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4.36 AVERAGE
4.36 AVERAGE
emotional
sad
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Loveable characters:
Yes
This is well done, though a bit too didactic in places. I’ve visited an internment camp (Heart Mountain in Wyoming), so I knew some of the background history already. There isn’t a lot of character development here - the grandmother, in particular, remains frustratingly distant. (Though I understand why.)
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Displacement is pretty simple and straightforward both in narrative and style, but the art is well done (especially in composition and knowing where to leave space) and I can imagine the book would be pretty informative for someone who knows little of this history.
In terms of "involuntary time-travel to experience past generational trauma" narratives, it's certainly no Kindred, but I can see this being a very valuable book in classrooms for a middle grade-to-young YA audience learning about experiences of this period of time for Japanese Americans.
The conversation between the protagonist and her mum at the end is really touching.
In terms of "involuntary time-travel to experience past generational trauma" narratives, it's certainly no Kindred, but I can see this being a very valuable book in classrooms for a middle grade-to-young YA audience learning about experiences of this period of time for Japanese Americans.
The conversation between the protagonist and her mum at the end is really touching.
dark
informative
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
This is a sweet story, a mix of fact and fantasy. Kiku writes and illustrates her journey as a mixed-race, queer Japanase-American unearthing her family history in WWII internment camps. (She refers to interment camps as incarceration camps throughout the book, and rightly so). A magic fog transports her back in time to experience the racism and fearmongering about Asian Americans in the 1940's. Kiku is incarcerated in a room next to her grandmother and great-grandparents and follows their life while cultivating her own in the camp. This is a story about alienation from culture, generational trauma, and the moored "otherness" of multiply marginalized identities. It moved a bit slowly at some points, but it's rich with history, and the art is beautiful. Shamefully, I learned a lot from this short graphic novel. It's a beautiful and real tale of resistance and reconnection.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Confinement, Hate crime, Racial slurs, Racism, Xenophobia, Police brutality, Grief, Gaslighting, Colonisation, War
Moderate: Cancer, Death, Violence, Death of parent, Murder
A beautifully illustrated version of what may have happened in the Japanese internment camps. Centered around Kiku, the granddaughter of Ernestina, who was at camp Topaz in Utah. Kiku, suddenly travels back in time to be interred in the same place as her grandmother. The frustrations and unfairness of the camps is evident. At the same time the resilience of the people affected is on display as well. This title also warns against letting history repeat itself. We are living in difficult times where old rhetoric is becoming popular again. We have to fight back against it.
dark
informative
sad
tense
medium-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
dark
emotional
informative
medium-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:
Yes