Within These Lines (book)

Young adult novel by Stephanie Morrill centering on the forbidden romance between Italian American Evalina Cassano and Nisei Taichi Hamasaki in the San Francisco Bay Area against the backdrop of the wartime incarceration of Japanese Americans. Having met in the course of their families' businesses—Taichi delivers produce from the Hamasaki family farm to Cassano's Italian restaurant—they keep their romance secret from their families as the story begins in March of 1942. But the Hamasakis' forced removal to Manzanar throws another wrench into their hopes for a future together. The story ends at the end of 1942, with the December uprising serving as its climax, with a brief epilogue that takes place in 1950.

Morrill specializes in young adult novels with female protagonists "who are on an adventure to discover their unique place in the world," as noted on her website. Within These Lines is her second historical novel—2017's The Lost Girl of Astor Street was set in 1924 Chicago—to go with several contemporary books. She grew up partially in California and had heard of the Japanese American incarceration but knew little about it. She was inspired to write the book by a 2017 episode of the "Stuff You Missed in History Class" podcast, wondering what it would be like to be an Italian American girl who was in love with a Japanese American boy. She spent a year doing research online and reading Japanese American memoirs and also struck up a correspondence with Manzanar National Historic Site Park Ranger Patricia Biggs, eventually visiting the site shortly before the book's publication. ^[1]

The history is generally handled well, and many real people at Manzanar make appearances including Karl and Elaine Yoneda , Ralph Merritt , and Fred Tayama . An "About the History" section at the end of the book provides some background on the Japanese American incarceration and notes some of the historical liberties that were taken. Morrill writes that she decided to send the Hamasakis to Manzanar even though they likely would have been sent to Santa Anita . In fact, as residents of Alameda , the Hamasakis would have had to vacate in February 1942, with most Japanese American Alamedans ending up being sent to Tanforan and then to Topaz .

Might also like Weedflower by Cynthia Kadohata; Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet by Jamie Ford; Beneath the Wide Silk Sky by Emily Inouye Huey