Scan barcode
A review by takemetothestarlesssea
Stealing Home by J. Torres
5.0
(NetGalley arc)
"Stealing home” is a short yet heartbreaking graphic novel showing a glimpse of a young boy’s experience of the aftermath of the attacks on Pearl Harbor, namely the dispossession as well as the forced relocation of the Japanese Canadian population to internment camps where people lived under terrible circumstances. Our protagonist does not only lose the life he knew, knowing that it will never come back, but is also, for a long time, separated from his father as Japanese men were sent to road camps to perform forced labor.
As difficult as it was to read certain passages, this graphic novel remains very relevant today. On the one hand, it is an important resource for educational purposes - I must admit that it filled a huge educational gap of my own as the post-Pearl Harbor suffering of the US and Canada’s Japanese population was completely left out in my history classes (Austria). Furthermore, the topics addressed in the novel, namely the discrimination, dispossession and forced relocation of people and the trauma that goes along with these horrible experiences, are still very relevant if we look at the current suffering of other people all over the world (e.g., the Uyghurs, the Rohingya people, Palestinians, and many others).
I appreciate that the novel ends with extended background information and that it provides other references for further research. I highly recommend reading it!
"Stealing home” is a short yet heartbreaking graphic novel showing a glimpse of a young boy’s experience of the aftermath of the attacks on Pearl Harbor, namely the dispossession as well as the forced relocation of the Japanese Canadian population to internment camps where people lived under terrible circumstances. Our protagonist does not only lose the life he knew, knowing that it will never come back, but is also, for a long time, separated from his father as Japanese men were sent to road camps to perform forced labor.
As difficult as it was to read certain passages, this graphic novel remains very relevant today. On the one hand, it is an important resource for educational purposes - I must admit that it filled a huge educational gap of my own as the post-Pearl Harbor suffering of the US and Canada’s Japanese population was completely left out in my history classes (Austria). Furthermore, the topics addressed in the novel, namely the discrimination, dispossession and forced relocation of people and the trauma that goes along with these horrible experiences, are still very relevant if we look at the current suffering of other people all over the world (e.g., the Uyghurs, the Rohingya people, Palestinians, and many others).
I appreciate that the novel ends with extended background information and that it provides other references for further research. I highly recommend reading it!