr bewegt, gerade wegen der sachlichen Sprache, der Knappheit und dem Abstand zwischen Erzähler und Figuren. Die Familie bleibt namenlos und steht deshalb für viele andere, denen ähnliches widerfahren ist. Der Schreibstil gab mir an einigen Stellen eher das Gefühl, einen Bericht oder einen Artikel zu lesen als einen Roman.
Besonders bewegt hat mich der Versuch der Familie nach Kriegsende in einer Gesellschaft wieder Fuß zu fassen, die von verschiedensten Emotionen zu ihnen geprägt ist.
Eine Autorin, von der ich definitiv mehr lesen werde. ( )