My Friend the Enemy [Paperback]

J.B. Cheaney (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 14, 2007 | Age Level: 10 and up | Grade Level: 5 and up

Hating the Japanese was simple before she met Sogoji.

Pearl Harbor was bombed on Hazel Anderson’s birthday and she’s been on the lookout for enemies ever since. She scours the skies above Mount Hood with her binoculars, hoping to make some crucial observation, or uncover the hideout of enemy spies.

But what she discovers instead is a 15-year-old orphan, hiding out, trying to avoid being sent to an internment camp. Sogoji was born in America. He’s eager to help Hazel with the war effort. Is this lonely boy really the enemy?
In this thought-provoking story of patriotism, loyalty, and belonging, Hazel must decide what it means to be a true American, and a true friend.


From the Hardcover edition.

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Grade 5-8–During World War II, 12-year-old Hazel Anderson is caught up in a fantasy world filled with comic-book caricatures of sneaky Japs defeated by heroic American civilians. Adored neighbor Jed Lanski, en route to the Pacific, has asked Hazel to check on his parents periodically. When she makes the startling discovery that they have hidden a 15-year-old orphaned Japanese-American boy, saving him from an internment camp, she changes her ideas about the enemy and her duties as an American. Hazel's developing friendship with Sogoji is embellished with several subplots, including her older sister's secret engagement to Jed and the new teacher's reason for downplaying his heroic war record. Although there are many novels and nonfiction works dealing with Japanese-American internment camps, there are none that deal specifically with avoiding internment. The premise is an intriguing one, but readers may find Hazel's transformation from a Jap-hater into someone who can sympathize with Sogoji's plight too sudden to be believable and may wish for a deeper exploration of the protagonist's evolving sensitivities.–Ginny Gustin, Sonoma County Library System, Santa Rosa, CA
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Booklist

Gr. 5-8. When her older friend and neighbor, Jed, enlists and leaves for the Pacific during World War II, it marks the beginning of many changes for 11-year-old Hazel. At Jed's request, she befriends Sogoji, a lonely Japanese American orphan boy who lives and works in secret on Jed's parents' Oregon farm. As her rural community's hatred of the Japanese grows, Hazel feels it too, though she dissociates the enemy she fears from the boy who has become increasingly dear to her. She cannot count on neighbors to do the same. Throughout the book, Hazel slips easily from one reality to another, but when unexpected events jolt her quiet community, she finally, firmly takes a stand. Written in first person, this novel offers quiet but finely tuned portrayal of the stresses that changed life on the home front and one child's attempts to cope with it all. Carolyn Phelan
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 10 and up
  
• Paperback: 272 pages
• Publisher: Yearling (August 14, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0440421020
• ISBN-13: 978-0440421023
• Product Dimensions: 5.2 x 0.6 x 7.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,441,637 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars spellbinding, April 27, 2006

By 

bookluvr - See all my reviews

This review is from: My Friend the Enemy (Hardcover)

Little Hazel is mad. She's mad at the war, and she's mad at the stupid Japs for ruining her birthday. She thinks it's their entire fault that no one has time for her, and that her closest friend and her brother are leaving to join the army. Everyone is leaving this little tomboy - or so she feels. At school, she belongs nowhere. The girls are too girly and the boys are too irritating. At home, she doesn't seem to fit. Her mother always tells her to do chores, her sister is always smitten, and her father is just quiet. Hazel has plenty of time to go off on her own. However, Hazel found herself in a most surprising friendship of friendships - she somehow made friends with Sogoji, the "maid" the neighbors have, who also happens to be a Japanese boy.

My Friend the Enemy caught my eye at first because of the title and the controversy in it. When I started reading the book, the first line being, "I didn't mean to do it. I just got carried away." it automatically FORCED me to keep going. I mean, who would actually put a book down right after reading that? What kept me into the book was modest Hazel. She caught my heart right when she had to part from Jed, her closest friend; and from then on I was totally hooked; and the friendship that Hazel found was just awe-inspiring.

4.0 out of 5 stars Great story of friendship, courage, patriotism & overcoming prejudice, January 20, 2011

By 

Alice N DeWitt (Gilbert, AZ United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: My Friend the Enemy (Paperback)

I enjoyed the first person narrative, and how some scenes blend from reality right into her imagination, though a less than careful reader might be confused. The story is full of great characters, exciting adventures, tender friendships, and hard-reality situations. An excellent story of friendship, courage, patriotism, and over-coming prejudice.

Age recommendation: 11 and up (maybe lower, if the child is mature and a good reader)