Picture Book Review: My Lost Freedom

 

This might be a hard book for younger readers, but it's an important one. 

This is the story of George Takei and his time at the internment camps.

There's a lot to unpack. While this is terrible to read about - it's necessary to understand our past. There's some joy here as people tried to make the best of a terrible situation. It ends with hope.

There are author photos in the back from before the war, at the internment camp, and after the war. 

This book should be in every library. 

Review: Take

 

Cara isn't headed to college, she's headed to South America to go rock climbing. She has one last summer at home with her friends before they leave for college - together. Cara's worried that she's going to be left behind. The friends are determined to spend all their time together.

But when Cara's father isn't answering her texts or phone calls, she worries about him. She heads over to his house. He's not there, but she does find a wall of information. Cara isn't sure how to unravel all the information; there are pieces that don't seem to fit. Many of the clues involve a famous climber. Her ex-boyfriend read all his book. As much as she doesn't want to call him, she's desperate enough to ask for his help.

Can the two of them work together and solve the clues?

My Thoughts: I really enjoyed this book. I love how all the pieces came together. There's so much in this book: rock climbing, second chance love story, figuring out your future, family drama, bits about WWII and Japanese Internment Camp. I liked the journal entries from the past interspersed with the present. Lots of twists and turns had me turning the pages quickly.

Cover Thoughts: Amazing

Source: Book sent for review

Library Recommendation: Highly recommended for your school and public library collection.

Nonfiction Review: Seen and Unseen

 

Part graphic novel and part nonfiction by three photographers: Dorothea Lange, Toyo Miyatake, and Ansel Adams about the Japanese Internment Camps in America during WWII.

This wasn't something I learned about in school.

But this book shares:

1. There were 10 prison camps

2. There were 17 Detention Centers (all on the West Coast)

3. Even Babies were disloyal

4. Dorothea Lange wanted to show the terribleness of it all. She was horrified by what she saw. Toyo Miyatake was inside the camp. He wanted to show everything. Ansel Adams posed people in his pictures. 

5. Conditions were terrible

My Thoughts: This book was eye-opening. There were a lot of great photographs and illustrations. There wasn't too much text. But the text was powerful. It's hard to read about, but also very important to read about - to know our horrific history as a country. 

This is a must have book for all school and public library collections. 

Other Books to read:

Picture Book

Graphic Novel