Write to Me
Letters from Japanese American Children to the Librarian They Left Behind
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- $6.99
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- $6.99
Publisher Description
A touching story about Japanese American children who corresponded with their beloved librarian while they were imprisoned in World War II internment camps.
When Executive Order 9066 is enacted after the attack at Pearl Harbor, children's librarian Clara Breed's young Japanese American patrons are to be sent to prison camp. Before they are moved, Breed asks the children to write her letters and gives them books to take with them. Through the three years of their internment, the children correspond with Miss Breed, sharing their stories, providing feedback on books, and creating a record of their experiences. Using excerpts from children's letters held at the Japanese American National Museum, author Cynthia Grady presents a difficult subject with honesty and hope.
" A beautiful picture book for sharing and discussing with older children as well as the primary audience" — Booklist STARRED REVIEW
"A touching tribute to a woman who deserves recognition" — Kirkus Reviews
"[An] affecting introduction to a distressing chapter in U.S. history and a brave librarian who inspired hope" — Publisher's Weekly
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Grady (I Lay My Stitches Down: Poems of American Slavery) recounts, in partial epistolary format, the true story of San Diego children's librarian Clara Breed, who corresponded with her young Japanese-American patrons while they were interned during WWII. Excerpts from the children's letters appear as small signed postcards that overlay many of Hirao's muted colored-pencil illustrations. "Books make the day shorter and happier for us," one postcard declares; others offer upsetting glimpses into camp life ("We live in a horse stable"). Miss Breed also brought books and small gifts to the children at their Arizona internment camp and advocated in other ways ("She wrote magazine articles. She wrote letters asking for a library and school for the imprisoned children"). Endpapers featuring captioned b&w photographs from that era one shows Japanese-American children awaiting deportation cement the story's context for young readers. This affecting introduction to a distressing chapter in U.S. history and a brave librarian who inspired hope concludes with extensive back matter, including an author's note, a timeline of Breed's life, and a selected history of Japanese-Americans in the U.S. Ages 4 8.
