I am an American: A True Story of Japanese Internment [Hardcover]

Jerry Stanley (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 16, 1994 | Age Level: 10 and up

Illustrated with black-and-white photographs. Young Shi Nomura was among the 120,000 American citizens who lost everything when he was sent by the U.S. government to Manzanar, an interment camp in the California desert, simply because he was of Japanese ancestry.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

A history professor, Stanley (Children of the Dust Bowl) does an admirable job of distilling the intricate story of the Japanese in America during World War II. At the same time, the author presents a highly personal portrait of Shi Nomura, one of the nearly 120,000 Americans of Japanese ancestry whom the federal government ordered evacuated from their West Coast homes to relocation camps as a result of war-provoked hysteria and hostility. The seeds for this prejudice, the reader learns, were sown early in the century, when anti-Japanese sentiment escalated to the point that schools were racially segregated in San Francisco and the Japanese government signed a "gentleman's agreement" to stop their citizens from emigrating to this country. Quotes from the perceptive, articulate Shi as well as numerous period photos underscore the ignominy of the U.S. government's wartime action and help make this volume a haunting, at times heartrending chronicle. Ages 9-up. (Sept.) q
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From School Library Journal

Grade 5-10-In clear and fascinating prose, Stanley has set forth the compelling story of one of America's darkest times- the internment of Japanese Americans during World War II. He has based his account on the experiences of Shi Nomura, who was sent to Manzanar in the deserts of eastern California when he was a high school senior. But the author weaves in more than absorbing personal details; he places the camps in a broader historical context, from Japanese immigration and the resentment it aroused to outstanding Japanese American service in the war. His meticulously researched volume is accompanied by numerous, fine period black-and-white photographs, many by Dorothea Lange and Ansel Adams; and he makes judicious use of maps. This eloquent account of the disastrous results of racial prejudice stands as a reminder to us in today's pluralistic society.
Diane S. Marton, Arlington County Library, VA
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 10 and up
  
• Hardcover: 102 pages
• Publisher: Knopf Books for Young Readers; 1st edition (August 16, 1994)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0517597861
• ISBN-13: 978-0517597866
• Product Dimensions: 9.5 x 8.4 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,777,391 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars THEY DESERVE BETTER, May 16, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: I am an American: A True Story of Japanese Internment: (ALA Notable Children's Book, Horn Book Fanfare Honor Book) (American History Classics) (Paperback)

I read this boook because I had a history project all about Japanese Internment. Before I read this book I thought Japanese Interment was only about the Japanese in some camps. I didn't realize the injustice that we set upon these noble and great people. After reading this book I felt enraged at how the Japanese would have to sell or burn their beautiful and valuble items. I think they deserve so much more than a letter from the President. We should have a much better tribute toward them. I have always been proud of living in such a great state such as California, but I am not proud that they were the least tolerant of the Japanese.

5.0 out of 5 stars A cautionary tale for children as well as adults, June 8, 2008

By 

Marynna L. Kerce (Atlanta GA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: I am an American: A True Story of Japanese Internment (Paperback)

A balanced and gently stated explanation of the internment of Japanese Americans during World War II. Intended for young children (age 8 and up) but appropriate for an older audience. 90 pages, illustrated with photographs, published 1994.

Particularly illuminating and helpful, this brief text discusses the various feelings of the people who were interned during the war, as well as the context of their community involvement before, during, and after the conflict, by tracing the specific story of Shi Nomura.

Japanese Americans who were living in the mainland US were required to leave their real and personal property, their communities and their friends, their businesses and their professions, their schools and their places of worship, to be detained in the internment camps. Their property was confiscated, their citizenship revoked. Many thousands of American citizens were discharged from the US military and labeled "enemy combatants," despite their US citizenship and worthy service records. Yet not even one Japanese American person was ever found guilty of disloyalty to the US or of war crimes of any sort. To the contrary, many youth volunteered from within the camps to serve their nation through the 100th battalion and the segregated 442nd infantry division. The 442nd division lived up to its motto, "Go for broke!" by becoming the most highly decorated unit ever in US history. Translation services provided by military intelligence in the 100th battalion -- highly educated Americans usually of Japanese ethnicity -- enabled the US to understand and act upon intercepted foreign messages.

Sharing these stories -- the stories of fellow Americans' struggle to prove their loyalty to their own country -- is a way to honor them, their sacrifices, and their contributions. Going forward with this understanding, perhaps we will be better able to avoid treating other Americans of any ethnicity with such unwarranted discriminatory action.

Highly recommended.

5.0 out of 5 stars How Could It Happen?, January 27, 2008

By 

Lynn Ellingwood "The ESOL Teacher" (Webster, NY United States) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: I am an American: A True Story of Japanese Internment: (ALA Notable Children's Book, Horn Book Fanfare Honor Book) (American History Classics) (Paperback)

This book tells us how it could happen. Japanese-Americans were the subject of constant pressure and segregation in Hawaii and California as well as the rest of the United States. Apparently the Japanese were excellent farmers and the whites were no competition for their success so laws were passed, no male immigrants, no female immigrants, no citizenship, citizenship doesn't really matter, etc. The story is pretty stunning and it really covers how the idea of internment could happen. Hate a group of people, refuse them the right to assimilate and then send them off without rights when there is an excuse to do so. I think it could happen again. It would be better if it didn't though.