Gaijin: American Prisoner of War

Koji had just turned thirteen when the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor. He and his family are American, even though they look Japanese. The American government said all people related to anyone Japanese had to go to a prison camp. Koji’s father had returned to Japan, but Koji and his mother had to go. In the camp, Koji is bullied into stealing and is almost bullied into breaking out of the camp, but he decides it is more important to stay with his mother and cooperate. The camp is not the best place to be, but Koji does make a friend with a man who is a friend of his mother’s. They are finally allowed to go back to San Francisco. Soon letters arrive from his dad, asking him to come meet him in Tokyo.

This book was a graphic novel and had some very exciting pictures. It was sad that the American government immediately thought that anyone who was even related to someone Japanese had to go to the camp, and how the Japanese were teased for being Japanese. I enjoyed this book a lot because it was a good story and it helped me learn about what happened to Japanese-Americans because of the attack on Pearl Harbor.