Teresa R. Funke

I really enjoyed reading this book. I received this book as a winner of a goodreads drawing and am so glad I did! It is set in 1943 at a Japanese Interment Camp and centers around a 14-year-old boy who is struggling to decide whether to stay loyal to the United States or whether to follow in his older brothers footsteps and become angry and resentful to the country he is a citizen of, but was willing to put him in a camp. I have read many stories about this period in the history of the United States and found this book to present both sides of Japanese people's feelings about being placed in camps during World War II. The book was sensitive to those who felt strongly about filling out the questionnaire "no" to being loyal to America and "no" to being willing to serve in the United States military. It also presented how so many Japanese Americans still felt loyal to America and thankful to be in the country despite losing everything and being forced to go to a camp. I was really impressed with how the author portrayed the spirit of the people in the camps and strongly made the point that it is not what is done to you, but how you respond. Excellent book!… (més)