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hardcover $16.95
Children's Book Press (ca)
Paddyfield.com
Powells.com (USA)
More reviews by Roseanne Thong
Readers may purchase reviewed books from Paddyfield.com, Asia's online bookseller.North American readers may prefer to buy US editions from Powells.com.
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A Place Where Sunflowers Grow by Amy Lee-Tai and Felicia Hoshino (illustrator)
"Flowers don't grow easily in the desert," laments young Mari during her first week at Topaz Internment Camp for Japanese-Americans during WWII.
"It will take time, patience, and care," her mother replies.
Before WWII, Mari lived in a small California home with flower-filled lawns, cherry trees and a swing set in the backyard. After the US government sent 120,000 innocent Japanese-Americans to internment camps, she was relocated to Topaz, Utah -- a series of tumbledown tarpaper barracks in a bleak desert. Given only 10 days to leave their home, Mari's parents, artists by trade, could take only the few possessions they could carry.
Braving summer heat, dust storms, and temporary housing in horse stalls, Mari finally settles down to a the 'normalcy' of school and lessons, including Mrs. Hanamoto's art class.
"I don't think I can draw anything," Mari insists, as she fails to participate day after day. She doesn't believe anything can bloom in Topaz -- neither artwork nor her newly planted sunflower seeds.
A PLACE WHERE SUNFLOWERS GROW is one of a very few children's picture book written about the internment of Japanese Americans during WWII. It is also one of a handful of children's books written in a bilingual English/Japanese format. While several notable titles are available on the Japanese-American internment for 5th-12th grade students (Farewell to Manzanar by Jeanne Houston, Remembering Manzanar by Michael Cooper, The Children of Topaz by Amichael O. Tunnell and George W. Chilcoat), this is one of the first written with a younger 4- to 9-year-old audience in mind.
Amy Lee-Tai's simple but powerful text evokes the harshness of displacement, as seen through a child's eyes. In one scene, Mari badgers her grandfather with questions as they walk to school:
- Why are we in camp? Why is almost everyone here Japanese-American? Will I ever see my old friends again?
The questions ring authentic for good reason: the book is based on Lee-Tai's grandparents, who were sent to Topaz in 1942, where they helped organize the Topaz Art school. Lee-Tai, of Japanese-Chinese ancestry, received her master's of Education at Harvard, and currently lives in Virginia with her husband and daughter.
Award-winning illustrator, Felicia Hoshino, also portrays a world seen through a child's eyes, focusing on images such as Mari's dearly-missed swing set or a knee-high view of her sunflower sprouts. Hoshino's pastel images juxtaposed against the desert's sand-colored background, bring a splash of life to an otherwise parched environment.
This authentic story, set during one of America's darkest hours, is an illuminating account of hope and resilience that eventually blossom in the desert. Although the historical events took place over 60 years ago, the topic should resonate with today's readers as the tension between security and civil liberties continue to dominate headlines and public debate.
Roseanne Thong
30/08/2006
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Roseanne Thong is author of Red is Dragon and Round is a Mooncake, multicultural picture books featuring Asian culture. She has also written numerous short stories and works of non-fiction. She divides her time between Hong Kong and Los Angeles. |
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