So Far from the Sea

Rating:
Summary: So Close to Us
Review: Every time I read this story to the children in the library I worked at I cried. A year later I still remember it vividly. The book showed the atrocity of what we did simply by showing the emotions of Japanese-Americans 50 years later. One truly feels for the father uprooted from his life and culture; the grandfather uprooted from the sea and his fishing. I can relate to the tragedy of being removed from the water. Eve Bunting builds to a dramatic, emotional climax- which is not easy to do in a short children's book. Chris Soetpiet's illustrations are beautiful, with excellent use of both color and black and white. And the short historical synopsis at the end provides opportunity to discuss with children the reality behind the story.

Rating:
Summary: So Close to Us
Review: Every time I read this story to the children in the library I worked at I cried. A year later I still remember it vividly. The book showed the atrocity of what we did simply by showing the emotions of Japanese-Americans 50 years later. One truly feels for the father uprooted from his life and culture; the grandfather uprooted from the sea and his fishing. I can relate to the tragedy of being removed from the water. Eve Bunting builds to a dramatic, emotional climax- which is not easy to do in a short children's book. Chris Soetpiet's illustrations are beautiful, with excellent use of both color and black and white. And the short historical synopsis at the end provides opportunity to discuss with children the reality behind the story.

Rating:
Summary: Manzanar story for children
Review: The site of the Manzanar Relocation Center is found on Hwy 395 South in the Owens Valley of California at the foothills of the Sierras. I have stopped there on several occasions and imagined life as it might have been for the Japanese held there during WWII. Also, I have seen the display of artifacts and photographs at the Eastern California Museum in nearby Independence, CA. It is worth visiting.
I had read stories written for adults on this topic, but Eve Bunting's story for children truly captured my heart. It is beautifully written and well illustrated and moved me to tears. It seemed especially poignant now in the light of the recent events resulting from terrorism; thank God we no longer suspect every one. I will always remember reading this book.

Rating:
Summary: A Children's Book that Is So Much More
Review: Wonderful, chilling book about the imprisonment(more euphemistically called internment by the governmeny) of Japanese-Americans during world war too, told from the point of view of a child who goes to visit one of the prisons(more euphemistically called "camps"), where her grandfather died, so far from the sea, where he had lived before his life was interrupted. It is sad and engulfing, with snippets of irony, that gets the message across with the help of bright pictures.