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60 articles
Children of the Relocation Camps (book)
- Books
- Grades 1-2, Grades 3-5
- Grades 1-2, Grades 3-5
- Children's, History
- Displacement, Evils of racism, Growing up – pain or pleasure, Injustice
- Available
Picture book for elementary school children that tells the story of the wartime removal and incarceration of Japanese Americans from a children's perspective. The book was named a Carter G. Woodson Elementary Level Honor Book in 2001.
The Invisible Thread (book)
- Books
- Grades 3-5, Grades 7-8, Grades 9-12
- Grades 3-5, Grades 7-8
- Memoir, Children's
- Immigrant experience, Growing up – pain or pleasure, Expression through art, Facing darkness, Overcoming – fear, weakness, vice
- Widely available
Memoir for young adult readers by the acclaimed children's book author that covers her charmed childhood in Berkeley, California, and her wartime incarceration during World War II.
Japanese American Internment Camps (Children's Press) (book)
- Books
- Grades 3-5
- Grades 3-5
- Children's, History
- Evils of racism, Hazards of passing judgment, Injustice, War – glory, necessity, pain, tragedy
- Available
Short overview book for younger children on the wartime removal and incarceration of Japanese Americans that is part of Children's Press's "Cornerstones of Freedom," Second Series of books.
Japanese American Journey: The Story of a People (book)
- Books
- Grades 3-5, Grades 7-8
- Grades 3-5, Grades 7-8
- History, Children's
- Empowerment, Fulfillment, Heartbreak of betrayal, Overcoming – fear, weakness, vice, Progress – real or illusion
- Available
Overview work for children on the Japanese American experience produced by the Japanese American Curriculum Project (JACP) in 1985. Consisting of a historical overview, eleven biographies of notable Japanese Americans, and three short stories, Japanese American Journey was adapted from a 1970 JACP publication titled Japanese Americans: The Untold Story .
Japanese Americans Struggle for Equality (book)
- Books
- Grades 9-12
- Grades 9-12
- Children's, History
- Immigrant experience, Injustice, Progress – real or illusion, Social mobility
- Limited availability
Early overview book for young readers on the Japanese American experience framed through a lens of discrimination and the responses to it. Issued as part of a "Discrimination" series on various ethnic groups by Rourke Corporation (now Rourke Educational Media), it was published in 1992.
The Japanese American Internment: An Interactive History Adventure (book)
- Books
- Grades 3-5
- Grades 3-5
- Children's, History
- Displacement, Injustice, Patriotism – positive side or complications
- Available
Children's book on the wartime incarceration by Rachael Hanel that allows the reader to choose one of three stories and to make a series of decisions in each story that determines its outcome.
The Japanese Internment Camps: A History Perspectives Book (book)
- Books
- Grades 3-5, Grades 7-8
- Grades 3-5, Grades 7-8
- Children's, History
- Displacement, Evils of racism, Injustice, Patriotism – positive side or complications
- Available
Children's book on the wartime removal and incarceration of Japanese Americans that focuses on Manzanar and tells its story through three first-person accounts.
Journey Home (book)
- Books
- Grades 3-5
- Grades 3-5
- Children's, Young Adult
- Evils of racism, Family - blessing or curse, Importance of community
- Available
Novel for young adults about a Japanese American family leaving the concentration camps and eventually returning to their home by prolific author Yoshiko Uchida, written as a sequel her 1971 book Journey to Topaz .
Journey to Topaz: A Story of the Japanese-American Evacuation (book)
- Books
- Grades 3-5, Grades 6-8
- Grades 6-8
- Children's, Young Adult
- Displacement, Growing up - pain or pleasure
- Widely available
Pioneering 1971 novel by Yoshiko Uchida that was the first book for children on the forced removal and incarceration of Japanese Americans written by a Japanese American. Based in part on Uchida's own family experience, Journey to Topaz was the first of five books the prolific children's book author wrote that focused on the incarceration experience.
Justice Denied: A History of the Japanese in the United States (book)
- Books
- Grades 3-5, Grades 7-8
- Grades 3-5, Grades 7-8
- History, Children's
- Evils of racism, Immigrant experience, Injustice, Overcoming – fear, weakness, vice
- Limited availability
Early overview of the history of Japanese Americans for young readers by British author/activist Jennifer Cross.
Kim/Kimi (book)
- Books
- Grades 6-8, Grades 9-12
- Grades 6-8
- Children's, Young Adult
- Coming of age, Identity crisis, Quest for discovery
- Widely available
Kim/Kimi (1987) by Hadley Irwin explores one teen's quest to discover herself by finding out about her father's past. Kimi Yogushi, who is more commonly known as Kim Anderson, has an Irish American mother. Kim's father Kenji, who had died before she was born, was Japanese American. Sixteen-year-old Kim happily lives with her family in an all-white community in Iowa but she begins to want to know more about the Japanese American part of her identity. Her mother finally tells Kim that Kenji had been disowned by his family for marrying outside his race.
Looking Like the Enemy: My Story of Imprisonment in Japanese-American Internment Camps (book)
- Books
- Grades 7-8, Grades 9-12, Adult
- Grades 7-8, Grades 9-12, Adult
- Memoir, Children's
- Evils of racism, Facing darkness, Family – blessing or curse, Injustice, Loss of innocence, Power of the past
- Widely available
Incarceration memoir of life at Pinedale Assembly Center , Tule Lake , and Minidoka , by Mary Matsuda Gruenewald, a seventeen-year-old Nisei at the time of her and her family's forced removal from their Washington state farm. First published in 2005 by NewSage Press, it was followed by a young reader's edition in 2010.
Lucky Ears: The True Story of Ben Kuroki, World War II Hero (book)
- Books
- Grades 3-5, Grades 7-8
- Grades 3-5
- Children's, Biography
- Patriotism – positive side or complications, Role of men, Heroism – real and perceived, Overcoming – fear, weakness, vice
- Widely available
Biography of Nisei war hero Ben Kuroki , written for a fourth grade audience.
The Lucky Baseball: My Story in a Japanese-American Internment Camp (book)
- Books
- Grades 3-5
- Grades 3-5
- Historical fiction, Children's
- Coming of age, Displacement, Identity crisis
- Available
A Japanese American boy is forcibly removed from his home in Southern California and incarcerated in a concentration camp but learns important life lessons through continuing to play baseball.
Our Burden of Shame: Japanese-American Internment During World War II (book)
- Books
- Grades 3-5, Grades 7-8
- Grades 3-5, Grades 7-8
- Children's, History
- Displacement, Evils of racism, Hazards of passing judgment, Injustice, Patriotism – positive side or complications
- Available
Book by Susan Sinnott on the wartime forced removal and incarceration of Japanese Americans intended for a middle-school audience and published by Franklin Watts in 1995.
Painting the Rainbow (book)
- Books
- Grades 3-5, Grades 7-8, Grades 9-12
- Grades 3-5, Grades 7-8
- Children's, Historical Fiction
- Family – blessing or curse, Coming of age, Communication – verbal and nonverbal, Growing up – pain or pleasure
- Widely available
Coming-of-age novel for young readers about two thirteen-year old cousins at a New England family summer retreat in 1965 who grapple with both their changing relationship and with the discovery of family secrets stemming from the World War II period that tangentially involve the wartime incarceration of Japanese Americans.
Paper Wishes (book)
- Books
- Grades 3-5, Grades 7-8
- Grades 3-5
- Children's, Historical Fiction
- Communication – verbal and nonverbal, Growing up – pain or pleasure, Lost love, Power of silence
- Widely available
Children's novel by Lois Sepahban centering on a young girl from Bainbridge Island, Washington , who turns mute when she and her family are uprooted and sent to Manzanar .
A Place Where Sunflowers Grow (book)
- Books
- Grades 1-2, Grades 3-5
- Grades 1-2
- Children's, Historical Fiction
- Darkness and light, Empowerment, Expression through art, Importance of community, Overcoming – fear, weakness, vice
- Widely available
Children's picture book by Amy Lee-Tai and illustrated by Felicia Hoshino about Mari, a young Japanese American girl in Topaz , an American concentration camp during World War II. As the book begins, she plants sunflower seeds in the desert soil, hoping they will grow like the sunflowers in their old backyard. She recalls their prewar home, where she lived with her older brother and artist parents. At Topaz, she goes with her father to the art school he started. Initially unable to draw anything in the children's class, she slowly starts to find things to draw with the help of a supportive teacher, her father, and her new friend Aiko. After drawing a picture of her barrack with the sunflowers growing tall in front, she returns home to find little sunflower seedlings, giving her hope for the future. A final page provides biographies of the author and illustrator and …
Red Berries, White Clouds, Blue Sky (book)
- Books
- Grades 3-5, Grades 7-8
- Grades 3-5
- Children's, Historical Fiction
- Coming of age, Displacement, Evils of racism, Role of women
- Widely available
Children's novel aimed at ages 8 to 11 by Sandra Dallas centering on the wartime incarceration experience of the Itano family at the Tallgrass, Colorado, camp, featuring as its protagonist twelve year old Tomi Itano. The book is a sequel of sorts to Dallas' adult novel, Tallgrass (2007).
So Far from the Sea (book)
- Books
- Grades 3-5
- Grades 3-5
- Children's
- Change versus tradition, Death – inevitable or tragedy, Growing up – pain or pleasure, Injustice, Power of the past
- Widely available
Children's picture book by Eve Bunting about a Japanese American family's pilgrimage to Manzanar in 1972.
Sylvia and Aki (book)
- Books
- Grades 3-5, Grades 7-8
- Grades 3-5
- Historical Fiction, Children's
- =Coming of age, Convention and rebellion, Evils of racism, Immigrant experience, Rights - individual or societal
- Widely available
Chapter book for children by Winifred Conkling centering on the the Mendezes and the Munemitsus, the two families behind the landmark Mendez v. Westminster school desegregation case.
The Bracelet (book)
- Books
- Grades 3-5
- Grades 1-2, Grades 3-5
- Children's
- Growing up – pain or pleasure, Importance of community, Self-awareness, Will to survive
- Widely available
A children's picture book by Nisei author Yoshiko Uchida , with illustrations by Joanne Yardley, originally published in 1993. The Bracelet is a story derived from the author's own childhood experiences in an American concentration camp during World War II. The book opens as seven-year-old Emi, her mother and sister prepare to leave their home in Berkeley, California, for Tanforan , a racetrack that has been converted into a temporary camp for Japanese Americans. Emi's best friend, Laurie Madison, brings her a gold bracelet as a farewell gift, and as a reminder of the value of their friendship. Emi vows that she will never take it off, but as she helps clean out the filthy horse stable that will serve has her family's "apartment," the gold chain slips off her wrist and is lost. At first, she is desolate, but Emi eventually realizes that she does not need the bracelet …
The Cat Who Chose to Dream (book)
- Books
- Grades 1-2, Grades 3-5
- Grades 1-2, Grades 3-5
- Children's
- Disillusionment and dreams, Facing darkness, Overcoming – fear, weakness, vice, Will to survive
- Widely available
Children's picture book about a cat who accompanies his Japanese American family to an American concentration camp during World War II.
The Journal of Ben Uchida: Citizen 13559, Mirror Lake Internment Camp (book)
- Books
- Grades 3-5, Grades 7-8
- Grades 3-5
- Children's, Historical Fiction
- Convention and rebellion, Growing up – pain or pleasure, Injustice
- Widely available
Chapter book for children by Barry Denenberg in the form of a journal by a young Nisei boy covering the first ten months of incarceration at the fictitious "Mirror Lake Internment Camp."
The Journey (book)
- Books
- Grades 3-5, Grades 7-8, Grades 9-12, Adult
- Grades 3-5
- Picture Book, Children's
- Evils of racism, Expression through art, Power of the past
- Widely available
A children's book by Sansei author and artist Sheila Hamanaka, published by Orchard Books in 1990. The Journey: Japanese Americans, Racism and Renewal is based on a 25-foot mural painted by Hamanaka that mixes the history of Japanese Americans with an emphasis on the American concentration camps of World War II with her own family's experience using a mixture of Japanese iconography, realism and caricature. The book features both close-ups of the mural as well as a panoramic view of all five panels, which are accompanied by the author's text, giving her perspective on history, tradition, and hope. It also includes a preface and afterword reflecting on these themes.