Amazon.com Book Description (ISBN 0452273013, Paperback)

Stubborn Twig is a classic American tale, a story of immigrants making their way in a new land. It is a living work of social history that rings with the power of truth and the drama of fiction, a moving saga about the promise and perils of America and the meaning of becoming an American.

Masuo Yasui arrived in America in 1903 with big dreams and empty pockets. He worked on the railroads, in a cannery, and as a houseboy before settling in Hood River, Oregon, to open a store, raise a large family, and become one of the area's most successful orchardists.

As Masuo broke the color barrier in the local business community, his American-born children broke it in school, scouts, and sports, excelling in most everything they tried. But none of their accomplishments could shield them from the sometimes intense racism that scarred their formative years.

December 7, 1941, changed their lives completely and forever. Forced from their homes with only what they could carry and interned in vast inland "camps," the family was shamed and broken. But the Yasuis endured, as immigrants have always endured, to claim their place as Americans in a diverse and sometimes troubled society.