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226 articles
Baseball%20Saved%20Us%20(book)
- Books
- Grades 1-2, Grades 3-5
- Grades 3-5
- Children's, Sports, Picture book
- Character - destruction, building up, Fear of failure
- Widely available
Popular and acclaimed children's picture book written by Ken Mochizuki and illustrated by Dom Lee about the concentration camps and their aftermath through the prism of baseball.
Famous Suicides of the Japanese Empire (book)
- Books
- Adult
- Fiction
- Coming of age, Dangers of ignorance, Power of silence, Power of the past
- Widely available
First novel by acclaimed poet and memoirist David Mura that explores the impact of wartime incarceration—and the silences about it—on a Japanese American family in Chicago after World War II.
Allegiance (book)
- Books
- Grades 9-12, Adult
- Historical Fiction, Mystery
- Emptiness of attaining a false dream, Facing darkness, Injustice, Loss of innocence, Power and corruption
- Widely available
Historical mystery novel by Kermit Roosevelt set during World War II against the backdrop of the Supreme Court and the Japanese American cases.
A Bridge Between Us (book)
- Books
- Grades 9-12, Adult
- Grades 9-12, Adult
- Fiction
- Coming of age, Role of women
- Widely available
Critically acclaimed 1995 novel by Julie Shigekuni that is both a multi-generational family saga about a Japanese American family in San Francisco and a coming-of-age novel centered on a fifth-generation Japanese American woman growing up in a four generation household. The story—which includes the family's incarceration at Heart Mountain —is told from the perspectives of four women of different generations who live together in the family home in San Francisco.
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 .
Japanese Americans and Internment (book)
- Books
- Grades 7-8
- Grades 7-8
- Young Adult, History
- Displacement, Evils of racism, Injustice, Patriotism – positive side or complications
- Available
Overview textbook on the Japanese American removal and incarceration published by Globe Fearon in 1994 as part of their "Globe Mosaic of American History" series. No author is credited with sociologist (and former inmate) Harry H.L. Kitano listed on the title page as the "consultant."
What the Scarecrow Said (book)
- Books
- Grades 9-12, Adult
- Importance of community
- Facing darkness, Importance of community, Overcoming – fear, weakness, vice
- Widely available
Novel set in the last months of World War II whose protagonist is a middle-aged Nisei widower who resettles in a small New England town.
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.
The Harvest of Hate (book)
- Books
- Grades 9-12, Adult
- Historical Fiction
- Evils of racism, Family – blessing or curse, Loss of innocence, Patriotism – positive side or complications
- Available
Novel focusing on one Japanese American family's forced removal and incarceration written by a former teacher at Poston . Originally written in 1946, The Harvest of Hate first saw publication forty years later.
How Did This Happen Here?: Japanese Internment Camps (book)
- Books
- Grades 3-5
- Grades 3-5
- Children's
- Displacement, Evils of racism, Hazards of passing judgment, Injustice
- Available
Short overview picture book on the wartime removal and incarceration of Japanese Americans aimed at an elementary school audience.
China Dolls (book)
- Books
- Grades 9-12, Adult
- Historical Fiction
- Companionship as salvation, Empowerment, Female roles, Forgiveness, Heartbreak of betrayal, Will to survive
- Widely available
Historical novel by Lisa See centering on performers at Chinese themed nightclubs in San Francisco and New York in the 1930s and 1940s. One of the three main characters is a Japanese American woman passing as Chinese American.
Why She Left Us (book)
- Books
- Grades 9-12, Adult
- Historical Fiction
- Family – blessing or curse, Motherhood, Power of the past, Role of women
- Widely available
A 1999 novel by Rahna Reiko Rizzuto that follows the Okada family from the 1920s to the 1990s and includes their incarceration at the Santa Anita Assembly Center and Amache as well as the experiences of two Nisei who serve in the 442nd Regimental Combat Team . The novel is structured as a series of vignettes told from the points of view of four characters. Why She Left Us was honored with an American Book Award in 2000.
Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet (book)
- Books
- Grades 6-8, Grades 9-12, Adult
- Grades 6-8
- Fiction
- Family - blessing or curse, Growing up - pain or pleasure, Evils of racism, Lost love
- Widely available
Bestselling 2009 novel by Jamie Ford about a doomed romance between a young Chinese American boy and a Japanese American girl in 1942 Seattle.
And Then a Rainbow (book)
- Books
- Grades 9-12, Adult
- Memoir
- Evils of racism, Role of women, Will to survive, Working class struggles
- Limited availability
Memoir by a Nisei woman who renounces her citizenship at Tule Lake and lives in Japan for thirteen years before returning to the U.S.
The Issei Prisoners of the San Pedro Internment Center (book)
- Books
- Grades 9-12, Adult
- Historical Fiction
- Immigrant experience, Injustice, Losing hope, Power and corruption, Will to survive
- Available
Novel by Stanley N. Kanzaki about Issei internees at the fictional San Pedro Internment Camp in New Mexico.
The Moved-Outers (book)
- Books
- Widely available
Landmark novel for teenagers by Florence Crannell Means about a Japanese American family's forced removal and incarceration that was published in 1945 by Houghton Mifflin. One of the most popular and acclaimed writers of children's books at that time, Means' book was a runner up for the John Newbery Medal in 1946, the most prestigious award for children's literature.
Memoirs of a Certain Nisei (book)
- Books
- Grades 9-12, Adult
- Memoir
- Empowerment, Patriotism – positive side or complications, War – glory, necessity, pain, tragedy
- Available
Posthumously published memoir by Kibei war hero Thomas Taro Higa , translated from its original Japanese and published in 1988. The vast majority of the book covers events taking place during World War II.
Imprisoned Apart: The World War II Correspondence of an Issei Couple (book)
- Books
- Non Fiction
- Displacement, Facing darkness, Facing reality, Immigrant experience, Isolation, Will to survive
- Available
An intimate history of one Issei couple's experience of World War II, including transcriptions of the letters they sent each other when they were incarcerated apart.
Birth of an Activist: The Sox Kitashima Story (book)
- Books
- Memoir
- Coming of age, Death - inevitable or tragedy, Empowerment, Importance of community
- Available
A renowned redress activist shares her life story, including how the humiliating experience of wartime incarceration helped shape her later involvement in political activism.
A Place to Belong (book)
- Books
- Grades 7-8, Grades 9-12
- Grades 7-8
- Children's, Historical Fiction
- Coming of age, Facing darkness, Family – blessing or curse, Growing up – pain or pleasure, Loss of innocence, Will to survive
- Widely available
Young adult novel by Cynthia Kadohata that tells the story of a Japanese American family's experience in postwar Japan from the perspective of an adolescent female protagonist.
When Justice Failed: The Fred Korematsu Story (book)
- Books
- Grades 3-5
- Grades 3-5
- Children's, Biography
- Convention and rebellion, Heroism – real and perceived, Injustice, Patriotism – positive side or complications, Power of the past
- Available
Biography for children of activist and exclusion challenger Fred Korematsu by journalist Steven A. Chin.
The Japanese in America (book)
- Books
- Grades 3-5, Grades 7-8
- Grades 3-5
- History
- Empowerment, Evils of racism, Immigrant experience, Overcoming – fear, weakness, vice
- Available
Overview book for children on the history of Japanese Americans from the 1860s to the 1990s. First published in 1967 as one of the first books for children on Japanese Americans, it saw revised versions in 1974 and 1991.
The Floating World (book)
- Books
- Grades 9-12, Adult
- Fiction
- Coming of age, Family – blessing or curse, Female roles, Working class struggles, Growing up – pain or pleasure
- Widely available
Acclaimed coming-of-age novel largely set on the road centering on Olivia Osaka and her itinerant family in the 1950s.
Fred Korematsu Speaks Up (book)
- Books
- Grades 3-5, Grades 7-8
- Grades 3-5, Grades 7-8
- Children's, History
- Heroism – real and perceived, Injustice, Rights - individual or societal
- Widely available
Book for middle school audiences on Fred Korematsu , who challenged the forced removal of Japanese Americans during World War II.
Internment of Japanese Americans (Greenhaven Press) (book)
- Books
- Grades 9-12
- Grades 9-12
- Young adult
- Displacement, Evils of racism, Hazards of passing judgment, Injustice
- Limited availability
Reader intended for high school audiences that includes a mixture of primary, contemporaneous, and contemporary pieces on the wartime incarceration of Japanese Americans.