Skip to main content

The Children of Topaz: The Story of a Japanese-American Internment Camp


The Children of Topaz: The Story of a Japanese-American Internment Camp, Based on a Classroom Diary by Michael O. Tunnell and George W. Chilcoat. After the attack on Pearl Harbor, many people saw the Japanese-Americans as a threat to national security. The solution our government came up with was internment camps, one of which was in Topaz, Utah. All people of Japanese descent were relocated from the West Coast. It did not matter if they had been made citizens or were born here in the United States, they still had to move to the camps. Using one classroom's diary, complete with drawings by the students, the authors have provided us with a look into daily life in the internment camp. It is refreshing to see the determination of these children and their teachers to carry on a normal life in the face of adversity. The most amazing thing to me was that despite being forced into this lifestyle by the government, the people of Topaz still fully supported the United States and did everything they could to help the war effort. My only complaint about this book is not with the subject matter or how it was written, but with the presentation. Each section is headed by a photo of one of the pages from the classroom diary, the text is then reprinted below the picture. I found the text in the photos readable and the reprinting unnecessary. Then in the main body of each section further detail was given to each statement in the diary. Essentially you read the same thing three times. Despite this minor annoyance, I found this book to be a fascinating account of a little known event in US history.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Dragon Run

Dragon Run by Patrick Matthews Scholastic, 2013.  336 pgs.  Fantasy      Al Pilgrommor is excited for Testing Day, when he will receive his rank, a tattooed number on the back of his neck, and a path forward to his future occupation and life.  He feels confident because his parents were fours on a scale of seven, but he is worried for his friend Wisp who doesn't have much of a chance of scoring above a two at best. But when Al is scored a zero, he not only has no prospects, he may lose his life as the dreaded Cullers are unleashed to kill him and his family to purify the land's bloodlines.  Al's world is ruled by dragons--the lords and supposed creators of humankind--so he thinks that even if he survives, he will have to make his living as a beggar or thief. But when Al sticks up for his Earther friend in front of Magister Ludi, he is drawn into the struggle of a secret organization hoping to destroy the Cullers, and perhaps the dragons them...

Painting for Peace in Ferguson

Painting for Peace in Ferguson By Carol Swartout Klein Treehouse Publishing Group, 2015. Nonfiction. When the city of Ferguson was overrun with so much hate and despair that homes and businesses had to be boarded up to protect property, citizens of the community decided to bring a message of hope by painting the boarded windows. Klein’s rhyming text supports the photographs of the hundreds of artists and volunteers and their artwork as they bring the messages of peace, hope, love, and that by being united they can make a difference. A great book to show children how a community rallied to make a positive change and that even a small gesture can make a huge difference. A great discussion opener on how we should treat each other.

Review: We're All Gonna Die-Nosaur!

We’re All Gonna Die-nosaur! By Kon Tan  New York: Disney Hyperion, 2025. Intermediate. 157 pages.  Pterry (the “p” is silent) pterodactyl is a worry wart. Pterry is worried about flying (he doesn’t how to fly yet), dinosaurs going extinct (he had a scary dream), and how to protect his family (he has a little brother who hasn’t fully hatched from an egg yet). Even though there is a lot of feels for Pterry, this is actually quite a funny book. Pterry tries to learn how to fly with kites as his “training wheels” and his brother who is inside an egg is quite the adventurer.  This is a funny, heart-felt comic-like intermediate fiction book that will be great for many readers. If kids love dinosaurs, this book is for them. If kids like funny graphic novels, this book is for them. If kids want to read something about facing fears and doing things even though they don’t always want to, this book is for them. Plus, even though Pterry does a lot of things on his own, he still has s...