Journey to Topaz

Journey to Topaz by Yoshiko Uchida is a YA story of the experiences of an 11 year old Japanese-American girl and her family from the bombing of Pearl Harbor and their eventual evacuation and incarceration at Topaz, Utah. There are probably many books that detail these events in much greater detail, but considering the target audience, I think this book would have a lot of impact on the younger reader by the fact that it simply tells the story of one girl and what happened to her and her loved ones.

I thought that Yuki came across as a typical eleven year old, she really had no understanding of why Japan attacked or how this was going to impact her life. First the FBI show up on their doorstep, just hours after the bombing and take her show more father away. Then Yuki, her mother and brother are uprooted from their Berkeley, California home and temporarily housed in a horse stall at Tanforan Racetrack while more permanent arrangements could be make for the thousands of West Coast Japanese. As bad as conditions were at the Racetrack, they get even worse when they are relocated to the harsh desert climate of Topaz.

Yuki’s story is both thought-provoking and interesting as it explores it’s theme of racial prejudice with insight and dignity. The author based her story on her own family’s experiences and as she put it, “We were told to demonstrate our loyalty by doing as our country asked, we had no choice but to trust our government leaders. We did not know then, as we do now, that they had acceded to political and economic pressure groups and imprisoned us with full knowledge that their action was not only unconstitutional, but totally unnecessary.” I believe Journey To Topaz would be a good introduction to this period of history for 10 to 12 year olds. show less

A rare middle grade fictional account of the Japanese internment from the perspective of an eleven year old girl, based on the author's own family experience. It is a solid story that takes place from the attack on Pearl Harbor, to the Sakane family leaving the internment camp to live in Salt Lake City. Modern readers may be surprised at the mild response to mistreatment at the time, but Uchida presents the story with appropriate nuance and historical accuracy.

I'd never read anything about the internment camps the Japanese Americans were forced into during the war, I only knew vaguely that "it happened," and that's all. Yay "national pride" in American schools not teaching the bad bits of history! hrmph.

Anyhow, so this was my first real glimpse of what those camps were like, and what those people, American citizens(!), had to go through. How utterly horrible! It obviously doesn't compare to the concentration camps, with their absolute brutality and horrors, but it is reminiscent of it. Standing around in long lines for food, being low on food & water, lacking supplies, armed guards standing vigilant over the population, fenced in... and of course, people simply interred for doing nothing at show more all aside of being born. Such a horrible time, all over the world!

This YA account of one family's struggle with these circumstances is well-written and moving, definitely recommended. show less

I really enjoyed reading this. The story was very interesting because it was true. The author takes us back in time to 1941 when Pearl Harbor was bombed and how our government reacted toward the Japanese that had been living here at the time. The story centers around Yuki Sakane and her brother and parents and their circle of friends. They were part of the 120,000 West Coast Japanese Americans were imprisoned behind barb wire. Two thirds of them were American Citizens at the time of this evacuation. They endured hardships and lost everything they had owned. Yuki was 11 years old when her father was taken away and her mother, brother and herself were moved from their home along with all their neighbors and relocated twice before they show more were finally reunited with her father and finally released. It was written and portrayed in such an innocent manner from a child's point of view which works very well here. This is a thoughtfully written book and I learned a lot by reading it. show less

I really enjoyed reading this. The story was very interesting because it was true. The author takes us back in time to 1941 when Pearl Harbor was bombed and how our government reacted toward the Japanese that had been living here at the time. The story centers around Yuki Sakane and her brother and parents and their circle of friends. They were part of the 120,000 West Coast Japanese Americans were imprisoned behind barb wire. Two thirds of them were American Citizens at the time of this evacuation. They endured hardships and lost everything they had owned. Yuki was 11 years old when her father was taken away and her mother, brother and herself were moved from their home along with all their neighbors and relocated twice before they show more were finally reunited with her father and finally released. It was written and portrayed in such an innocent manner from a child's point of view which works very well here. This is a thoughtfully written book and I learned a lot by reading it. show less

"A haunting reminder of how indignities and dignity can reside side by side." —Terry Tempest Williams

This much-loved and widely read classic is the moving story of one girl’s struggle to remain brave during the World War II incarceration of Japanese Americans. In 1941, eleven-year-old Yuki is looking forward to Christmas when disaster strikes: she and her family, along with everyone of Japanese descent on the West Coast, are labeled enemy aliens. The FBI arrests her father, and she, her mother, and her brother are imprisoned in a bleak and dusty camp surrounded by barbed wire in the Utah desert. There, she and her family experience both true friendship and heart-wrenching tragedy.

Journey to Topaz explores the consequences of show more prejudice and the capacities of the human spirit. First published in 1971, this novel was the first children’s book about the wartime incarceration written by a Japanese American. This fiftieth anniversary edition features new cover art, a refreshed design, and a new foreword by Traci Chee.

-Amazon description show less

In 1941, eleven-year-old Yuki Sakane and her Japanese American family lived in Berkely, CA. On December 7, their world was changed forever when Pearl Harbor was attacked. Evening of the same day, Mr. Sakane along with thousands of other Japanese males, was arrested by the FBI. By the following May, Yuki and the rest of her family were evacuated to the Tanforan Camp and housed in the horse stables. Eventually they were moved again to the Great Basin deserts of Utah, the camp at Topaz http://www.topazmuseum.org/ This young adult novel is a story about coping in times of great stress; a national tragedy when Japanese-Americans were rounded up and forced to moved to isolated internment camps. (lj)