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brookey8888's review
informative
inspiring
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
This is a really great graphic novel if you want an easier to digest history of the Japanese Camps. I did learn a lot and it also refreshed the knowledge I did have. At first I was confused about the going back in time but how the author tied that in was good. There was also LGBTQ+ representation.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Cancer, Colonisation, Death, Death of parent, Forced institutionalization, Gaslighting, Grief, Gun violence, Islamophobia, Murder, Racism, Religious bigotry, and Xenophobia
ehmannky's review
emotional
informative
reflective
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
A beautifully drawn work that blends memoir and historical fiction and magical realism into a poignant look at the way that communal trauma, especially the trauma that is not spoken about or addressed, can continue to have incredibly damaging impacts generations afterwards. The metaphor Hughes uses of time travel and physical and temporal displacement to emphasize the ways that Japanese-Americans were torn away from everything and everyone due to racism and wartime hysteria is beautifully done. It's just a lovely read all around.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Xenophobia, Racism, and Confinement
Moderate: Grief, Racial slurs, and Death of parent
Minor: Death and Gun violence
harukoreads's review
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
informative
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
sad
fast-paced
5.0
This book, about a yonsei teenage girl traveling back in time to relive her grandmother and great-grandparents experiences in the Japanese American Incarceration Camps, is one of the best graphic novels I've ever read.
The illustrations are crisp and clean, with expressive line work and a muted color palette that perfectly reflects the somber yet hopeful tone. The story itself goes into detail about the day-to-day realities of Camp as well as the intergenerational trauma and activism that resulted from this human rights atrocity.
As an OwnVoices reviewer (I'm a mixed yonsei woman who's grandparents were in the Camps just like the author/main character - not to mention a queer visual artist too!) I appreciated the nuance in this story, particularly the focus on how Camp had a lasting effect generations later. Like Kiku, my grandparents were in the Camps when they were young, and the violent anti-Japanese racism of the time discouraged them from passing down both language and Japanese culture to their children and grandchildren. And like Kiku, my family has watched the revival of American incarceration camps in the past few years and spoken out against them, knowing that just as they were wrong in the 1940s, they are wrong today. I appreciated how this book specifically highlighted the racial justice work of Japanese organizations Densho and Tsuru for Solidarity, and thought the focus on racial justice was done well (the descriptions of the model minority myth and Japanese anti-Blackness were particularly well done!).
Overall, this is a thoughtful, thorough, emotional account of Japanese incarceration through a modern lens. If you've never heard anything about the Japanese Incarceration camps, this is an easy entry point that is also visually stunning and poignant.
The illustrations are crisp and clean, with expressive line work and a muted color palette that perfectly reflects the somber yet hopeful tone. The story itself goes into detail about the day-to-day realities of Camp as well as the intergenerational trauma and activism that resulted from this human rights atrocity.
As an OwnVoices reviewer (I'm a mixed yonsei woman who's grandparents were in the Camps just like the author/main character - not to mention a queer visual artist too!) I appreciated the nuance in this story, particularly the focus on how Camp had a lasting effect generations later. Like Kiku, my grandparents were in the Camps when they were young, and the violent anti-Japanese racism of the time discouraged them from passing down both language and Japanese culture to their children and grandchildren. And like Kiku, my family has watched the revival of American incarceration camps in the past few years and spoken out against them, knowing that just as they were wrong in the 1940s, they are wrong today. I appreciated how this book specifically highlighted the racial justice work of Japanese organizations Densho and Tsuru for Solidarity, and thought the focus on racial justice was done well (the descriptions of the model minority myth and Japanese anti-Blackness were particularly well done!).
Overall, this is a thoughtful, thorough, emotional account of Japanese incarceration through a modern lens. If you've never heard anything about the Japanese Incarceration camps, this is an easy entry point that is also visually stunning and poignant.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Grief and Racism
Minor: Death, Gun violence, and Hate crime
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