Enjoyable listen. Moving story in a very digestible short form. Looking forward to recommending this. Probably more so as a physical read vs. audiobook.

“Love in the Library” by Maggie Tokuda-Hall was such an utterly lovely, moving, and beautiful story. Highly recommend!

I received an arc of this title from NetGalley for an honest review. This is a historic picture book about two people who find love while living in a Japanese-American Imprisonment camp. I think a lot of people forget this actually happened and this book was well done in explaining the story.

I listened to this audiobook and was able to follow along very well with the story. The narrator varies her voice to fit a character or mood. The sound effects are a wonderful addition and the music ties in well with the feelings of sadness and hope. Tama is managing the library in one of several incarceration camps (war relocation centers) for Japanese-Americans during World War II. One of her main constants is a regular visitor named George. Is he there for the books or something else (or someone else)?

Words, emotions, and literature are central to this story. Readers can have their experience enhanced, by listening to the story while reading along or looking at the expressive images in the picture book. There is an author's note which talks about the racism of that time and how it relates to today. It is based on her grandparents' love story.
(suggested age group: Middle Grade)

Thanks to Dreamscape Media and NetGalley for the advanced listening copy. My reviews and ratings are my own.

Love in the Library is a fictionalized account of how the author's grandparents met. It's a sweet story about a girl who worked in an internment camp's library and a determined daily visitor who was smitten with the girl in the library. The author includes content after the narrative describing her family's experiences at the camp and the effect it had on her family and others both during that era and the long-lasting consequences.

It only takes a few minutes to read the whole story, and it was great to take a little break from life to take time for this story.

This story finds a bit inspiration in the midst of an Idahoan internment camp for Japanese Americans. Tama is the librarian at the camp, and George visits every day to check out a pile of books...

I was intrigued to discover that this little love story is based on the author grandparents. How fascinating!

I actually listened to the audio book version, which I highly recommend for audio listeners. Great narration.

I received a complimentary copy of this book but was not required to leave a review.

A moving, honest yet optimistic story of love and resilience in the midst of one of the bleaker parts of the United States's history. Based on the true story of Tokuda-Hall's grandparents and related simply and beautifully, Love in the Library is effective as an audiobook, with a bit of suitable music to enhance narrator Sura Siu's lovely reading. The illustrations by Yas Imamura, though, are gorgeous and expressive, for those who can get access to both versions of the book.

Thank you to Dreamscape Media for the advance copy in exchange for an honest review.

This important audiobook by Maggie Tokuda-Hall, Dreamscape Media, is based on the story of the author's grandparents, who fell in love in a U.S. WWII Relocation Center for Japanese-Americans. Narration was a bit soft, but I found a copy to read, and let me say this beautifully illustrated YA book should be in every school and public library! Out January 25.

Thanks to the author, audio publisher and NetGalley for the audio ARC; opinions are mine.

#LoveintheLibrary #NetGalley

After the bombing of Pearl Harbor, Tama is sent to live in a War Relocation Center in the desert. All Japanese Americans from the West Coast—elderly people, children, babies—now live in prison camps like Minidoka. To be who she is has become a crime, it seems, and Tama doesn’t know when or if she will ever leave. Trying not to think of the life she once had, she works in the camp’s tiny library, taking solace in pages bursting with color and light, love and fairness. And she isn’t the only one. George waits each morning by the door, his arms piled with books checked out the day before. As their friendship grows, Tama wonders: Can anyone possibly read so much? Is she the reason George comes to the library every day?


The audiobook was indeed lovely but I would recommend to go with the graphic novel. It feels like there's something missing without a visual support in this specific case and the reading experience was hindered by that lack of something. Still lovely and so important to read!

Thank you to @dreamscape_media @netgalley for the ALC in return for my honest review.
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My thoughts…
The shortest book you’ll listen to. I didn’t know this was originally a picture book for children. Now it’s an audiobook that was quite impactful for something that was only 14 minutes long. And that includes the author’s notes. Even though some parts of the narration didn’t seem to fit the soundscape, it was still a great listen. If you’re looking for something quick to inspire or move you, this might be it. Based on the author’s family history, in less than a quarter of an hour, it touched on a library, war camp, racism and love.

Spoiler Alert!
Thank you NetGalley for allowing me to review this audiobook.
This was such a beautiful book and filled with love, life and happiness. I love how they met in a library, fell in love and started a family.

*received for free from netgalley for honest review* loved this book! really amazing and different, will buy for sure, would love to see the artwork!

A bit awkward to be an audiobook but of course, for those who have eye problems, this will be beneficial. It just seems odd that a publisher would pay to have such a short picture book become an audiobook. The author's note at the end was better than the book. The book was cute but I don't think it will help anyone reading it learn too much about Japanese people in concentration camps. *shrug*

I know this is an audiobook of a picture book so the fact that is is so short doesn't deter. I think it is very important to have more stories like this to show these previously untold stories, and the note about racism at the end is very important. I did like the addition of background noise in the audiobook but I feel the story is missing something without the pictures so I will definitely try to get the book now to see the who thing. Overall a very important and moving story.

From my initial reading, the author's note at the end is more compelling than the story itself. I'm looking forward to reading it again—with my eyes—and I've already placed a hold at the library for the print edition. In any event, the subject matter is important. I hope books like this will continue to be written and read . . . and gain a wider audience.

3.5 stars (for now, at least)

Thank you, NetGalley and Dreamscape Media, for the audio ARC of the book in exchange for an honest review.

This is a really sweet book. Based on an extremely upsetting time in history, we learn of the resilience and love of the two characters. And we learn that it's based on a true story, about the author's grandparents and how they met while imprisoned in a Japanese incarceration camp.

This is a sweet book, but it is based on an extremely upsetting time in history. We learn of the resilience and love of the two characters. And we learn that it's based on a true story, about the author's grandparents and how they met while imprisoned in a Japanese incarceration camp.

There is a thread throughout the book that the author connects – using words like “constant” and “miraculous.” That was a really nice touch.

The book itself is not long and listening to the afterword is a must. There, the point is driven home that, even though this book is set in the past, these issues are still prevalent today. And hope too, is prevalent.

The audio was great too - I liked the sound effects in the background. They didn’t take away from the story, but overall added to it. At first, I wasn’t sure how I felt about the narrator – I wanted the reading to have more ups and downs and inflection, but then I came to appreciate the quietness and soothing quality of the narrator’s voice.

This would be a good book for parents and schools to incorporate into their coursework with children, and use it to supplement history lessons.


Thank you Netgalley, for the opportunity to listen to this audiobook.

LOVE IN THE LIBRARY by Maggie Tokuda-Hall is about Tama a woman who works in a library in Minidoka, a Japanese internment camp after the bombing of Pearl Harbor, and George, a regular at the library.

Though I’m not usually a fan of romance stories for children ages 6-9 (target audience for this book), I’m going to give this one a pass since this is about the author’s actual grandparents and their story of finding love in an oppressive place. I found the author’s note an important piece in the book, making young readers more aware of racism, xenophobia, and white supremacy.

This is a review of the audiobook, version of LOVE IN THE LIBRARY.

This story is sadly relevant today. The audio book was really sweet and well done. Even simplified down for kids, the emotions behind the situation are clear.

Love in the Library
by Maggie Tokuda-Hall
Very hopeful book, showing the true love story of the writers maternal grandparents. Its the setting that is remarkable, in an Concentration camp during world war 2, on American soil , this book brings to light the prejudice that caused the Japanese concentration camps. Where the families, lost their homes, their possessions, their business, because of their heritage. It was part of American history that people from diversity were sent to camps, reservations, or ghettos.. All of it based on propaganda, and greed.
The audible book helps young readers not only to read they text, but to learn the history it shows. Its a great resource of the classroom, adding cultural understanding.

A true story about the author’s grandparents, <i>Love in the Library</i> takes place in an American internment camp for Japanese-Americans during World War II. Tama works in the library at the camp, and every day, George is her first customer, waiting to return the armful of books he had checked out the previous day. It’s impossible for George to read that many books so quickly, and finally Tama realizes that George has been visiting the library because he likes her.

This book is a great introduction for kids to a dark part of the U.S.’s World War II actions that is not often mentioned. I listened to the audiobook, and the narrator did a great job with the story, but I imagine seeing the illustrations in the physical book would make the story even better. I loved the author’s note at the end, telling us about her grandparents’ life together.

Many thanks to NetGalley for providing me an audio ARC of this audiobook.