John Muir Publications. Kids Explore America's Japanese American
Heritage. By John Muir Publications and Westridge Young
Writers Workshop. pa. 2nd ed. Avalon Travel Publishing, 1996. Ages
9 to 12.
Presents writings by students in grades three to seven
on topics of Japanese American culture, including sports, cooking,
history, and art.
Kitano,
Harry H. L. The Japanese Americans New York: Chelsea, 1987.
Lee, Lauren. The Japanese Americans New York: Benchmark,
1996.
Levine, Ellen. A Fence Away from Freedom: Japanese Americans &
World War II. Putnam, 1995. Grades 5 up.
In a series of interviews, Japanese-Americans who were
children and teenagers during World War II describe life in the
internment camps. Reviews at Barnes and Noble
Rolater, Fred. The Japanese Americans. Rourke,
1991.
Sinnott, Susan. Our Burden of Shame: Japanese-American
Internment during World War II. Franklin Watts, 1995. Ages
9-11
An account of the internment of Japanese Americans
during WWII>
Stanley, Jerry. I Am an American: A True Story of
Japanese
Internment. Crown Books for Young Readers, 1994. Grades 5 to 10.
An account of a Japanese American family interned by the U. S.
government during WWII. Reviews at Barnes & Noble
Tunnell, Michael O. and George W. Chilcoat. The Children of Topaz: The
Story of a Japanese
American Internment Camp; Based on a Classroom Diary. Holiday House,
1996. Grades 4 to 7.
The diary of a third-grade class of Japanese-American children
being held with their families in an internment camp during World War
II. Reviews at Barnes &
Noble
Welch, Catherine A. Children of the Relocation Camps. Lerner
Publishing, 2000. Ages 8 to 11
Explores the experiences of Japanese American children who
were moved with their families to relocation centers during World War II,
looking at school, meals, sports, and other aspects of camp life.
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Fiction
Banim, Lisa. American Dreams. pa. Silver Moon Press, 1995.
Ages 9 to 12
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. Review at Barnes
& Noble
Carlson, Lori, ed. American Eyes:
New Asian American Short Stories for Young Adults. Econo-Clad, 1999.
Ten young Asian-Americans re-create the conflicts that all
young people feel living in two distinct worlds. Reviews at Amazon
Means, Florence Crannel. The Moved-Outers.
New York: Walker, 1992. 156p. YA.
After the Japanese bomb Pearl Harbor, 18-year-old Sumiko and
her family
are forced to leave their California home to move to a
relocation camp.
Mochizuki, Ken. Heroes. Illustrated by Dom Lee. pa. Lee
& Low, 1997. Grades 3-6
Japanese American Donnie, whose playmates insist he
be the "bad
guy" in their war games, calls on his reluctant
father and
uncle, veterans of the Korean War, to help him get away from
that role.
Reviews at Barnes
& Noble
Salisbury,
Graham. Under the Blood-Red Sun Delacorte, 1994. Middle School
Tomi, an eighth grader, has his world shattered after the
bombing of
Pearl Harbor.
Savin, Marcia. The Moon Bridge. pa. Reissue ed. Scholastic,
1995. Ages 8 to 12
The friendship between San Francisco girls Mitzi Fujimoto
and Ruthie Fox is changed when World War II begins and Mitzi and her
family are forced to go into an internment camp. Reviews at Barnes & Noble
Tung, Angela. Song of the Stranger. Edited by Michael
Artenstein. pa. NTC/Contemporary Publishing, 1999. Ages 8 to 12
Twelve-year-old Karen learns more about her
grandmother and her heritage after spending the summer in
Japan. Review at Barnes &
Noble
*Uchida,
Yoshiko. The Best Bad Thing 1st Aladdin ed. Aladdin, 1986.
Distributed by Raintree Steck. 156p. YA
Rinko is dismayed when at having to spend her summer helping
the widowed Mrs. Hata. She finds that good things happen, but bad things
also follow. Sequel to A Jar of Dreams.
* Uchida, Yoshiko. A Jar of Dreams Atheneum, 1981. 131p. YA
A young girl grows up in a closely-knit Japanese American
family in California during the 1930's, a time of great prejudice.
Uchida, Yoshiko. The Happiest Ending. 1st ed. New York:
Atheneum, 1985.
/When twelve-year-old Rinko learns that a neighbor's
daughter is coming from Japan to marry a stranger twice her age,
she sets out to change this arrangement and gains new insights into
love and adult problems.
Uchida, Yoshiko. Journey Home.
Illustrated
by Charles Robinson. pa. 2nd ed. Simon & Schuster, 1982. Ages 8-11
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.
Uchida, Yoshiko. Journey to Topaz Ill. by Donald Carrick.
Scribner's, 1971. Middle School.
Fictionalized account of the author's experiences in a
relocation camp in
Topaz, Utah.
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Picture Books
Bunting, Eve. So Far From the Sea. Illustrated by Chris
K. Soentpiet. Houghton Mifflin, 1998.Ages 7 to 10
When seven-year-old Laura and her family visit
Grandfather's grave at the Manzanar War Relocation Center, the
Japanese American child leaves behind a special symbol. Reviews
at Barnes & Noble
Friedman,
Ina R. How My Parents Learned to Eat
Illus. by Allen Say. Boston: Houghton, Mifflin, 1984. Easy Book
An American sailor courts a Japanese girl and each tries in
secret to
learn how the other eats.
Kroll, Virginia. Pink Paper Swans. Illustrated by Nancy
L. Clouse. William Eerdmans, 1994. Ages 5 to 8
Janetta, intrigued by the paper animals her neighbor
Mrs. Tsujimoto makes, learns the art of origami and becomes Mrs.
Tsujimoto's hands when her arthritis makes it difficult for her
to continue. Reviews at Barnes & Noble
Mochizuki, Ken.
Baseball Saved
Us. Illustrated by Dom Lee. pa. 1st ed. Lee & Low, 1995. Ages 7 to 9.
When a Japanese-American boy and his family are interned in a
camp during WWII, they decide to combat their depression by playing
baseball. Reviews at Barnes &
Noble
Sakai, Kimiko. Sachiko Means Happiness
. Illustrated by Tomie Arai. Children's Book Press, 1990. 28p.
Although at first five-year-old Sachiko is upset when her
grandmother does not recognize her, she grows to understand they can still
be happy together.
Say, Allen. Emma's Rug. Houghton Mifflin, 1996. Ages 6 to
8
A young artist finds that her creativity comes from within
when the rug that she had always relied upon for inspiration is
destroyed..
Say,
Allen. Grandfather's Journey. Houghton Mifflin, 1993. Ages 4-8.
A Japanese American man recounts his grandfather's
journey to America which he later also undertakes, and the feelings
of being torn by a love for two different countries. Reviews at Barnes & Noble
Say, Allen. The Stranger in the Mirror. pa. Houghton Mifflin,
1998. Ages 5 to 8
One morning 8-year-old Martin looks in the mirror and sees
a stranger. Overnight, he has changed. His parents take him to one
doctor after another, only to be told there is nothing wrong with
their son. But Martin has grown old in the space of one day; his
world will never be the same again. [Themes: appearances; aging] Reviews
at Barnes & Noble
Say,
Allen. Tea with Milk. Houghton Mifflin, 1999. Ages 5-11.
After growing up near San Francisco, a young Japanese
woman returns with her parents to their native Japan, but she feels
foreign and out of place. Reviews at Barnes & Noble
Uchida,
Yoshiko.
The Rooster Who Understood Japanese Scribner, 1976. 32p.
Miyo, a young Japanese American girl, helps her neighbor find
a home in the country for her pet.
Yashima, Mitsu. Momo's Kitten. By Mitsu and Taro Yashima.
New York: Puffin Books, 1977. c1961.
A little Japanese American girl finds a stray kitten and is
allowed to keep it as a pet.
Yashima, Taro. Umbrella, New York: Puffin Books, 1977
c1958. Picture Book
Momo eagerly waits for a rainy day so she can use the red boots and
umbrella she received for her third birthday.
Yashima, Taro. Momo's Kitten By Mitsu and Taro Yashima. New
York:
Puffin Books, 1977 c1961.
A little Japanese American girl finds a stray kitten and is
allowed to keep it as a pet.
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