Basketball-loving Sumiko Tanaka, then 11, narrates this graphic novel about the World War II incarceration of Japanese Americans. Through her eyes, we watch as her family is forced from their home and subjected to indiscriminate racism as they are shipped off to the concentration camp called Minidoka in Idaho. But Sumiko and her 17-year-old sister Yuri also see acts of charity and solidarity from their non-Japanese neighbors and friends in the Seattle area that make them hopeful for the future. As the young girls struggle with the horrors of being imprisoned in the dusty desert, they also find solace in the fact that some people chose to help.
This story highlights the actual actions and experiences of those neighbors and friends.
Those Who Helped Us by Ken Mochizuki (author) and Kiku Hughes (illustrator)
ISBN: 9781634050210
Publication Date: 11/22/2022
Pages: 160
Size: 6.5(w) x 10.2(h) x 0.6(d) in
Type: Paperback
Language: English
Ken Mochizuki is the author of several award-winning books for young readers, most notably Baseball Saved Us. He is a well-known historian of Asian Pacific history and regularly presents to schools and universities. He lives in Seattle.
Kiku Hughes is a cartoonist and illustrator based in the Seattle area. Her work has been featured in Beyond Anthology volumes 1 and 2, Short Box #6 and Team Avatar Tales. Her first graphic novel Displacement was published by First Second in 2020.