"Two third-grade girls in California suffer the dehumanizing effects of racial segregation after the Japanese attack Pearl Harbor in 1942 in this moving story based on true events in the lives of Sylvia Mendez and Aki Munemitsu.

Japanese-American Aki and her family operate an asparagus farm in Westminster, Calif., until they are summarily uprooted and dispatched to an internment camp in Poston, Ariz., for the duration of World War II. As Aki endures the humiliation and deprivation of the hot, cramped barracks, she wonders if there’s “something wrong with being Japanese.” Sylvia’s Mexican-American family leases the Munemitsu farm. She expects to attend the local school but faces disappointment when authorities assign her to a separate, second-rate school for Mexican kids. In response, Sylvia’s father brings a legal action against the school district arguing against segregation in what eventually becomes a successful landmark case. Their lives intersect after Sylvia finds Aki’s doll, meets her in Poston and sends her letters. Working with material from interviews, Conkling alternates between Aki and Sylvia’s stories, telling them in the third person from the war’s start in 1942 through its end in 1945, with an epilogue updating Sylvia’s story to 1955." www.kirkusreviews.com

This story is about 2 young girls whose lives unexpectedly intertwine, based on actual events that occurred during WWII. Sylvia Mendez and her family are Mexican Americans and Aki Munemitsu and her family are Japanese Americans. When Aki and her family are sent to a Japanese internment camp in Arizona, Sylvia's family rents their asparagus farm in California during their absence. Unfortunately, Sylvia and her brothers are denied enrollment in the local school and forced to attend a "Mexican" school. Her father challenges this discrimination in court, which is the case that paved the way for Brown vs. Board of Education. It is a story about an unexpected friendship during a very tumultuous time.

Based on a true story, this book is packed with social and political issues: racial discrimination, the Japanese internment, wartime attitudes, and separate but equal schooling. It works primarily because it introduces children to important historical events in our country and it's a true story. Sylvia and Aki seem too sophisticated in their thoughts and responses but kids won't notice. They'll understand friendship and injustice. Back matter provides background on the internment, the Mendez and Munemitsu families, and Mendez v. Westminster School District, which I learned was the precursor to Brown v. Board of Education. I did not know that! ( )

This book is fiction based on real events during WW II including the internment of Japanese Americans and the educational segregation of Mexican Americans in California. Using the story of two real girls, Conkling gives readers a look into certain realities that are often given little attention. The familial relationships are relatable and the questions the two girls ask of themselves are questions the reader is compelled to contemplate, and the book as a whole is a potential jumping off point for further exploration.

This was a powerful true story about prejudice and discrimination during WWII. It was interesting how 2 families' lives interacted. Aki's family is sent to a Japanese interment camp and must leave their farm in California. Sylvia's family takes over the farm but she isn't welcome at the closer "white" school. There is so much for 4th/5th graders to discuss with a book like this - morality, fairness, civil rights, fighting for what you believe, why governments behave the way they do. ( )