A rare middle grade fictional account of the Japanese internment from the perspective of an eleven year old girl, based on the author's own family experience. It is a solid story that takes place from the attack on Pearl Harbor, to the Sakane family leaving the internment camp to live in Salt Lake City. Modern readers may be surprised at the mild response to mistreatment at the time, but Uchida presents the story with appropriate nuance and historical accuracy.

From Amazon description:
Based on Yoshiko Uchida's personal experiences, this is the moving story of one girl's struggle to remain brave during the Japanese internment of World War II. In a bleak and dusty prison camp, eleven-year-old Yuki and her family experience both true friendship and heart-wrenching tragedy. Journey to Topaz explores the consequences of prejudice and the capacities of the human spirit. First published in 1971, this book is now a much loved and widely read classic.

This book was an esy read for me, it didn't have alot of detail. ( )

I really enjoyed reading this. The story was very interesting because it was true. The author takes us back in time to 1941 when Pearl Harbor was bombed and how our government reacted toward the Japanese that had been living here at the time. The story centers around Yuki Sakane and her brother and parents and their circle of friends. They were part of the 120,000 West Coast Japanese Americans were imprisoned behind barb wire. Two thirds of them were American Citizens at the time of this evacuation. They endured hardships and lost everything they had owned. Yuki was 11 years old when her father was taken away and her mother, brother and herself were moved from their home along with all their neighbors and relocated twice before they were finally reunited with her father and finally released. It was written and portrayed in such an innocent manner from a child's point of view which works very well here. This is a thoughtfully written book and I learned a lot by reading it. ( )

I really enjoyed reading this. The story was very interesting because it was true. The author takes us back in time to 1941 when Pearl Harbor was bombed and how our government reacted toward the Japanese that had been living here at the time. The story centers around Yuki Sakane and her brother and parents and their circle of friends. They were part of the 120,000 West Coast Japanese Americans were imprisoned behind barb wire. Two thirds of them were American Citizens at the time of this evacuation. They endured hardships and lost everything they had owned. Yuki was 11 years old when her father was taken away and her mother, brother and herself were moved from their home along with all their neighbors and relocated twice before they were finally reunited with her father and finally released. It was written and portrayed in such an innocent manner from a child's point of view which works very well here. This is a thoughtfully written book and I learned a lot by reading it. ( )