I have to admit, I don't like reading stories like this; it breaks my heart that Japanese Americans were treating as prisoners in their own country, that their lives were uprooted for no reason other than their heritage, their homes, businesses, belongings lost, it's just so awful and ugly. I know that this and other stories like it are important though- we must not let this happen again, we must be better than this. It is important to teach each generation about the ugly things in America's past in addition to the great things, so that each generation can strive for the good and reject the bad. I don't remember learning about the Japanese internment camps until I was in high school, in the 1980s, and then, it was just very briefly mentioned; I hope that children these days are taught more about this dark time in our country's history. This book is a good place to start. It's put together very well, with sidebars throughout to give context and additional information to the biographical text. The visual content throughout- Kiyo's family photos, photos of other Japanese Americans of the time, photos of locations, historical documents, and maps add so much to the story, providing information and showing us the real life people that suffered through this. Learning of Kiyo's remarkable life after the war, as well as her activism, was inspiring, and will surely inspire others to stand up for what they believe in. Highly recommended.

#KiyoSato #NetGalley

An amazing story of forgiveness and generosity from a young woman who was interned in her own country. Great lessons for our modern day.

This well written book captures the essence and experiences of Kiyo Sato, a Japanese American woman who grew up in Sacramento and was incarcerated with other Japanese Americans during World War II. Her experience as a young adult is particularly important because she was very aware of the losses her family was experiencing. The book is written clearly and articulates the deep damage experienced by the Japanese American community, financially and culturally, but focuses on how families worked together to cope and ensure their mutual survival. Kiyo Sato's journey into American culture to seek higher education and build a career is described within the context of a post World War II America that was still divided along lines of race and gender. The book is an important addition to collections on American history and women's history. In addition to the photos, maps, and supplemental material in the text, the book contains an excellent bibliography for further research.

This book offered a good balance between history and biography. Including photos to visually engage the narrative worked really well. It was short and to the point.

This photo-illustrated biography shares the story of Kiyo Sato, a Japanese-American who experienced a new, sudden level of discrimination immediately after Pearl Harbor and was then rounded up into an internment camp with her family. Even though I have already read a number of other books about this topic, I learned a lot from this one, and I enjoyed the specific perspective of a girl's experience in an internment camp, since I have primarily read about male experiences before

This book strikes the right balance between covering general history and being deeply biographical. It provides historical background about the war and the internment camps, complete with maps to help young readers visualize and understand the geographic elements, and it also follows Kiyo's story specifically, sharing about the personal experiences she had before, during, and after the war. The biography also follows her into her later life of serving as a nurse in the Korean War, raising adopted children, educating school groups about internment, and writing a book.

I enjoyed this a lot, and it intrigued me to learn about some of the different interactions that Kiyo Sato had with white Americans, ranging from the profoundly painful to the positive and mutually beneficial. Instead of painting the story in broad brushstrokes, this book addresses the vagaries of WWII-era America, addressing its racism and institutional failures while also acknowledging that many private citizens knew nothing about the internment camps, did not support them, and were horrified to hear stories like Kiyo's when she was released.

Part of this book covers her experience getting out of the camp after a college agreed to take her on as a student. She attended Hillsdale College in Michigan, and I found this fascinating, since I have connections with people who went to Hillsdale. I had no idea that this small Baptist college accepted Japanese-American students during World War II, and it was interesting to read about Kiyo's experiences there.

This biography is an excellent resource for schools, libraries, and families. It is well-written and engaging, addresses important issues in a clear and nuanced way, and has lots of interesting photos and resources for further research. However, before I close my review, I do want to mention something that I wish the author had handled differently.

The author includes one of the racist political cartoons created by Theodore Geisel, the future Dr. Seuss, and she writes about the impact that cartoons like this had on stirring up racist sentiment prior to internment. Although I am glad that the author addressed this, I wish that she had told her readers that Dr. Seuss later repented of his attitudes and the damage that they caused. After he visited postwar Japan, he wrote "Horton Hears a Who!" as a parable about the dignity and value of all people, reflecting what he had learned.

Although it was appropriate for the author to share the hateful cartoon as a historical artifact, I wish that she had provided additional context for readers who don't know anything about this part of Dr. Seuss's career. Ultimately, she loses the opportunity to provide an example of how people can grow, change, and deeply regret the worst parts of their legacies.

This book was very informative about Kiyo Sato's life. I thought it would be more of a story, but it was more of a historical overview of Japanese internment during WWII. I would use this in my classroom to show students the history of this time period. I had trouble viewing this text with my computer's ebook software, so that was a detriment. Overall, it was an informative read.