The Red Kimono (#1,361) by Jan Morrill tells a story of Americans of Japanese descent caught up in the turmoil after the bombing of Pearl Harbor. Sachiko and Nobu Kimura have never known anything but the quiet Berkeley neighborhood where they have been brought up. The bombing changes everything as their father becomes the victim of a hate crime and is beaten in a local park in front of young Sachiko. She recognizes one of the three boys involved in the beating as a friend of her older brother.
The novel follows the lives of both the perpetrator and the victims as the Kimura family are relocated to an internment camp for their "protection", and Terrence is processed through the American legal system for his crime. It makes for thought-provoking reading.
How can you be asked to support a country where you are denied the most basic of rights? Sachiko, Nobu and Terrence all struggle in their own ways to make meaningful connections and make the best of a horrific situation.
Recommended reading for those who have only recently become aware of what the American government has done to its own people in the past, and are concerned about what might be in store for the future.
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