Farewell to Manzanar: A True Story of Japanese American Experience During and After the World War II Internment: Amazon.co.uk: Jeanne Wakatsuki Houston, James D. Houston: Books

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13 Reviews

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4.1 out of 5 stars (13 customer reviews)

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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Brushed under the carpet?, 1 Jan 2010

By	MaryAnne "dubai-reader" (Dubai United Arab Emirates) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)

When Japan attacked Pearl Harbour and America and Japan were at war, a problem arose as to what to do with the thousands of naturalised Japanese living in the States. They couldn't be returned to Japan but nor could they be left to live freely within the US. The country's solution to the problem was to build huge internment camps in the American desert and ship everyone out there for the duration of the war. This was done very hastily and when 7 year old Jeanne and her family arrived they found only the most basic of provision. They lived in cramped "barracks" with foul toilet facilities and suffered repeated sickness due to insanitary food storage.
Conditions improved during their stay; schooling was provided and recreational facilities, classes to keep internees occupied, Boy Scouts, Girl Scouts etc.
Eventually, when the whole enterprise was ruled illegal by American legislation, many of the internees did not want to leave. They had heard tales of Japanese "on the outside" receiving abuse from Americans for their country's part in the war, even though many Japanese chose to prove their loyalty by fighting for America in the armed forces.
They had become so conditioned to life in the camps that they could not envisage starting up again elsewhere.
The younger members of Jeanne's family left to make a way for themselves but her parents, herself and her brother stayed until the last moment - when Jeanne's father saved face by leaving with a flourish!

The book is an interesting comment on the effects of this loss of freedom on the Japanese culture, particularly its effect on her father's pride. It's a short little book but says all that is needed within its concise 145 pages.

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4.0 out of 5 stars Courtesy of Teens Read Too, 8 Mar 2007

By	TeensReadToo "Eat. Drink. Read. Be Merrier." (All Over the US & Canada) - See all my reviews (TOP 100 REVIEWER)

This review is from: Farewell to Manzanar: A True Story of Japanese American Experience During and After the World War II Internment (Paperback)

FAREWELL TO MANZANAR is the chilling autobiography of a Japanese-American girl who survived the interment camps during World War II.

When I began reading this book I had no idea what the "interment" camps were. This is a subject that not many know about and is not a very well-known time in history. "Internment" camps were camps that the American government put together after Japan bombed Pearl Harbor to house all of the Japanese-Americans who lived on the west coast. The people were forced to go and didn't have a choice, even if they were born in America and only had Japanese ancestry. The camps were in the middle of the desert, so that the people wouldn't be able to leave.

At first I didn't like the book very much. But as I kept reading I began to like it. I can't say that I loved it, because I didn't; it's not a "loving" type of story. I enjoyed learning about something that I knew nothing about.

I think all Americans should read this book so that they know that this happened. It is not something that is often talked about, but it should be, so that every American citizen knows about this part that the government played in World War II.

Reviewed by: Taylor Rector

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5.0 out of 5 stars Lessons of history, 1 Sep 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Farewell to Manzanar: A True Story of Japanese American Experience During and After the World War II Internment (Paperback)

I read this book many years ago and I've never forgotten the impact it had on my life. It's a sensitive and startling portrayal of a young woman's life and the upheaval she and her family suffered. I was stunned to hear a coworker of mine from the Midwest admit that she didn't know the Japanese in America had been interned during WWII. It wasn't until she was 28 and had read Snow Falling on Cedars that she had any awareness at all of that tragic event. Books that enrich this generation about our shared past should be revived in the schoolroom.

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