1. When you look at the cover of the book, do certain feelings rise up inside you? What are they? Why are you feeling them?

2. What questions do you ask yourself about the novel as you look at the cover?

3. What kinds of problems do you think these two children might face in this story?

4. Do you think you will be reading about any of these real-life themes in this story: bravery, friendship, fairness, cat food, bullying, anger, being yourself, family? One of these suggestions is not a real-life theme. It is a detail. Here are more examples of detail words: train, snow, fence, guard tower, roller skates, baseball, milk pail.

5. Talk for a few minutes with your partner about question 4. Then begin to read the story.

1. Why did the authors write this book? What were the authors feeling and thinking before they wrote the book?

2. What could be the main idea for this whole book? What could be some more main ideas in this story?

3. Did the chapter titles help you to understand the main idea of each chapter? Give an example from one of your favorite chapters?

4. What were Gordon's traits as a good friend?

5. What were Nina's traits as a good friend?

6. At their school, why were some of the students bullies, but not all of the students?

7. Was it a good plan or a bad plan to close the school for a few days? Why?

8. What do you think about President Roosevelt's decision to put people of Japanese ancestry into these wartime camps? Talk about who was forced into the the camps and why?

9. What would you name these camps and why? Detention? Prison? Concentration? Internment? Protection?

10. How would you describe the fathers of the authors? The mothers of the authors?

11. Could the United States government have made some different decisions about putting people into these camps? Why or why not? What could have been some alternatives, some other plans?

12. Did the U.S. court judges charge all the camp prisoners with spying for Japan on the U.S.?

13. Did we round up all people of Japanese descent in America? Why or why not?

14. Below are some real-life themes that Gordon and Nina had to face. Choose one of these real-life themes that you have experienced in your own life. Write about what happened. How did you choose to deal with it? How did it end for you?

▪ Distance cannot separate true friends or loving family members.
▪ Overcoming obstacles makes you stronger.
▪ Learn from your mistakes.
▪ Never give up.
▪ Racism is rooted in ignorance and fear.
▪ We can accomplish more by working together to solve problems.
▪ There are always several solutions to a problem, not just two possibilities.
▪ You are never too young to do something good to solve a problem.

15. What particular quote from the story made you have good feelings?
Why? Or uncomfortable feelings? Why? Go back to the book. Find the quote. Write it down. Discuss it with your 4-person group. Tell why it is important and why it affects you. At home tonight, first, write down this quote from the story. Next, explain why you chose this quote. Then tell how each member of your group responded to the quote. Last, did you change your mind about the quote, or do you still think and feel the same way about your quote?

1. Ask your parents and grandparents what they know about the evacuation and internment of Japanese from the West Coast during World War II. Ask them any questions you might have; answer any questions they ask you.

2. Write 200 words describing what you would do, and what your family would do, if you received a notice you were going to be evacuated and interned in a camp in Colorado.

3. Write 200 words describing your feelings and what you would do if your best friend was to be evacuated and interned in a camp in Wyoming.

4. Construct a diorama of some aspect of an internment camp: The overall camp buildings; inside a 20’ x 24’ apartment; the mess hall/dining room; open showers and toilets; barbed-wire fences and guard towers; other ideas.

1. What is the history of Japanese immigration to Hawaii and the United States from the late 1860s through to the time of Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941?

2. American-born second-generation Nisei men after Pearl Harbor were initially considered enemy aliens, and only in early 1943 were they re-classified and returned to status as American citizens and therefore subject to the military draft. What went on in the minds of these men being thought of as the enemy?

3. When President Roosevelt signed Executive Order 9066 on February 19, 1942, instructions soon followed that all persons of Japanese ancestry were to pack and be ready to be moved within a couple of days to an internment camp. How did the people respond to the pressure of this order?

4. Many of the Nisei men living in Hawaii at the time of Pearl Harbor had earlier enlisted and were serving in the territorial national guard of Hawaii. After the bombing they were discharged as untrustworthy aliens. Later in early 1943, they were allowed to volunteer for the newly formed 100th Infantry Battalion to be made up of all Nisei men. What did it mean to be declared untrustworthy?

5. Lt. General John L. DeWitt was in charge of the Western Defense Command on the West Coast and had an intense hatred of Japanese. He was instrumental in having the area declared a military exclusion zone against all persons of Japanese ancestry. Why wasn’t this same decision made for all persons of Japanese ancestry living in Hawaii?

6. Life behind barbed-wire and guard towers was for the most part rigorously regimented. Signs were posted around the camp, and notices prominently displayed warning of serious consequences for getting too near the fences. Early in the war incidents of internees being shot and killed by guards were reported at Manzanar and Tule Lake internment camps in California. How did these incidents affect life in the other camps?

7. In 1943 the Army sent teams to each internment camp to administer an informational questionnaire to every internee over the age of seventeen. The purpose of the questionnaire was unclear, but the final two questions caused concerns among the residents that the questions were designed to learn the true loyalties of the Japanese, whether loyal to the United States or to the emperor of Japan. For the first-generation Issei who were not permitted to become American citizens to renounce loyalty to Japan would make them persons without a country. For the Nisei, this was an insult as no other Americans were asked to declare their loyalties. Why was this an important issue for both the first-generation Issei and the second-generation Nisei?

8. In 1882 Congress passed the Chinese Exclusion Act prohibiting further Chinese immigration to the United States. This was in response to the success of Chinese workers in agriculture over American workers. This exclusion resulted in a need for new immigrant workers who could be paid lower wages, and Japanese were accepted as filling this need. However, like Chinese before them Japanese workers excelled over their American counterparts which gave rise to anti-Japanese anger from American farmers and West Coast congressmen. How did this contribute to the move to evacuate Japanese from all areas of the West Coast?

9. Two thirds of all internees in internment camps were American-born second-generation Nisei, therefore American citizens. To have their Constitutional rights taken away without due process was a major violation in the minds of many of the internees. Why was this an important issue?

10. Two thirds of the people in internment camps were American citizens by birth. Yet roughly half were not upset their Constitutional rights were violated. They believed their government was doing what was necessary in a time of war. The other half knew their government had violated their rights, but because of cultural training were not going to protest. How did both responses allow the government to get away with violating their rights?

11. The Army had teams at each internment camp that intercepted and read all incoming and outgoing mail. The purpose was to monitor for any suspicious information. How did the residents handle this invasion of their privacy?

12. What were the Constitutional issues involved in the forced evacuation and internment of all persons of Japanese ancestry from the West Coast?

13. In the construction of all internment camps the showers and toilets were built without individual stalls and doors. How would you have felt about using them as a child? As a teenager? As an adult?

14. Building showers and toilets without individual stalls and doors is not a violation of any Constitutional laws. However, what should the government have done for the internees?

15. During 1943 sixty-nine members of the Fair Play Committee from Heart Mountain internment camp in Wyoming, and 257 others from the other nine camps protested against the draft laws because they as citizens were stripped of Constitutional protections and were arrested for their draft evasion. What were the Constitutional issues involved here?

16. When all persons of Japanese ancestry were interned during the war first-generation Issei were in fear the government was going to exterminate them. What were any similarities between the internment camps here in the United States and the concentration camps in Europe, and what were the differences?

17. When Japanese farmers were evacuated to internment camps two things happened: fathers were no longer the breadwinner of the family, and therefore no longer in effect the head of the household, and teenagers began doing things away from family and eating meals with teen friends. How did these contribute to the breakdown of the Japanese family in captivity?

18. Japanese mothers in internment camps surprisingly enjoyed prominence similar to that of the wives of men off to war as they entered the work force and carried the weight of the nation. Mothers in camp, as the prominence of the role of the father lessened, ended up carrying a major weight in keeping the family together. Why was this significant?

19. In each of the internment camps schoolteachers were mainly white hired from nearby communities. There were a number of Japanese American teachers who were teaching in their home communities before the war and were hired to the staff in camp. Was this an important thing, and if so, how so?

20. Most all of the men in camp were farmers, and most struggled without work in the camps. There were jobs in camp, but very few, and none were suited to hardened farmers. By mid-1943 after being cleared in the loyalty questionnaire matter those who were passed were allowed to leave camp and work the farms jobs left by the men off to war. How was this a major help to the Japanese farmers? And how was this a help to the nation?

21. Two thirds of those interned were American citizens by birth. What must it have been like to have their loyalty questioned and to be considered an enemy alien?

22. Most parents of young children tried to keep them safe and protected from the harsh side of the war. How was this the right thing for the children, for the family, and for the nation?

23. While most of the men, first-generation Issei, and second-generation Nisei, were troubled by the lack of work, there were some of the elderly Issei who found not to have to work a blessing in disguise. For all their lives they had worked hard, and life was difficult. This was the first time they weren’t required to get up early and go out to work. And everything was being provided them – a roof over their heads, food on the table, and recreational activities to entertain them. How do you think this was viewed by other Japanese?

24. Most families who were interned during the war lost much of what they owned, some losing everything. The government after the war instituted a claims procedure where families could request reimbursement for losses during the war. My parents filed a claim for $12,000 for lost income from crops during the years we were away. The claim amount awarded was $5,000. Families who lost everything, experienced similar results. How should the government have handled this situation differently?

1. December 7, 1941: Pearl Harbor – Descriptions of the day of the bombing and aftermath.

https://www.nationalww2museum.org/war/topics/pearl-harbor-december-7-1941

https://www.history.com/topics/world-war-ii/pearl-harbor

https://www.britannica.com/event/Pearl-Harbor-attack

2. Executive Order 9066 – February 19, 1942 – President Roosevelt’s decision to authorize the forced evacuation and internment of all persons of Japanese ancestry from the West Coast.

https://www.archives.gov/milestone-documents/executive-order-9066

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Executive_Order_9066

https://www.fdrlibrary.org/executive-order-9066 (video)

https://www.aiisf.org/taken-ordersofthepresident

3. Western Defense Command / Lt. General John L. DeWitt, Commanding General – Discussion of the background for the decision to establish the formal Exclusion Zone on the West Coast.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Western_Defense_Command

https://military-history.fandom.com/wiki/Western_Defense_Command

4. Internment Camp Amache / Near Granada, Colorado – Information about the internment camp, Camp Amache.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amache_National_Historic_Site

https://www.mycoloradoparks.com/national-parks/colorado-parks/amache-japanese-internment-camp/

https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/japanese-american-internment-camp-in-colorado-receives-federal-protection-180979871/

https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/japanese-american-internment-camp-in-colorado-receives-federal-protection-180979871/

5. 100th Infantry Battalion / 442nd Regimental Combat Team – Background for the 100th infantry Battalion from Hawaii, and the 442nd Regimental Combat Team recruited from the ten internment camps on mainland U.S.

https://www.nationalww2museum.org/war/articles/442nd-regimental-combat-team

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/442nd_Infantry_Regiment_(United_States)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/100th_Infantry_Battalion_(United_States)

https://goforbroke.org/history/unit-history/442nd-regimental-combat-team/

6. Redress and Reparations for Japanese American Incarceration – The political firestorm of support for those of Japanese ancestry who were forced from their homes to seek redress from the government.

https://www.nationalww2museum.org/war/articles/redress-and-reparations-japanese-american-incarceration

https://history.house.gov/Exhibitions-and-Publications/APA/Historical-Essays/Exclusion-to-Inclusion/Redress/

7. President Jimmy Carter: 1980 Commission on Wartime Relocation and Internment of Civilians – The congressional commission established to study the circumstances that led to the forced evacuation an internment of American citizens.

https://encyclopedia.densho.org/Commission_on_Wartime_Relocation_and_Internment_of_Civilians/

8. Day of Remembrance of Japanese American Incarceration During World War II – President Joe Biden – A celebratory event hosted by President Joe Biden in remembrance of the evacuation and internment of American citizens.

https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/presidential-actions/2022/02/18/day-of-remembrance-of-japanese-american-incarceration-during-world-war-ii/

Children’s Picture Books

Write to Me – Cyntha Grady

Fish for Jimmy – Katie Yamasaki

A Place Where Sunflowers Grow – Amy Lee-Tai

The Bracelet – Yoshiko Uchida

My Lost Freedom – George Takai

Baseball Saved Us – Ken Mochizuki

Tweens/Teens

Farewell to Manzanar – Jeanne Wakatsuki Houston, James D. Houston

Paper Wishes – Lois Sepahban

Sylvie and Aki – Winifred Conkling

Displacement – Kiku Hughes

They Called Us Enemy – George Takei

Adult Books

Colors of Confinement – Eric L Muller, Editor and Bill Manbo, Photographer

The Anxious Generation – Jonathan Haidt

The Righteous Mind: Why Good People Are Divided By Politics and Religion – Johathan Haidt

Watercress – Andrea Wang

Issei, Nisei, War Bride – Evelyn Glenn

Born Free and Equal – Photographs by Ansel Adams

Facing the Mountain – Daniel James Brown

Fred Korematsu Speaks Up – Laura Atkins and Stan Yogi

Free to Die for Their Country – Eric L. Muller

Honor by Fire – Lyn Crost
Impounded: Dorothea Lange and the Censored Images of Japanese American Internment – Edited by Linda Gordon and Gary Y. Okihiro

Japanese American Resettlement Through the Lens – Lane Ryo

Hirabayashi with Kenichiro Shimada
Looking Like the Enemy – Mary Matsuda Gruenewald

Manzanar – Photographs by Ansel Adams, Commentary by John Hersey

Nisei Naysayer – James Matsumoto Omura

Stubborn Twig – Lauren Kessler

Sleeping on Potatoes – Carl Nomura

Unlikely Liberators – Masayo Umezawa Duus

All We Could Carry – Heart Mountain Wyoming Foundation

Beyond Barbed Wire – Kit Parker Films

Camp Amache – Wolf River Productions

Conscience and the Constitution – Resisters.com Productions

Gila River and Mama: The Ruth Mix Story – Solo Films

Legacy of Heart Mountain – The Content Media Group

MIS: Human Secret Weapon – United Television Broadcasting Systems

Most Honorable Son – PBS Home Video

Rabbit in the Moon – The Furumoto Foundation

Time of Fear – PBS Home Video

Toyo’s Camera – United Television Broadcasting Systems, Inc.

Under the Blood Red Sun – Red Sun Productions

Unfinished Business – Mouchette Films

Valor with Honor – Torasan Films Presents