CHILDREN’S and YOUNG ADULT BOOKS on the

JAPANESE-AMERICAN INTERNMENT AND RELOCATION

FICTION

American Dreams – Lisa Banim (1993)

Developments in World War II force Amy Mochida and her family to move from Hollywood to an internment camp with other Japanese Americans, changing Amy's friendship with eleven-year-old Jeannie. jFiction/Banim

The Journal of Ben Uchida, Citizen #13559, Mirror Lake Internment Camp - Barry Denenberg (1999)

Twelve-year-old Ben Uchida keeps a journal of his experiences as a prisoner in a Japanese internment camp in Mirror Lake, California, during World War II. jFiction/Denenberg

Weedflower – Cynthia Kadohata (2006)

After twelve-year-old Sumiko and her Japanese-American family are relocated from their flower farm in southern California to an internment camp on a Mojave Indian reservation in Arizona, she helps her family and neighbors, becomes friends with a local Indian boy, and tries to hold on to her dream of owning a flower shop. jFiction/Kadohata

A Place Where Sunflowers Grow – Amy Lee-Tai (2006)

While she and her family are interned at Topaz Relocation Center during World War II, Mari gradually adjusts as she enrolls in an art class, makes a friend, plants sunflowers and waits for them to grow. Foreign Language jEasy/Lee-Tai

Baseball Saved Us – Ken Mochizuki (2004)

A Japanese American boy learns to play baseball in an internment camp during World War II, and his ability to play helps him after the war is over. jE/Mochizuki

Flowers from Mariko – Rick Noguchi (2001)

The power of love and flowers help a Japanese American family rebuild their lives after being released from an internment camp. j/Easy/Noguchi

Thin Wood Walls – David Patneaude (2004)

When the Japanese bomb Pearl Harbor, Joe Hamada and his family face growing prejudice, eventually being torn away from their home and sent to a relocation camp in California, even as his older brother joins the United States Army to fight in the war. j/YA/Fiction/Patneaude

The Bracelet – Yoshiko Uchida (1993)

Emi, a Japanese American in the second grade, is sent with her family to an internment camp during World War II, and discovers she can remember her best friend even after the loss of a special bracelet given to her when they were separated. jE/Uchida

Journey Home - Yoshiko Uchida (1978)

After their release from an American concentration camp, a Japanese-American girl and her family try to reconstruct their lives amidst strong anti-Japanese feelings which breed fear, distrust, and violence. j/PBK/Uchida

Journey to Topaz: The Story of the Japanese American Evacuation - Yoshiko Uchida (1985, c. 1971)

After the Pearl Harbor attack an eleven-year-old Japanese-American girl and her family are forced to go to an aliens camp in Utah. j/PBK/Uchida

NONFICTION

Behind Barbed Wire: the Imprisonments of Japanese Americans During World War II – Daniel S. Davis (1982)

Discusses the forced internment of Japanese Americans in camps following the attack on Pearl Harbor, their way of life there, and their eventual assimilation into society following the war. j940.54/D

A Child in a Prison Camp – Shizuye Takashima (1974)

A Japanese-Canadian girl recounts the experiences of the three years she and her family spent in a Canadian internment camp during World War II. jBiography/Takashima

The Children of Topaz: the Story of a Japanese-American Internment Camp: Based on a Classroom Diary – Michael O. Tunnell (1996)

Experiences of a third grade class in the Topaz internment camp based on an actual class diary compiled by their teacher. j940.531/Tunnell

Farewell to Manzanar – Jeanne Wakatsuki Houston (2002, c.1973)

The story of a child born in America who was forced to grow up behind barbed wire when she was imprisoned with her courageous family in an internment camp. jBiography/Houston

I Am an American: A True Story of Japanese Internment – Jerry Stanley (1994)

Based on interviews and personal recollections, this is the story of the experiences of Shi, a high school senior who is sent with his family to Manzanar, an internment camp in California. J940.531/Stanley

Internment of the Japanese – Diane Yancey (2001)

This general overview of Executive Order No. 9066 includes photos and information about the internees themselves as well as historical documentation. j940.531/Yancey

Remembering Manzanar: Life in a Japanese Relocation Camp – Michael L. Cooper (2002)

First hand accounts, oral histories and essays from school newspapers and yearbooks tell the story of daily life in a Japanese internment camp. j940.547/Cooper