The Fences Between Us : the Diary of Piper Davis

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 show more 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?? show less

This book was great! I wish these Dear America books had been around when I was a little girl. It's like an improvement on the American Girls Collection books. It has the same basic plot format as they do - a slice of life story about a girl living at a certain key point in history - in this case, World War II. It also presents historical non-fiction information about the time period after the story, just like American Girl. But, it includes an epilogue, letting you know what 'happened' to the character when she grew up, and an activity - in this instance, a recipe for oatmeal cookies that she baked during the story. Young me would have loved this. My daughter, at almost 8, may not be quite old enough. She was initially thrilled by it, show more and then appeared to lose interest - though that could just be because she's reading four books at once.

It told the story of Japanese internment during World War II, as seen through the eyes of the daughter of a white pastor with a Japanese congregation. It was appalling. I can't believe we did this to our own citizens. And yet, I look at some of the things going on today, and our attitude towards, say, Middle Easterners, and I CAN believe it, unfortunately. Growing up, I always believed the message school had sent - that one of the reasons America came to exist was to save people from just such persecution - that we were free, and tolerant, and would never judge anyone by the color of their skin, or their religion, nationality, or anything other than their own demonstrated behavior. The older I get, the more it seems like our country is no better than many other countries in that department. It seems like most countries just have good times where they are very tolerant, and bad times, where they are very closed-minded. Perhaps I'm letting go of the idea that individual actions make a difference on that continuum, except at a very local level. I guess philosophically, I wonder whether presenting information like this to kids makes them disheartened too young. And on the other hand, I think it's a story that people have a right to tell, and a responsibility to be familiar with. show less

I was a bit apprehensive about this book when I saw it. Since the main topic is the Japanese-American Internment during WW2, it seemed strange to me that the author would choose to make the main character a white girl, rather than a Japanese-American girl.

Having read the book, I feel that while using the point-of-view of a Japanese-American girl would have been ideal, the book is only incidentally about the Internment, and using Piper Davis as the point-of-view character allows the story to focus on many other aspects of being a teenager as well. In other words, the Japanese-American Internment is important to the story, but it's not the only thing that causes the plot the move, which would be too easy a trap otherwise.

The first half of show more the book takes place in Seattle, Washington and has Piper dealing with her brother enlisting in the navy shortly before the bombing of Pearl Harbor, the after-effects of that day and what it means for her family. She must come to terms with the fact that many of her friends (and her father's church congregation!) are Japanese-American, yet she resents the Japanese for what happened that day in December. Piper is also caught up in her first love (and that with having a somewhat strict Baptist preacher for a father!) and learning about what is important to her, as all teenagers eventually do.

The second half of the book takes place in and near Minidoka Relocation Camp in Idaho. The tone changes a bit, but the main elements of the story (primarily: Piper growing up and learning about life) are still there. I rather appreciated that the diary entries are somewhat shorter and occur less often in this half, in keeping with the amount of time Piper has to write, and the number of new things to write about.

I really think that the discussion of racism is fairly well-done in the book. Piper has friends who are Japanese-American, yet she resents them because she resents the Japanese. She very clearly struggles with the two emotions (love and hate), and I think it's something that people can relate to, particularly with the current wars in the Middle East and the treatment of Muslim Americans (though, of course, that doesn't nearly reach the level of the internment that Japanese-Americans suffered in WW2).

Also, to risk spoiling, I really liked the interpersonal relationships that Piper has, particularly with boys. Unlike many fluffy YA books I have read, none of the boys are her "true love" and I just thought that the treatment of these relationships was fairly realistic and well-done. Likewise with the waxing and waning of her friendships with other girls.

Ultimately, I only had two real problems with the book, and both are problems with me as a reader. Other than the white point-of-view character, it took me a bit to be able to suspend my disbelief with regards to the narrative style. The way Piper writes her diary entries seemed awfully unrealistic and too detailed for a thirteen-year-old, but that is a convention of the narrative style, and I found that I didn't mind it at all by the time the story ended.

The inclusion of photographs and FDR's speech after the bombing of Pearl Harbor at the end of the book were rather nice inclusions. show less

For the last year or so (and this is only since I've started to pay attention), I've heard a lot of people clamoring for a YA/juvenile history book that deals with the internment of Japanese Americans during WWII. As this was a bit of history that was decidedly lacking in the books when I was growing up, I was curious as to how exactly it would be presented.

Piper Davis is a normal girl. When her friends say things that don't sit well with her, she doesn't necessarily correct them. When her neighbors, friends, and her father's congregation are systematically packed off to internment camps after the bombing of Pearl Harbor, she's horrified, but in no hurry to join them. She throws a fit when her father declares that they'll be following show more his flock because it's the "right thing" to do, but you know she's going to come around. For her faults, Piper is incredibly likable and it's hard to put the book down because you want just a little bit more.

The few Dear America books I've read have either been hit or miss, but this falls squarely in the hit category. You're left wanting to know more, both about Piper and about the real events surrounding her time period. Making history come alive like this isn't always easy, but The Fences Between Us accomplishes this feat. Highly recommended. show less

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 show more 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. show less

Back in the '90s when I was in elementary school, I loved the Dear America series. When I heard that they were re-launching the series after 6 years, I was excited. The Fences Between Us is the first new book for the series.

To be honest, I was very disappointed in this book. The subject is purportedly Japanese internment, but we instead get a diary of a white girl and her experiences during WWII. The book is interesting enough and well-written (author Kirby Larson won a Newbery Honor award for her children's novel Hattie Big Sky) but I was expecting to read a book about the experiences of a Japanese-American girl. The Dear America series has always been very culturally and ethnically inclusive, so I was puzzled that the book on Japanese show more Internment would be from a white girl's perspective. Because of this, I can't rate this book very highly. I'd suggest either picking up a different book in the series or, if you're interested in Japanese internment, read something like Farewell to Manzanar instead. show less

When Pearl Harbor is attacked, America is unable to ignore the wars raging in Europe and Asia any longer. And one girl's entire life is about to change when everything she knows is turned on its head. After the devastating attack on Pearl Harbor, where her brother, a navy sailor, is stationed, Piper Davis begins chronicling her compelling journey through one of history's most tragic and unforgettable eras.

Piper's father is the pastor for a Japanese Baptist church, and when its members are taken away to Minidoka, Idaho, to be interned, Pastor Davis moves his family from Seattle to Idaho to be with his congregation. Piper is jealous of her older sister, who gets to remain at home and go off to work. Her brother, who survived the Pearl show more Harbor strike, is stationed in the Pacific, while her brother-in-law is shipped off to Europe to fight. Piper, meanwhile, hates her new life, but soon, through her budding friendship with Betty, a Japanese-American girl who is interned in the camp, Piper learns how it important it is to bear witness to the events that were bound to change America. show less