Monica Itoi Sone

In 1953, Monica Itoi Sone wrote the consummate book on the "Internment" of Americans of Japanese descent. This book is not political, as most subsequent writing on this subject is. However, many of my friends, including a long-term girlfriend, several bosses, and neighbors, are the direct descendants of the Minidoka (Idaho) Gulag. Therefore, I know many untold truths about this tragic historical event. Here is where the Itoi family and 10,000 other men, women, and children were held as show more political prisoners by the Roosevelt administration's Executive Order 9066. Most of these folks were from the Greater Seattle and Puget Sound area of western Washington State. Many lost everything and had to start anew after World War II. This act by the government ranks among the Extermination of Native Americans, Latin American Human Trafficking, and African Slavery as the scar tissue of United States history. Regardless of your political beliefs or stance on historical issues, I consider this a TOP 10 MUST READ for any American. show less

Do you ever see the Hand of God in the mundane parts of your life? I mean, have you ever seen things come together so perfectly that you suspect there's a conspiracy afoot? Getting this book was one of those moments for me. You've probably heard of the Japanese internment, in which all of the people of Japanese descent living on the west coast of the United States were forced to move to concentration camps located inland. You've probably heard that it was a gross injustice fueled by racism. show more Well, I think so, too, but I happened to be privy to a conversation where an honorable, loving and (as far as I can tell) non-prejudiced woman whom was living in Seattle at that time put forth her opinion that the event was a justifiable war-time security measure. In the course of the discussion, she had mentioned this book, a biography of a second generation Japanese woman who had grown up in America and had endured the internment. I had scribbled down the title, knowing that I would probably never have enough interest in the specifics of the event to pick it up. Well, time passed and I was picking over the remnants of the King County Library book sale. Nothing looked good and I feared that I would leave the sale empty handed, save for whatever volumes my wife manged to find. As I scanned the titles, however, my eye happened to catch Nisei Daughter. A surprising coincidence and since I was empty handed, I decided to risk 50¢ and pick it up. (Of course, I then managed to find two other minor acquisitions, but I digress...) It was another great find. It touches many of my interests in history: it's local, first person, set in the early 20th century and deals with immigration and cultural issues. It's a good book to share with my daughters as they learn about history. And it's just an engaging, well written book. So, this "accidental" find is now firmly entrenched on my shelf.
--J. show less

Read this one for class. What an awesome read. Monica Sone provides an excellent account of the complicated life faced by the Nisei Japanese-Americans before and during World War II.

So glad, after meeting 'Kimi' in 'The Plague and I', to discover that she'd written a memoir. I recommend this book to all who are familiar with Seattle. If you want more about the TB sanatorium, you'll be disappointed, as she gave that episode in her life only about 3 pages. That's OK, she couldn't have topped Betty MacDonald's highly amusing account of it.