Hmph. That was frustrating, if my updates didn't give away indication of that.

There's an author's note at the end, where Kirby Larson explains why she wanted to write this story- although born and raised in the Seattle area, she didn't learn about Japanese American incarceration until her college years in the 1970s, and while making up for lost time she learned about Pastor Emery "Andy" Andrews, a Baptist minister who followed his Seattle Japantown congregation to Twin Falls, ID and continued his ministry. What a story of hope! Just not one that lends itself well to the teenage-girl-diary format, so let's invent a fictionalized version with a teenage daughter...

Pastor Andrews is an important story of people doing good in the face of apathy. Piper Davis IS apathy. In the first third of the book she's primarily concerned with boys and school and being mad at her dad for not letting her wear lipstick. Then, the Pearl Harbor attacks happen and she becomes afraid for her brother, stationed there on the Arizona. Meanwhile, a church acquaintance (friend would be generous at this point) gets bullied and spat on by boys outside her junior high, but Piper walks on because, "what would those boys think if I stopped?" She bemoans the fact that her father helps so publicly that the newspapers mention him and they get angry phone calls at night- "why can't he help our friends without being so out there?" is essentially one of the entries.

Eventually, the order comes for all people of Japanese descent to leave their homes for remote camps. Piper's father makes the decision to follow his flock and help out where he can. Piper takes this news BADLY because she was looking forward to such a FUN eighth grade year (pausing briefly to consider her church friend Betty living with her family in a one room converted horse stall at the Puyallup fairgrounds, before going back to giving her dad the silent treatment). When they move to Twin Falls, ID, they find that not all the locals are pleased to have sympathetic people in town and it just isn't fair.

While Piper does eventually learn the meaning of friendship, I kept thinking this book would work so much better if it were from Betty Sato's perspective. I'm guessing it isn't so because Kirby Larson probably didn't feel comfortable filling the shoes an #ownvoices author could've used but... c'mon. Telling the story of Japanese American incarceration through a white pastor's kid is like talking about the family detention centers on the border through the eyes of a white pastor's kid in El Paso- glad to see you can meet minimum standards of empathy, but it's hard to take you seriously when you gush about the yellow wallpaper of your new house and then soberly reflect on Betty's camp conditions, briefly. I recognize the argument that maybe this fills a void in white-perspectives-on-Japanese-American-incarceration, but did that gap need to be filled? Do readers that don't know a history need a similar, unaware proxy to learn how to empathize, OR could they read an account by the affected and listen, then reflect?

I was more into The Royal Diaries than Dear America so I don't remember if epilogues saying where characters ended up after they grew up are a thing, but this one irritated me by killing off the friendly guy in camp who showed romantic interest in Piper but she shut down because he filled that big brother void in her life. It sounds like Betty writes the fictional version of [b:Farewell to Manzanar: A True Story of Japanese American Experience During and After the World War II Internment|649361|Farewell to Manzanar A True Story of Japanese American Experience During and After the World War II Internment|Jeanne Wakatsuki Houston|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1481673039l/649361._SY75_.jpg|807858] (which came out in 1973! HOW DID KIRBY NOT KNOW ABOUT THIS). I see on other reviews [b:Torn Apart: The Internment Diary of Mary Kobayashi|12505783|Torn Apart The Internment Diary of Mary Kobayashi (Dear Canada)|Susan Aihoshi|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1316410750l/12505783._SX50_.jpg|17491343] is suggested as equivalent but that's for the Canadian equivalent camps- action taken after the US government decided to incarcerate our citizens. Japanese Americans are citizens too- why are they Othered in a book about them?? ( )

The second read was more of an emotional experience than the first due to a variety of factors. I still wish this had been written from the POV of a Japanese-American girl, not a white girl who's privileged. Still a good read, though, and all those Seattle landmarks are real. I live here. I grew up going to the fair, not knowing of its sinister history until someone told me in a hugely snobby way when I was eighteen. Anyway, I'm really glad this book is still in print. The 1940s weren't that long ago, and the author is really good at writing teen POV. ( )

A 13-year-old girl records her experiences in a diary, beginning in November 1941, including the journey with her father to an Idaho internment camp where her Japanese neighbors have been interned. Author’s Note, Historical Note, Websites, Epilogue, Bibliography, Primary Sources (including photos, maps, and transcript from FDR’s speech to Congress on December 8, 1941).

With clear and simple prose, author Kirby Larson brings to life Piper Davis. Piper is a young girl whose life is centered on boys, lipstick, and friends – until her brother is caught at the attack on Pearl Harbor, until her Father’s congregation, all Japanese, are persecuted and sent to internment campus, until she if confronted with the realities of war. Larson did an excellent job of making Piper’s struggle authentic. Piper’s best friend and boyfriend both think it’s good to send the Japanese away, and don’t understand Piper’s struggle. Her worry for her brother, her concern about her people she’s known all her life, her initial struggle to accept her father choice to move to Idaho, and her own realization about right and wrong makes this a strong story worth reading. It’s a complex subject and the book does an excellent job of making it understandable to young readers without dumbing down the subject. Suitable for elementary age readers and a fine place to start for discussions about this topic. ( )

This entire series is a wonderful way to learn history or teach it to adolescents. I find today's generations seem to recall more when they learn through other people (pop songs, celebrity gossip, etc.), so what better way to teach history than through someone else's perspective? Yes, "authentic" diaries would be "better", but would the language really hold the modern student's attention? Did the diary writer know what WOULD be important in the context of history? Probably not.