While Cynthia Kadohata's Weedflower (S & S, 2006) explores this infamous period in American history through the eyes of a Japanese-American girl, Piper's convincing narration allows readers to appreciate the dilemma that occurs when individual rights seem to clash with national security. Over the following months, though, she develops an appreciation for her father's courage, and her previous acquaintance with Betty Sato deepens into a close friendship.
When her father announces that he and Piper will follow their congregation to the Minidoka War Relocation Camp in Idaho, she is furious that she is being uprooted from her friends and her home. Most of her school friends believe that the Japanese students should be expelled and can't understand why Piper defends them, especially since her brother, Hank, was at Pearl Harbor. Suddenly, families from her father's church are being singled out: the FBI has no qualms about arresting American-born Japanese, and "No Japs" signs appear in downtown shop windows. She has never found straddling the two distinct communities unusual however, after the bombing of Pearl Harbor, her world is turned upside down. Since her mother died when she was a baby, her father, pastor at the Japanese Baptist Church, has raised Piper and her older sister and brother. Gr 5≨In 1941 Seattle, Piper Davis is a typical 13-year-old in many ways: she enjoys spending time with her friends, listening to big-band music, and walking home from school with the boy she's sweet on. Suitable for elementary age readers and a fine place to start for discussions about this topic. It’s a complex subject and the book does an excellent job of making it understandable to young readers without dumbing down the subject. Her worry for her brother, her concern about her people she’s known all her life, her initial struggle to accept her father choice to move to Idaho, and her own realization about right and wrong makes this a strong story worth reading. Piper’s best friend and boyfriend both think it’s good to send the Japanese away, and don’t understand Piper’s struggle. Larson did an excellent job of making Piper’s struggle authentic. Piper is a young girl whose life is centered on boys, lipstick, and friends – until her brother is caught at the attack on Pearl Harbor, until her Father’s congregation, all Japanese, are persecuted and sent to internment campus, until she if confronted with the realities of war. With clear and simple prose, author Kirby Larson brings to life Piper Davis.
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