Mystery at Manzanar

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This book is a combination of text and comic book style illustrations and the use of this combination works very, very well. There is also some factual information about Manzanar and a link to a place on line where young readers can find out more information.

The book is labeled historical fiction and is for younger readers although, as I find so often, the books made for younger readers are just as good (and less boring) than most made for adults.

In this case the story involves Tommy Yamamoto as the main character. He is a Nisei, meaning he was born in the U.S. His parents, being Issei (immigrants from Japan) are not allowed to become American citizens (at that time). Once Pearl Harbor is bombed their father is taken away and locked up without charges or trial (as really happened), and the rest of the family is ordered to move out of their home.

They are relocated to the Santa Anita Race Track and then they end up in the Manzanar internment camp. That's where the main part of the story gets underway.

It's also where the book becomes something that people who know nothing about the internment camps would be confused by and that is the term inu and the politics of those who were in the camp. Some of the Japanese American people in the camps absolutely hated the people running the camps and anyone who seemed to work for them or get along with them were considered traitors to the cause.

One of the prisoners/inmates/interned is an old guy that carves figures from wood. One night he's knocked out and Tommy finds him. A nasty guard accuses Tommy of being the one to attack the guy but Tommy is given time to try to find the real attacker. Since Tommy is a major fan of Sherlock Holmes, he applies an organized approach to the attack in attempting to find the real attacker and to clear his name.

It's a very good story, packing a lot of what was reality in a small book.



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