Description
Amy is a thirteen-year-old Japanese-American girl who lives in Hawaii. When hergreat-grandmother falls ill, Amy travels to visit family in Hiroshima for the first time. But this is 1941. When the Japanese navy attacks Pearl Harbor, it becomes impossible for Amy to return to Hawaii. Conscripted into translating English radio transmissions for the Japanese army, Amy struggles with questions of loyalty and fears about her family amidst rumours of internment camps in America—even as she makes a new best friend and, over the years, Japan starts to feel something like home. Torn between two countries at war, Amy must figure out where her loyalties lie and, in the face of unthinkable tragedy, find hope in the rubble of a changed world.
Review
Amy is young girl who finds herself caught up in the atrocities of World War II. Amy was born in Hawaii and has lived a carefree life with her Mum, Dad, and baby brother Henry, until her world changes forever.
When news comes from her father’s family that her great-grandmother is dying in Japan, and it being very difficult to travel with a young baby, Amy finds herself going to Japan alone. And although she is staying with her family, as an American Amy still feels like an outsider. When the Japanese bomb Pearl Harbor whilst Amy is in Japan, her life will be changed forever.
Amy is an American in Japan, and America are the enemy. When the Japanese army decide that Americans living in Japan could be useful for their English language skills, Amy really finds herself caught in the middle. Where do her loyalties lie?
But life has not only changed for her, but it has also changed for her Japanese family in America too, with devastating consequences...
Amy is strong and brave, and she finds herself in an impossible situation – can she ever find peace when her loyalty is torn between her two countries at war? With sparse words, this is a very powerful graphic novel about a time in world history that we hope is never repeated.
It is suitable for all secondary students.
