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Stealing Home

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Stealing Home
Written by: J. Torres
Illustrated by: David Namisato
Kids Can Press, 2021. Graphic Novel.

It's 1941 and Sandy Saito lives in Vancouver, Canada with his family. Sandy loves baseball, and the Asahi baseball team, which is his favorite Japanese Canadian team. Sandy's life is busy with school and baseball but some big changes are coming. First, his baseball team, the Asahi, loose the 1941 semifinals and in December the U.S. naval base Pearl Harbor is attacked. The attack on Pearl Harbor changes life for Sandy and his family and friends. With all the hardships that come because of the war, Sandy learns that life is like baseball, you have to deal with whatever is thrown your way. 

This is an emotional novel that contains historic details woven throughout a fictional story about a Japanese family and the unjust circumstances they were forced into. World War II affected so many people and this book gives readers a look at the injustices Japanese Canadians faced. The hardships are told in beautiful art that shows history in a sensitive way with a baseball theme woven throughout the story. 

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