Related Resources

Fiction / Biography & Memoir / Nonfiction / Movies / For Children / Websites

Fiction
Tallgrass by Sandra Dallas
Life turns upside down when the government opens an internment camp in Rennie Stroud’s home town.

Hotel on the corner of Bitter and Sweet by Jamie Ford
Henry, a Chinese American, learns important lessons about the nature of love when he befriends Keiko, a Japanese American, during World War II.

Color of the sea by John Hamamura
Trained in the Samurai tradition, Sam serves as an American soldier during WWII.

Aleutian sparrow by Karen Hesse
An Aleutian Islander recounts her suffering during World War II in American internment camps designed to "protect" the population from the invading Japanese.

The legend of fire horse woman by Jeanne Wakatsuki Houston
An orphan born in Japan under a ruinous sign, Sayo travels to America to marry but only discovers more problems await her.

Requiem by Frances Itani
Traces the lives of a Japanese-Canadian family from B.C. during and after their internment—five years living in a makeshift community without direct access to electricity, plumbing or food.

Obasan by Joy Kogawa
Based on the author’s life, depicts how Canadians of Japanese ancestry were evacuated, relocated and then dispersed during WWII.

Garden of stones by Sophie Littlefield (coming December 2012)
14-year-old Lucy Takeda and her mother are rounded up from their L.A. home – along with thousands of other innocent Japanese-Americans – and taken to the Manzanar prison camp.

Climate of the country by Marnie Mueller
Conscientious objector, Denton Jordon, and his wife Esther live and work in the Tule Lake Japanese American Segregation Camp during World War II.

No-no boy by John Okada
Confined to an internment camp, Ichiro refuses to be drafted and finds his loyalties questioned by both Americans and Japanese Americans alike.

The Buddha in the attic by Julie Otsuka
Picture brides from Japan relay their experiences of meeting their husbands for the first time, having children in a new country, and what it means to be American during uncertain times.

When the emperor was divine byJulie Otsuka
California, 1942: Japanese Americans have been reclassified as enemy aliens - they must all pack and move to internment camps.

All the way home by Ann Tatlock
Augie Schuler and Sunny Yamagata’s friendship spans the years from the bombing of Pearl Harbor and the Japanese American internment camps through to the tumultuous 1960s civil rights era in Mississippi.

Biography & Memoir
Farewell to Manzanar: a true story of Japanese American experience during and after the World War II internment by Jeanne Wakatsuki Houston & James D. Houston

The flamboya tree: memories of a mother's wartime courage by Clara Olink Kelly

Nurse of Manzanar: a Japanese American’s World War II journey by Samuel Nakamura

Nisei daughter by Monica Itoi Sone

Silver like dust: one family's story of America’s Japanese internment by Kimi Cunningham Grant

Nonfiction
Born free and equal: the story of loyal Japanese Americans, Manzanar Relocation Center, Inyo County, California: photographs from the Library of Congress collection edited by Wynne Benti; with support from the Manzanar Committee friends of the Eastern California Museum

Colors of confinement: rare Kodachrome photographs of Japanese American incarceration in World War II edited by Eric L. Muller, photographs by Bill Manbo

Dear Miss Breed: true stories of the Japanese American incarceration during World War II and a librarian who made a difference by Joanne Oppenheim

Defiant gardens: making gardens in wartime by Kenneth I. Helphand

The four immigrants manga: Japanese experience in San Francisco, 1904-1924 by Henry Yoshitaka Kiyama

Impounded: Dorothea Lange and the censored images of Japanese American internment by Dorothy Lange

In defense of our neighbors: the Walt and Milly Woodward story by Mary Woodward

Japan 1945: a U.S. Marine’s photographs from Ground Zero by Joe O’Donnell

The Japanese American internment: civil liberties denied by Michael Burgan

Looking like the enemy: my story of imprisonment in Japanese American internment camps by Mary Matsuda Gruenewald

May sky: there is always tomorrow: an anthology of Japanese American concentration camp kaiko haiku compiled, translated, and prefaced by Violet (Kazue) de Cristoforo

Nisei soldiers break their silence: coming home to Hood River by Linda Tamura

Only what we could carry: the Japanese American internment experience edited with an introduction by Lawson Fusao Inada

Strawberry days: how internment destroyed a Japanese American community by David A. Neiwert

Stubborn Twig: three generations in the life of a Japanese American family by Lauren Kessler

Whispered silences: Japanese Americans and World War II by Gary Y. Okihiro

Movies
After silence - Frank Kitamoto of Bainbridge Island, Washington was among the first of 110,000 west coast Japanese Americans forced to leave their homes during World War II. As Frank relates his three years of internment, students from Bainbridge High School develop archival photographs of his internment experiences. Together, Frank and the students discuss the need to safeguard civil rights.

Come see the paradise - Set against the background of a controversial period in American history, the internment of Japanese-Americans during World War II, this is the love story of an Irish-American man and a beautiful Japanese-American woman.

Most honorable son - After the Pearl Harbor attack, Ben Kuroki would be the first Japanese-American war hero, surviving 58 missions as an aerial gunner. But he found himself at the center of controversy, as the lone spokesman against the racism faced by the thousands of Japanese-Americans.

Snow falling on cedars - A murder trial has upset the quiet community of San Piedro, and now this tranquil village has become the center of controversy. For a local reporter the trial strikes home when he finds his ex-lover is linked to the case.

For Children

Fiction for Children
Sylvia & Aki by Winifred Conkling
At the start of World War II, Japanese-American third-grader Aki and her family are sent to an internment camp in Poston, Arizona, while Mexican-American third-grader Sylvia's family leases their Orange County, California, farm and begins a fight to stop school segregation.

The journal of Ben Uchida, citizen #13559, Mirror Lake internment camp by Barry Denenberg
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.

A diamond in the desert by Kathryn Fitzmaurice
After the bombing of Pearl Harbor, 13-year-old Tetsu and his family are sent to the Gila River Relocation Center in Arizona where a fellow prisoner starts a baseball team.

Missing in action by Dean Hughes
While his father is missing in action in the Pacific, 12-year-old Jay moves with his mother to Utah where he sees prejudice from both sides.

Weedflower by Cynthia Kadohata
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.

The fences between us: the diary of Piper Davis by Kirby Larson
Thirteen-year-old Piper Davis records in her diary her experiences beginning in December 1941 when her brother joins the Navy, the United States goes to war, she attempts to document her life through photography, and her father--the pastor for a Japanese Baptist Church in Seattle--follows his congregants to an Idaho internment camp, taking her along with him.

When the cherry blossoms fell by Jennifer Maruno
When nine-year-old Michiko bids her father goodbye, she doesn't know the Canadian government has ordered all Japanese-born men out of the province.  Soon her family joins hundreds of Japanese-Canadians on a train to the interior of British Columbia.

Thin wood walls by David Patneaude
Joe captures his experiences in a journal given to him by his father when the FBI take his father away and Joe is relocated to an internment camp.

Best friends forever: a World War II scrapbook by Beverly Patt
Fourteen-year-old Louise keeps a scrapbook detailing the events in her life after her best friend, a Japanese-American girl, and her family are sent to a relocation camp during World War II.

Blue Jay in the desert by Marlene Shigekawa (picture book)
While living in a relocation camp during the World War II, a young Japanese American boy receives a message of hope from his grandfather.

Picture Books for Children
So far from the sea by Eve Bunting
When 7-year-old Laura visits her grandfather's grave at Manzanar War Relocation Center, she leaves behind a special symbol.

A place where sunflowers grow = Sabaku ni saita himawari by Amy Lee-Tai (picture book)
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.

Baseball saved us by Ken Mochizuki (picture book)
A Japanese American boy learns to play baseball when he and his family are forced to live in an internment camp during World War II, and his ability to play helps him after the war is over.

Welcome home swallows by Marlene Shigekawa (picture book)
A young Japanese American boy's family reunites after World War II ends.

Nonfiction for Children
Korematsu v. United States: Japanese-American internment camps by Karen Alonso
Profiles the case of Fred Korematsu who sought compensation from the American government for his time spent in an internment camp.

How did this happen here? by Leni Donlan
Learn what happened to Japanese Americans after the Pearl Harbor attack.

Japanese American internment: An interactive history adventure by Rachael Hanel
Describes the events surrounding the internment of Japanese Americans in relocation centers during World War II.

I am an American: a true story of Japanese internment by Jerry Stanley
Young Shi Nomura was among the 120,000 American citizens who lost everything when sent to a California internment camp.

The invisible thread: an autobiography by Yoshiko Uchida
Yoshiko Uchida describes growing up as a Nisei (a second generation Japanese American) and her family's internment during World War II.

Websites

• About Topaz including video interview with former internee http://www.densho.org/sitesofshame/facilities.xml
• Amateur slide show of the Topaz site is it is now http://www.orneveien.org/adventure/2002topaz/index.htm
• More websites to explore (some links are broken) http://www.children-of-the-camps.org/resources/internment.html
• Excellent primary document resource by UofW; includes many photos from Minidoka and Camp Harmony, as well as documents such as newsletter, memos, and letters: http://www.lib.washington.edu/exhibits/harmony/
• Another excellent primary resource site – HUGE – contains photos and many scanned documents such as newsletters; also private collections, like scanned pages of personal scrapbooks (you need to login as a guest to use): http://www.densho.org/archive/default.asp For example, below is the entry identification paperwork for a woman interned at Minidoka – looks like she was pulled out of pre-med program at UofW.
• Internment is still political on Bainbridge (this article is from 2004) – a reflection on how we preserve history: http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2002027639_bainbridge06m.html
• Reef net fishing has historical ties in Whatcom County.  Local fishermen still use this method in the waters around Lummi Island.  The Friends of Lummi Island Library reef net archive project captured photos and oral histories from local reef net fishermen as part of the Washington Rural Heritage project: http://content.statelib.wa.gov/cdm/landingpage/collection/lummi
• Japanese American National Museum: http://www.janm.org/ They are hosting a national conference commemorating the 25th anniversary of the Civil Liberties Act of 1988 in Seattle, July 4-7, 2013.