Paper Wishes

(Paperback)

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Description

Ten-year-old Manami did not realize how peaceful her family's life on Bainbridge Island was until the day it all changed. It's 1942, after the attack on Pearl Harbor, and Manami and her family are Japanese American, which means that the government says they must leave their home by the sea and join other Japanese Americans at a prison camp in the desert. Manami is sad to go, but even worse is that they are going to have to give her dog, Yujiin, to a neighbor to take care of. Manami decides to sneak Yujiin under her coat, but she is caught and forced to abandon him. She is devastated but clings to the hope that somehow Yujiin will find his way to the camp and make her family whole again. It isn't until she finds a way to let go of her guilt that Manami can accept all that has happened to her family.

Reviews

This historical debut speaks volumes of love and longing." --Kirkus Reviews, starred review

A superior story of survival and love set during this dark time in American history. --School Library Journal, starred review

This engaging...book offers a personal perspective on events and reasons to care about the outcome. A fine selection for historical-fiction fans. --Booklist

Engrossing and heartrending. --Publishers Weekly

It's a novel that stays, bravely, in that place of pain, making clear that scars will be left behind not only for the children whose families were incarcerated, but also for the generations that follow. And yet, although the tone is sober and sad, it's also a -novel in which a mute child finds her voice, -at last. --The New York Times

Author Bio

Lois Sepahban lives in Herrodsburg, Kentucky, where she writes children's nonfiction books for the school library market. Paper Wishes is her first novel. loissepahban.com