First published 2006
Sumiko divides her life into before and after Pearl Harbor. The twelve-year-old grows up on a California flower farm, where she endures teasing as the only Japanese girl in her class but finds comfort in her family and their vibrant gardens. After Pearl Harbor, suspicion falls on all Japanese Americans, including those born in the United States like Sumiko. She and her family get forced into an internment camp located in a scorching desert. The colorful world she knew disappears, replaced by dust storms and military barracks. Sumiko learns the camp sits on an Indian reservation, where the Japanese face rejection once again. She meets a young Mohave boy who could become her first real friend, but he struggles with anger over the camp's presence on his tribe's land. Their potential friendship must bridge not only racial differences but also the complex tensions created when two displaced communities occupy the same space.
Genres: american-fiction, historical-fiction, 20th-century, young-adult
Vibes: emotional, intimate, thought-provoking
Tropes: fish-out-of-water, found-family
Setting: California, Indian Reservation
Period: Pearl Harbor
260 pages · Hardcover · Atheneum Books for Young Readers
Content warnings: racism