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is Read On! Fort Collins? |
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Jerry
Wilson,
Superintendent of Poudre Schools
1)
Father is my favorite character probably because I related to
him the closest. While I came to know about each of the
other characters and I found them appealing, I did not connect
with their situation. I identified with the father’s
circumstance of being a scapegoat and how he ended up as losing
his identity and sense of what makes meaning.
2) At one point the girl begins separating from the boy.
She becomes sick and delirious. At this point we do not
learn about her inner turmoil. Why did you choose to
present the narrative this way?
3)
I would recommend this book since it provides a clear and
sympathetic account of the Japanese suffering during WWII. The
characters experienced tremendous change and it appeared realistic and
convincing through the author’s portrayal of their emotions, rationale
they created, and the harsh conditions.
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4) The novel is relevant on many levels – children who survived
these situations were parents for many children who are just beginning
to raise families today. Families who are illegal face similar
circumstances in that they are victims of societal hate and their lives
are frequently disrupted as they may lose a parent to an investigation
and that parent may face rough circumstances. Additionally in the
world today families face situations where they lose their rights and
are kept in prison camps for political reasons.
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Wanda Ernst,
Librarian at Boltz Junior High School
"The
characters were kept at a distance, so I didn't have a favorite
character. I assume the author intentionally didn't give
'closeness' to the characters to get across the feeling of
isolation they endured individually and as a family."
1)
Who
was your favorite character and why?
The characters were
kept at a distance, so I didn't have a favorite character. I
assume the author intentionally didn't give
"closeness" to the characters to get across the
feeling of isolation they endured individually and as a family.
3)
Why
would you recommend this book to other people? I would
recommend this book to others because we must see how easy
it is to slip into discrimination of others based solely
on their nationality, beliefs, or other perceived
differences.
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4)
What relevancy do the issues in this book
have in today’s society?
Today's fear of Muslim terrorists is definitely an issue that causes
discrimination in our society. This story brought out how many of the
detainees wanted to be "more" American and less Japanese. It must
be hard to live in a country, trying to assimilate, but not lose your
heritage.
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Charli O’Dell
Boltz
Junior High School
Librarian
| Quote:
"It was not hard to imagine the pain of
leaving their home. It was not hard to imagine the
pain of staying in an internment camp. What I had
not anticipated though, was the pain of returning
home, which in many ways was worse than the
internment camp." |
1)
Favorite Character: I can’t say I have a favorite
character. If I had more insight into the mother’s
feelings I might be able to identify with her. She was
doing the best she could under the circumstances. I do not
see her as exceptional, but more as “average.” She
survived, as did her family. Under the
circumstances, that might have been all that could be
expected. I don’t think the author wanted us to have a
favorite character.
2)
Question for the author: Why didn’t you want us to
know the individual characters? You gave them no names.
Names are important in our society. Names give people an
identity. These people did not seem to have individual
identities…even in the eyes of the author (who was
related to them).
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| 3)
Book recommendation: This book would be a good discussion
book for learning about the plight of people who are
interned or about the effects of ongoing racism. It is not
a good book to “read for enjoyment.” It was not hard
to imagine the pain of leaving their home. It was not hard
to imagine the pain of staying in an internment camp. What
I had not anticipated though, was the pain of returning
home, which in many ways was worse than the internment
camp.
4)
Relevancy today: The mid-eastern residents of our society
are being subjected to racial profiling. Individuals from
mid-eastern countries are paying the price for the
conflict that exists there. The racism problem, however,
goes both ways. As Americans, we also pay the price of
“guilt by association” every time we travel abroad.
Our government actions have not made us very popular
with the rest of the world. It is not uncommon for
American college students who travel abroad to sew
Canadian flag patches on their backpacks and speak with a
French accent. It’s safer. We are also denied our
freedoms when we are on foreign soil. When abroad, we have
no names and no individual identities. We
are just American moms, dads, sons or daughters. |
Charles Kaine,
Reader's Cove
1) I found the father to be the most intriguing of
characters. Even though he was not there until the
end of the book, his presence was the glue that kept the
family together. His letters always displayed hope,
optimism and love despite the fact that he must have been
going through a personal hell all the while he was sending
these postcards.
2) There is an implication that something happened
to the daughter in the camp that she will not speak of,
what is it?
3) It is a very well written story about a not so
pleasant event that Americans did to Americans soul based
on ethnicity. It does a good job of showing the
monotony of three years in a camp, trying to pass the time
and keep sane. It's a quick, easy read that portrays
an event in history not many know about with strong
characters and descriptions that place you in the time
period.
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4) The fact is we don't learn well from the past, and
given the right circumstances we will target a
"group" and punish the whole for actions of the
few. 9-11 and how we dealt with peoples of arabic
descent or of muslim faith is a good example of how easily
this can happen again. |
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Mary Ann Karpowicz,
Secretary
for the USDA
Quote: “My
favorite character was the mother. With an ‘absentee’
husband, she was thrust into the position of single mother
at a time when single mothers were not commonplace. At
the same time, as the family's world was changing
drastically, she was compelled to make important decisions
and care for her children throughout the trauma of being
interred in the camp. Having been a single mom, I can relate
to her wanting to preserve her mementos and her struggle,
not only with life at the camp, but to survive after the
family's return home.”
1) My
favorite character was the mother. With an
"absentee" husband, she was thrust into the
position of single mother at a time when single mothers were
not commonplace. At the same time, as the family's
world was changing drastically, she was compelled to make
important decisions and care for her children throughout the
trauma of being interred in the camp. Having been a single
mom, I can relate to her wanting to preserve her mementos
and her struggle, not only with life at the camp, but to
survive after the family's return home.
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2)
I would ask Ms. Otsuka how autobiographical this book was
and how this event in our country's history affected her
growing up, her adulthood and her family at present.
3) I believe many people are not even aware of this black
time in our country's history. It was certainly not
taught to me at school, and I have no recollection of
hearing about it until I was a grown woman.
4) Since many people are not aware that Japanese citizens
were interred during World War II, they might not see the
similarities between our internment of Iraqi and other
mid-Easterners because of the current war in Iraq. Our
prejudices, whether toward Japanese or Iraqis, based on
truth or fear, still exist today and can only be lessened
with education and looking into the mirror that is this
story. |
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Jennifer
S. Kutzik
Information
Technology Technician II at CSU Library
Quote:
“My favorite character was the girl. I identified with her
because when I was about her age, my family moved from a
large house on a farm to a small duplex in the city. Two
adults, five children, two parakeets and a dog named Poochie
shared less than 900 square feet for many months. My
father’s new job meant he was gone from sun-up to
sun-down, often six days a week. The noisy city demanded a
far different lifestyle from the farm, and privacy was a
thing of the past. I was too young to understand the events
that necessitated the exile from our former home, but I
found out very quickly that life in the city was mostly
lived in the streets and always in public view.”
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1)
1) My favorite character was
the girl. I identified with her because when I was about her
age, my family moved from a large house on a farm to a small
duplex in the city. Two adults, five children, two parakeets
and a dog named Poochie shared less than 900 square feet for
many months. My father’s new job meant he was gone from
sun-up to sun-down, often six days a week. The noisy city
demanded a far different lifestyle from the farm, and
privacy was a thing of the past. I was too young to
understand the events that necessitated the exile from our
former home, but I found out very quickly that life in the
city was mostly lived in the streets and always in public
view.
2)
2) On page 75, Otsuka writes, “She smashed
the tea set and the Imari dishes and the framed portrait of
the boy’s uncle, who had once been a general in the
Emperor’s army.” Was the boy’s uncle the mother’s
brother or the father’s brother? Why did Otsuka say “the
boy’s uncle” and not “the mother’s brother” or
“father’s brother?”
3)
3) I would recommend this book to anyone who
has ever found themselves in a situation that they did not
foresee and could not control.
4)
4) This book has relevance for the exploration
of many topics, including American history, coming of age,
racism, marriage and family life, and most of all, the human
spirit.
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"The Bookies" Book Club
Quote:
"We would recommend this book because it was
short and the writing was sparse and concise, but
mostly because it was a lesson in history that
invited readers to reflect on their own
prejudices."
1) The mother was our favorite character
because she did what she had to do to keep the
family whole and even continued to carry the burden
when her husband returned home a destroyed man. |
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2) We would ask the author why she chose to refer
to the characters in the third person instead of
giving them names. We also wondered about the
meaning of the title.
3) We would recommend this book because it
was short and the writing was sparse and concise,
but mostly because it was a lesson in history that
invited readers to reflect on their own
prejudices.
4) This book is very relevant to today's
society because the issues raised parallel the
racial profiling that happens today, especially
with Islamic extremists.
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Tavelli
Fourth Grade Book Club
and Their Parents
| Quote:
"I would recommend this book because it is a
good, sad book that will help people understand that
everybody should be treated the same way." -
Isabel Bramhall-Heck age 9 |
Who
was your favorite character and why?
Isabel Bramhall-Heck,
9 – The girl because she
always had an answer for her
brother. |
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Becca Bramhall
(Isabel’s mom) – The boy because we heard from his
perspective the most, and he was very sympathetic.
Nicole Knebel
– My favorite character was the girl. She was my
favorite because she was good at taking
care of her young brother, and she was also very good at
reassuring him.
Chris Knebel
– I liked the boy best because he was respectful and
kind.
Lynn Knebel –
My favorite character was the mother because of her
strength throughout most of her ordeal, her keeping her
family together, and her never losing sight of her goal to
go back to the life she once knew. She did what she had to
do.
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Tattered
Covers Book Club
Quote: “We recommend the book because of what historian
Frederick Allen said: ‘Those who do not study history
are doomed to repeat it.’ ”
– Tattered Covers Book Club
1)
Who
was your favorite character?
The boy was spunky. His reflections had the most depth.
The teenaged girl seemed troubled.
We loved the mother’s strength. She was
stoic and insightful. She practically lost her mind. It
was so powerful when she put the house key in her mouth.
It was her link, their pathway back home. She kept her
family together, not knowing where her husband was.
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2)
What
questions would you want to ask the author?
Do you have any familial anecdotes that contributed to the
story? You
wrote the book in 2002, did the events of 9-11 prompt you
to tell the story? Why did you pick those specific ages
for the children?
3)
Why
would you recommend this book?
We recommend the book because of what historian Frederick
Allen said: “Those who do not study history are doomed
to repeat it.”
4)
What
relevancy do the issues in this book have in today’s
society?
The
book has relevancy to our treatment of immigrants,
Muslims, and Hispanics. Children should read this book
because the characters are children.
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Nine Moms Book Club
Nancy
Callahan representative
1)
We had several different favorite characters:
The son - because it was sad and sweet how he was always looking for his father and how he kept thinking he saw his
missing father frequently throughout the
book.
The
father - because he showed anger and frustration at
America
because of what they had put him, his family and other
Japanese through.
The
daughter - because she, and the other interned teens,
continued to try to have a teenager's lives and interests
as best they could despite the
circumstances
they found themselves in.
2)
We had two questions for the author:
Why
was the mood of the book so flat and unemotional for the
most part? The
characters (except for the father) didn't express
frustration, anger, tears, sorrow
etc..
one would expect from such unfair treatment. Was this to
show numbness, depression, obedience?
Why
did the characters not have their names revealed to the
reader? Were
they to depict any Japanese mother, daughter, son, and
father being interned?
Was
this to depict that White Americans thought all the
Japanese were / looked the same?
3)
Yes, we would recommend the book. This part of
America
's history needs to be made more well known to White
America.
4)
We discussed the similarities of Japanese being
stereotyped and feared as the enemy after
Pearl Harbor
and the temptation now for White Americans to
stereotype
and fear Middle Eastern looking people as the enemy after
9/11. Also we
discussed the lost of basic civil rights for the Japanese
interned and see
some
eroding of American's civil rights and privacy happening
now in the
US
in the name of Home Land Security.
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