Reviewed by Taylor Rector for TeensReadToo.com

FAREWELL TO MANZANAR is the chilling autobiography of a Japanese-American girl who survived the interment camps during World War II.

When I began reading this book I had no idea what the "internment" camps were. This is a subject that not many know about and is not a very well-known time in history. "Internment" camps were camps that the American government put together after Japan bombed Pearl Harbor to house all of the Japanese-Americans who lived on the west coast. The people were forced to go and didn't have a choice, even if they were born in America and only had Japanese ancestry. The camps were in the middle of the desert, so that the people wouldn't be able to leave.

At first I didn't like the book very much. But as I kept reading I began to like it. I can't say that I loved it, because I didn't; it's not a "loving" type of story. I enjoyed learning about something that I knew nothing about.

I think all Americans should read this book so that they know that this happened. It is not something that is often talked about, but it should be, so that every American citizen knows about this part that the government played in World War II. ( )

A Japaneese American family is forced to leave their home and move to an internment camp "for their protection". The family begins to become less and less of a unit and basically begins to live seperate lives as they adjust to life in the camp. Jeanne, one of te youngest children, tells of her familie's life before, during, and after the camps. Families were forced to sell most of their possessions for little or nothing and arrived at camps that were not equiped to house familes. The transitions from neighhood to camp and camp to neighborhood were tremendously difficult. This book is appropriate for middle school readers and above. ( )

Good true story of a woman's experience at the Manzanar camp in Calif. during WW II. ( )

This is a book everyone should read at least once in their lives. The Japanese Internment experience is one that should not be forgotten, and this memoir does a great job of illustrating what it was like. ( )

A good book; my mom bought this for me when I was in third or fourth grade, and insisted I read it. At the time, I didn't understand most of what was going on, and so the book was boring.
In seventh grade, I reread it, and was surprised to find that it wasn't a bad book. My favorite part was most certainly the chapter that was an interview with her father. I would definitely recommend it to anyone who likes biographies/autobiographies.