Imprisoned: The Betrayal of Japanese Americans During World War II by Martin W. Sandler Published by Walker Books for Young Readers, 2013. Age Range: 12-17 (middle school and up) Lexile Score: 1240L 2014 YALSA Award for Excellence in Nonfiction Finalist Imprisoned is an explanatory nonfiction book that gives details of the Japanese internment camps during World War II. The book is broken into chapters, and has text features like a table of contents, photographs, captions, an index and sidebars. Some parts of the book read like a story, but it doesn't follow one person. The author includes several quotes and excerpts from different people who were involved in the internment camps. The recollections add authenticity to the text. They tell stories about what it was like on the inside of the camps, which most people living in the US at the time had no idea about. Here is an example of a page: I like the way this book is organized chronologically. It starts out by talking about when the Japanese first started immigrating to America at the beginning of the twentieth century, and follows them through the mass hysteria following Pearl Harbor all the way until they were finally released from the internment camps at the end of the war. Each chapter is in depth enough to try and explain how something like this could happen in America, but simplistic enough that it is easy to read. The book is definitely not just a collection of facts. The author does a good job of connecting all the facts and quotes into a very readable text. The accompanying photographs provide a window into that time period. This book belongs in a middle and high school collection. It is a wonderful introduction to a topic that is often glossed over in history textbooks. I had never really learned anything about Japanese internment camps in school, other than they happened. We grow up learning how atrocious the concentration camps were in Germany, and barely anything is mentioned about the concentration camps that Japanese Americans were forced to live in. I think this book could function as a companion to a history textbook or as part of a larger text set on World War II. This is an important topic that needs more coverage. Especially with the climate of our country leading up to the election, this book is even more vital to remind us how cruel we can be to our own citizens. As Congressman Mel Levine noted; "Frightened people do frightening things." (p. 26) Just as people are frightened by ISIS and the War on Terror, people in the 1940s were terrified by the attack on Pearl Harbor. this caused them to immediately distrust anyone who looked remotely Japanese for fear that they would be sympathetic. This scarily parallels rhetoric about the Muslim population in America today. This book would obviously be popular with history teachers to provide more of a balanced view of American history. Any students who are interested in World War II would be interested to read about this little known topic. This book could be paired with other nonfiction books about the Japanese internment camps, as well as historical fiction books covering the same time period:
2 Comments
10/5/2016 06:55:05 pm
Hi Kayla, I really enjoyed your review of this book and I think the supplementary books that you recommend sound like they're spot on and would be great companions. I think you're completely right that this is a part of our history that is sometimes glossed over. As you mentioned, we are all horrified over the Jewish concentration camps over in Germany, but then don't really reflect on the horrors of our own Japanese internment camps. Obviously this is a pretty heavy topic. Would you say it's too heavy for some kids? What would be the youngest you would recommend this book for?
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Kayla Taylor
10/7/2016 09:44:16 pm
Ashley, I would recommend this book for middle school and up. Some mature upper elementary school students may be able to handle it, but most elementary students will not be emotionally ready to handle such a heavy topic.
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AuthorMy name is Kayla Taylor. I am currently taking LIS-S672 Seminar in Youth Literature - Nonfiction. These are the books I have read this semester and my reviews. ArchivesCategories |