Dust of Eden: A Novel, by Mariko Nagai (Albert Whitman & Co., 2014)

Recommended for ages 8-12

This slim historical novel in verse packs an wallop of an emotional punch. It tells the story of Mina Tagawa, a young Japanese-American girl from Seattle who along with her family is imprisoned in an internment camp in Idaho, where they live for three years. 

The author sensitively portrays this shameful period in our history, and the way in which different members of Mina's family react: her stoic grandfather; her angry father, a newspaper reporter who is arrested soon after Pearl Harbor; her frustrated teenaged brother, who joins the highly decorated Japanese regiment that fought in Europe. We also see the reaction of Mina's white best friend and her family, who try to remain loyal to their Japanese American friends and neighbors during this difficult time.  In a particularly moving passage, Mina's brother Nick writes of his experience liberating Dachau, drawing comparisons to the camp he lived in Idaho surrounded by barbed wire and guard towers like the ones he saw in Germany.  

In an afterword, the author explains that she was inspired to write Dust of Eden by her childhood doctor, a second-generation Japanese American who was interned along with his family during World War II.  The afterword gives a short background on the chronology of the internment.  

Book Review: The Friendship Doll, by Kirby Larson (Delacorte, 2011)

Recommended for ages 8-12.

Release date:  May 10, 2011

Award-winning author Kirby Larson's newest historical fiction novel for children tells the story of four girls whose lives are intertwined with a remarkable nearly life-size Japanese doll.  Larson was inspired by a photograph she found while researching her earlier book, Hattie Big Sky.  This photo showed a 1920's Montana farm girl dressed in overalls standing next to an exquisitely detailed Japanese doll, dressed in traditional kimono.  Larson's research unearthed the true story of 58 dolls sent to the United States from Japan in 1927 as Ambassadors of Friendship, a gift from Japanese schoolchildren.  The dolls were three feet tall, with real human hair and handpainted faces, dressed in a silk kimono and accompanied by sets of miniature accessories, including chests, tea sets, parasols, and even tiny passports.  Sadly, after the bombing of Pearl Harbor and the rise in anti-Japanese sentiment, most of the dolls were removed from public display, and while some have been recovered, others were lost forever.

Larson's tale follows the adventures of Miss Kanagawa, "a doll like none other," from the 1920's to the present day. Miss Kanagawa narrates parts of her own story, and her proud and courageous personality, imbued with true samurai spirit, shines through the narrative.  She is honored to be an ambassador, with an important role to play; "I simply happen to be a doll," she writes.

Miss Kanagawa's musings are interspersed with the stories of four girls whose lives she influences, girls from very different backgrounds:  Bunny, a rich upper-class girl from New York City, who is part of the contingent to welcome Miss Kanagawa to New York City; Lois, whose grandmother takes her to the Chicago World Fair in the height of the Depression, where Miss Kanagawa is on display; Willie Mae, a small-town Kentucky girl, who finds herself with a job reading to an elderly woman who now owns Miss Kanagawa; and Lucy, an Okie who with her out-of-work father travels to the West Coast in search of work.  There Lucy, an aspiring writer, visits a small museum where she, too, encounters Miss Kanagawa.

Each of these stories could easily have become overly sentimental, but I found them charming and moving, as each girl learns what friendship is all about, and Miss Kanagawa herself learns to feel love bit by bit.  The stories include rich historical settings, including the Chicago World's Fair, a packhorse librarian who delivers books to Willie Mae, and the plight of the Okies.  It's a perfect book for doll-lovers, young and old, although you don't have to be a doll person to appreciate the book's message.  For me, it made me remember some of the doll stories I loved as a little girl, particularly Dare Wright's Lonely Doll stories about Edith the doll, and Raggedy Ann and Andy's many adventures. This novel would be terrific fun for mother-daughter book groups to enjoy together.

While the book does not include any pictures of the real dolls, there is an author's note with additional information about the history of these unique ambassadors, as well as historical notes about each girl's story.  The author also provides some information on contemporary Americans who are working to keep the spirit of the Friendship Dolls alive (see in particular Bill Gordon's website).

Women's History Month Book Review and Giveaway: Eliza's Cherry Trees: Japan's Gift to America, by Andrea Zimmerman and Ju Hong Chen (Pelican Publishing, 2011)

Recommended for ages 7-12.  


In the midst of the worst disaster to strike Japan since World War II, it's somehow poignant to recall, through this new picture book, an early gesture of friendship between the two countries:  Japan's gift of cherry trees to the nation's capital.

But do you know the story of how that gift came about?  Andrea Zimmerman's book tells the story of a remarkable woman, Eliza Scidmore, who in the late 19th century, led a life of high adventure, writing about her travels all over the world for a variety of magazines and newspapers, including National Geographic, where she was the first woman journalist.  She was a photographer as well, and took pictures for the Smithsonian.  She even wrote the first guidebook to Alaska.  But she particularly fell in love with Japan and its people, studying Japanese art and learning to speak the language.  Especially struck by the beauty of Japanese gardens, she called their cherry trees "the most beautiful thing in the world."

When Eliza returned home to Washington, she came up with the idea of planting these special trees in the nation's capital.  For years her plans met with plenty of "no's" from Washington bureaucrats; it wasn't until she got the support of the president's wife, Mrs Taft, however, that the trees could be sent.  It wasn't an easy process--the first trees that arrived were diseased, and had to be burned.  Three thousand new trees were sent, however, and were finally planted in March of 1912. [In 1965, 3,800 more trees were accepted as a gift by then First Lady Lady Bird Johnson.]

The trees not only beautified the city, they became an important symbol of peace and friendship between countries.  A famous National Cherry Blossom Festival draws thousands of visitors each spring in Washington.  As part of a number of projects underway to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the original gift, the National Park Service will be sending cuttings from the original trees to the Japan Cherry Blossom Association to be planted in Japan (see article in The Japan Times).

The book features lovely illustrations by Chinese artist Ju Hong Chen.  Back matter includes a timeline, with further biographical details about Eliza Scidmore. An attractive website has also been set up on Scidmore, with a teacher's guide and other resources relevant to the book. 

Other blog review:

Dad of Divas

Andrea Zimmerman's recent interview on NPR's show Here and Now can be found at this link.  

Disclosure:  Review copy provided by publisher.

Would you like to win a copy of this beautiful picture book for your home or school library?  If so, please leave a comment below with your e-mail address.  A winner will be chosen by random number generator on March 31, 2011 and will be notified by e-mail.  

Tween Tuesday Book Review: The Fences Between Us: The Diary of Piper Davis, by Kirby Larson (Scholastic, 2010) ISBN 9780545224185

Tween Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted by Green Bean Teen Queen that highlights great reads for tweens.


Recommended for ages 8-12.  

Award-winning author Kirby Larson, author of many outstanding titles including the Newbery winner Hattie Big Sky, offers us the first title in a relaunch of Scholastic's popular  Dear America series.  The Fences Between Us is the diary of Piper Davis, the appealing 13-year old daughter of a pastor at a Japanese Baptist church in 1941 Seattle.  When her 18-year old big brother Hank and his two best buddies (known among themselves as the Three Musketeers) enlist in the Navy, they're sent to Pearl Harbor, where the family thinks they will be far away from any action.  In the meantime, Piper and her best friend Trixie share typical girl worries--does Bud with the gorgeous green eyes who's in their class really like Piper?  The reader knows, though, that trouble is coming, and we live with Piper through the shock of the Japanese bombing of Pearl Harbor, and the terror of not knowing if her brother is alive or dead.

Soon Japanese-Americans she has known her whole life are arrested by the FBI, and sent to prison, without proper charges.  Her life at home is changing too, as her older sister gets married to her sweetheart, who soon ships off to England, and then begins working at Boeing as one of the Rosie Riveters.  And although she's not really supposed to date, Piper's secretly going steady with Bud, who's given her his pin, and she's exploring her love for photography as she studies Margaret Bourke-White for a school report.  But things are about to become much worse for her father's congregants.  Piper watches as the Japanese from Bainbridge Island are the first to go, sent to Camp Harmony, a place where there is nothing harmonic at all.  A former fairgrounds, Japanese-American families sleep in converted horse stalls.  Within weeks all their Seattle Japanese-American friends are also deported to Camp Harmony, and after that to a permanent war relocation camp in Idaho. Piper is surprised that at her school, her classmates carry on as if everything is normal, "as if a quarter of our student population wasn't missing...I know this relocation plan is...meant to help us feel safe.  But when I look around, I don't feel safe; I feel sad," she writes in her diary.

When Piper's Pop decides to join his flock at the Minidoka relocation camp, Piper is distraught and furious with him, but has no choice but to accompany him.  The second half of the book takes place at the camp near Eden, Idaho.  The camp itself "is worse than I ever imagined."  And Piper and her father are not popular in town--restaurants refuse to serve them and landlords won't rent to them because they're "Jap-lovers."  Piper decides to attend school in the camp with the Japanese kids instead of in town, even though they have no chalkboards, desks, or even books.  The camp residents try to make life as "normal" as possible,  but it takes months to even get necessities such as coal stoves or regular toilets for the residents.

Larson provides plenty of details about life on the home front, from civil defense drills, Victory gardens, and the agonizing waits to hear from relatives on the front lines, as well as many details about life in the internment camp that Kirby garnered from personal interviews with camp residents as well as many other sources.  Through all the hardships, Piper learns that "even if we can't do much about the fences that get built around people, when fences get built between people, it's our job to tear them down."

Remarkably, we learn in an afterword that this story is based on the real-life story of Pastor Andy Andrews, who moved from Seattle to Twin Falls, Idaho, to be near his congregation, all of whom had been sent to Minidoka.  This choice was very hard on his family, and author Larson writes "He did what he believed was right, no matter what."  We can all be glad that Larson has chosen to share a story based on such a quietly heroic figure.

This is a terrific addition to a well-loved series, perfect for those readers who have outgrown American Girl and Magic Treehouse but enjoy history-related titles.  As is typical in this series, there is an afterword with additional information and photographs of life in American during this period (1941), as well as links to helpful websites on Camp Harmony, Minidoka, and oral histories of those incarcerated at these camps.  Also, check out Scholastic's new Dear America site for news of other releases in this series and to experience Piper's scrapbook and other activities.  There is also a companion site for teachers.

I would also recommend a related book published earlier this year, Best Friends Forever:  A World War II Scrapbook, by Beverly Patt, which explores the close friendship between two 14-year old girls, one of whom is Japanese-American, during the same time period.

For adults who would enjoy a good novel involving the Japanese community in Seattle during World War II, I recommend the Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet by Jamie Ford, a 2009 romantic historical novel that tells the story of a young Chinese-American boy who falls in love with a Japanese-American girl on the eve of World War II.

Related articles

• The Dear America series rides again! (thesassylibrarian.blogspot.com)

Book Review: Heart of a Samurai, by Margi Preus (Amulet Books, 2010)

Recommended for ages 10 and up.

Inspired by a true story, Heart of a Samurai, by debut novelist Margi Preus, tells the fascinating tale of young Nakahama Manjiro, who at the opening of book is a 14-year old fisherman from a small village in Japan and goes on to become the first Japanese person to visit the United States.

In 1841, when the book begins, Japan's Sakoku policy under which no foreigner could enter or leave Japan under penalty of death had been in effect for nearly two centuries, and Japanese children were taught that Westerners were blue-eyed demons and barbarians. Yet when Manjiro and his comrades are shipwrecked on a tiny island, he is rescued by a passing American whaling boat when he and the others are nearly at death's door. Everything about the Westerners is strange to the Japanese fisherman, from their bizarre way of sitting on chairs, with their legs swinging under them, to eating with a fork, to their strange clothing with buttons and pockets. Manjiro is quick to learn their language, and is encouraged by the ship's kind captain, a New Englander named Whitfield, to ask as many questions as he likes. To begin with, he's never even heard of America!

While on the American ship, Manjiro is introduced to American-style whaling. When he proves his bravery during the whale hunt, the captain gives him a new American name: John Mung. Whitfield explains to Majiro that America is the land of opportunity, where men can fulfill their hopes and dreams. In Japan, Manjiro had never ever thought about such things; if your father was a fisherman, you, too, were a fisherman, and so it went, from generation to generation. When the Captain offers Manjiro the chance to go to America with him as his adopted son, Manjiro accepts, leaving his friends behind in the Sandwich Islands.

When Manjiro arrives in America, he is puzzled by the prejudice he encounters. Boys laugh at him openly, as well as making faces and gestures behind his back, even pulling at their eyelids. At church, the elders think he would be more "comfortable in the seats reserved for negroes." He must cope with intolerance at school as well. Although the captain and his wife are kind to him, Manjiro is homesick for Japan, but how will he ever be able to return?

When Manjiro is offered a position on a ship that will be sailing in Japanese waters, he sets sail, but years pass, and many adventures, including time spent in the California gold fields, before he is able to make his way back to Japan.

When he finally lands in his homeland, the much-anticipated reunion with his family is not to be; instead he is arrested and imprisoned as a Western spy! Not until 1852, eleven years after he originally left Japan, is he reunited with his family. At the conclusion of the story, Manjiro is called into service by a Japanese lord who wants Manjiro to teach his samurai more about the "barbarians." Perhaps Manjiro will even become a samurai himself, an unheard-of-dream for a former lowly fisherman.

In an epilogue, Preus explains that just months after Manjiro began teaching, Matthew Perry demanded access to Japanese ports for a fleet of American ships. Suddenly Manjiro's knowledge of America was in high demand by the shogun himself, and Manjiro indeed was elevated to samurai rank, an unprecedented event for someone of such low birth. His many accomplishments included translating navigational books into Japanese, writing the first English book for Japanese people, interpreting at the first Japanese embassy to the U.S., and teaching navigation, shipbuilding, English, and mathematics.

I found this action-packed historical fiction/adventure story to be a real page-turner.  Moreover, after having read a number of books where young Westerners find themselves in Japan (see my reviews of The Young Samurai series, for example), it was interesting to imagine just how strange America and the West would have seemed to a Japanese person at this time.  One caveat for sensitive readers:  there are quite graphic descriptions of the whaling activities, which may disturb some young animal lovers.

The author includes a glossary of Japanese words, whaling terms, and sailors' lingo, as well as a bibliography for further reading.

The story of Manjiro has so many classic adventure story elements--a shipwreck, rescue by "barbarians," violence, danger, mutiny, a "fish-out-of-water" theme, even gold fever. Not surprisingly Manjiro's amazing story has inspired several other books for young readers as well. These include:

Manjiro: The Boy Who Risked His Life for Two Countries, a picture book by Emily Arnold McCully (Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2008) and Shipwrecked!: The True Adventures of a Japanese Boy, by Rhoda Blumberg (Harper Collins, 2003), a biography aimed for ages 9-12.

Release date:  August 1, 2010

Book Review: Best Friends Forever: A World War II Scrapbook, by Beverly Patt (Marshall Cavendish, 2010)

Recommended for ages 9-14.

Tweens are likely to identify strongly with the sensitively-drawn characters in Beverly Patt's new scrapbook/novel that tells the story of a close friendship between 14-year old Louise and her best friend Dottie Masuoka during World War II. Louise starts the scrapbook when the Masuoka family and all other Japanese families are "relocated" to internment camps at the beginning of the war; it's her way of keeping a record of everything that happens to share with Dottie upon her return, from the goings-on at school to the growth of Dottie's puppy, Roxy, who she was forced to leave with Louise and her family because pets were not allowed at the internment camps. With yellowed pages and old newspaper clippings, photos, and miscellaneous period items such as hair ribbons and margarine box labels attached with yellowed tape, the book looks like it could indeed be a old scrapbook, which adds to the realism of the story.

Louise includes Dottie's illustrated letters to her describing life in the camp, from the boredom, the constant dust, to her worries about her grandfather's declining health. Dottie wonders poignantly in one of her letters to Louise, "Why was I born with this Japanese face? No one can see my American heart."

Louise has her own troubles at home; because of their German last name, neighbors throw rocks through their front window, together with a note "Go back to Germany, Nazis." She can't help wondering why, since America is at war with Germany and Italy too, they aren't locked up in camps like the Japanese? How can America be "the land of the free and the home of the brave," Louise wonders, when her friend Dottie and her family are forced to live behind barbed wire. Not to mention the small dramas of teenage life that Louise must cope with, including how to knit socks for soldiers without holes, squabbles with friends, growing a Victory Garden, her worries when her own brother joins the Navy, and even a flirtation with a wounded sailor.

When Dottie and her family are moved to another internment camp, Louise's letters go unanswered. Why doesn't Dottie answer? Louise begins a letter-writing campaign to the Office of War Relocation Authority in a desperate (and ultimately successful) attempt to find out the whereabouts of her friend's family.

The scrapbook covers just a year, and at the end, many questions are unresolved, including when Dottie will be able to come home. But Louise knows in her heart that their friendship will endure.

This was a very well-done and well-researched book that would be enjoyed by girls who read the American Girl series of historical fiction, and are ready to read something aimed at a bit older audience. The book also recalls the series of handwritten historical journals by fictional girls by Marissa Moss (i.e. Hannah's Journal). The only jarring note I found in the book was on the end-pages, where it looks as if Louise has written in by hand: "Louise + Dottie = BF4Ever." This type of abbreviation, which will be easily interpreted by contemporary young people who are used to texting, doesn't seem to fit into the World War II context of the book.

The book includes an excellent Author's Note which provides background on Japanese involvement in World War II and the internment camps set up by the U.S. government. Patt also provides a bibliography at the end of the book. Additional resources are available on the author's website, which includes a teacher's guide, an interview with the author about the book, and a recipe for sugar cookies referred to in the story.

Those interested in further exploring Japanese internment camps may want to read Cynthia Kadohata's novel Weedflower, as well as the classic Farewell to Manzanar.

Book Review: Young Samurai: The Way of the Sword (Hyperion, 2010)

Recommended for ages 9-14.

British author Chris Bradford continues his action-packed saga of samurai and ninja in the second installment of The Young Samurai series: The Way of the Sword. Jack Fletcher, shipwrecked, orphaned by ninja pirates, and then adopted by a samurai in 17th century Japan, has completed his first year of samurai school. His problems are not over, however; his classmates still taunt him as a "gaijin" (barbarian foreigner), anti-Christian sentiment is spreading, and worse yet, the evil ninja Dragon Eye is still after Jack and his father's rutter, which contains the secret routes to navigate the world's oceans.

Once every three years, the samurai students have a chance to compete in the ancient ritual of the Circle of Three, testing their mind, body, and spirit. Those who pass this test will be allowed to learn Two Heavens, a secret martial art technique. Selection trials are held, and only the top five students progress to the Circle. Readers will not be surprised that Jack is among this elite group, as is his female friend, Akiko, and Kazuki, his arch-enemy at school. But will Jack be able to survive the competition?

Once again, Bradford peppers his action-adventure story with many details of Japanese life and culture, including four hour tea ceremonies, zen gardens, origami cranes, and more. I would not advise reading these books out of order; readers might be confused without the background from the first book in the series. One observation: the Circle of Three competition reminded me more than a little of the Tri-wizard tournament in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, moved to Japan, with its all-but impossible tasks to complete. Perhaps Harry fights the samurai could be a good topic for a fan-fiction writer!

As in the prior volume, the author includes a useful Japanese glossary, complete with a guide to pronouncing Japanese words. Much of the vocabulary is likely to be familiar to anime and manga fans, however.

You can read an excerpt from this book here.

Four volumes of this series have been published to date in the U.K.; the next volume, The Way of the Dragon, will be published in the U.S. in 2011.

Book Review: Young Samurai: The Way of the Warrior, by Chris Bradford (Hyperion Books, 2009)

Recommended for ages 9-14.

In this swashbuckling adventure story by first-time British author Chris Bradford, we meet young Jack Fletcher, 12, who finds himself alone in Japan in 1609 when all his shipmates, including his father, are killed by ninja pirates. At this time the Portuguese were the only Westerners who had found the route to Japan, and Jack manages to salvage from the ship his father’s rutter, which contains all the ocean charts, an incredibly valuable resource for whoever has the rutter in his possession. Miraculously, Jack is adopted by a samurai lord who has lost his own son to the same pirates, and he rapidly learns Japanese. He is then sent to samurai school, where despite his talents, he is mocked as a barbarian foreigner.

This is a very exciting adventure story, perfect for boys who are reluctant readers and who may be anime or manga fans. Girls may enjoy it as well, as there is a very strong Japanese female character who is also training to be a samurai. Similar to the James Clavell novel Shogun in many ways, only for kids, I can't help thinking of this book as Shogun Light. The author, himself trained in numerous martial arts including samurai swordsmanship, provides lots of interesting historical details and details on fighting techniques that make the book sure to appeal to many boys.

You can read the first chapter here:
You can also listen to the prologue here:

Hyperion has provided a very attractive and informative website for the Young Samurai series, which includes Samurai School, with short videos narrated by the author containing information on samurai vs. ninja, etiquette in Japan, weapons, and Zen.

The second book in the series, Young Samurai: The Way of the Sword, was recently published in the U.S. and will shortly be reviewed on my blog.

Book Review: Moonshadow: Rise of the Ninja by Simon Higgins (Little, Brown, 2010)

Recommended for ages 10 and up.

Set in Japan at the end of the medieval period and dawn of the Tokugawa era, this exciting, action-packed novel tells the story of young Moonshadow, an orphan who has been raised to be a member of the Grey Light Order, a secret brotherhood of ninja spy warriors. The members of the order are the closest thing he has ever had to a family, and he feels a strong loyalty to them. Moonshadow is not only highly trained in all sorts of weapons and disguises, he has a unique ability known in the book as The Eye of the Beast, which allows him to link his mind to that of an animal, using its senses to see.

His first mission pits him against Silver Wolf, a powerful samurai who is plotting to disturb the new peace in Japan, with the help of European allies. Silver Wolf has plans that could change the face of Japan forever--designs for guns that can file multiple times, with improved accuracy. Moonshadow's mission: to break into Silver Wolf's well-guarded castle and steal the plans. He must overcome not only a special crack team assembled by Silver Wolf to guard his castle, but also another ninja--a girl--sent to steal the plans as well.

Simon Higgins has unique qualifications to write about this period of Japanese history. A former detective, he is not only an award-winning children's author in Australia, he is also an expert in Iaido, the Japanese art of sword-drawing and duelling. His intimate knowledge of weaponry, armor, and other fighting implements definitely shines through in the book, with its very detailed and realistic action sequences. Higgins also provides plenty of local color through Japanese vocabulary scattered through the text; many of these words will be familiar to manga/anime fans but Higgins provides a useful glossary, complete with definitions and how to pronounce the foreign words.

Teachers notes on Higgins' website provide excellent historical and cultural context for the novel. Higgins explains that "the world of Moonshadow is romanticized or fantasy-enhanced history, rather than traditional epic fantasy in the Lord of the Rings or Chronicles of Narnia mode." Many of the elements of the story, including the city of Edo, the Tokaido (Japan’s great highway), and the shinobi-ninja secret weapons and practices are based on historical fact, as are many of the religious traditions depicted.

A sequel, Moonshadow: The Wrath of Silver Wolf, was published in Australia in 2009 and I expect it will be available in the U.S. as well in the near future.

This novel is likely to be very popular with young people who like action-adventure novels, particularly boys. It's a great book to recommend to young people who are fans of Japanese manga and anime. Highly recommended for school and public libraries, as well as for summer reading.

Young people who enjoy this story might also like to read:

Blood Ninja, by Nick Lake (Simon & Schuster, 2009) and
Young Samurai: The Way of the Warrior, by Chris Bradford (Hyperion, 2009).