The Children of Topaz

During World War II, Japan attacked Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, on December 7, 1941.  Hardworking and patriotic, Japanese Americans were as stunned by the attack as the rest of the country.  Still, the U.S. government questioned their loyalty, and within hours of the attack, FBI agents searched their homes.  On February 19, 1942, President Roosevelt signed Executive Order 9066, giving the army the power to establish military zones in the U.S. “from which any or all persons may be excluded as deemed necessary.”  As a result, thousands of Japanese Americans were ordered to leave their homes and move to war relocation centers.

Lillian “Anne” Yamauchi Hori was among the unfortunate Americans removed to an internment camp in Topaz, Utah.  During her time there, she taught a third-grade class that kept a daily diary.  Although the words and drawings in the twenty entries excerpted in this book reveal the injustices experienced by the children, the students were remarkably resilient.  They collected desert pets, put on plays, and celebrated holidays.   With invaluable commentary and archival photographs, Michael O. Tunnell and George W. Chilcoat have placed the diary in a historical context, expanding on the details of daily life in a war relocation camp.

Buy The Children of Topaz on Amazon.com.

Recogniton:

• Boxed review in Booklist.
• Starred review in School Library Journal.
• 1996 Parents’ Choice Gold Award.
• Starred review in Brigham Young University Children’s Book and Play Review.
• 1997 Notable Children’s Trade Book in the Field of Social Studies.
• A New York Public Library’s Book for the Teen Age 1997.
• A “Distinguished Title” chosen from among the1997 Top Titles for Adult New Readers (Public Library Association’s Adult Lifelong Learning Section).
• 1997 Notable Book for a Global Society (International Reading Association).
• 1997 Notable Book in the Language Arts (National Council of Teachers of English).
• A CCBC Choice 1996 (Cooperative Children’s Book Center).
• 1997 VOYA Nonfiction Honor List (Voice of Youth Advocates).
• Nominated for the Utah Children’s Informational Book Award, 1997-98.
• Four star review in Christian Schools International.
• Nominated (master list) for the Maine Student Book Award, 1997-1998.
• Carter G. Woodson Honor Book Award, secondary education category (National Council for the Social Studies).
• Japanese language edition of The Children of Topaz published by Kin-no-hoshi Sha (Tokyo), 1998.

What the Critics Said:

“A vital purchase for all collections.”  (School Library Journal, Starred Review)

“The author’s commentaries amd photographs . . . provide a rich context to understand the tension and innocence reflected in the Japanese-American children’s writings and drawings.”  (Language Arts)

“Among the handful of books about World War II Japanese American internment camps, none captures the children’s experience quite like this one.”  (VOYA, Chris Crowe)

“… the primary sources have a stark authority; it’s the very ordinariness of the children’s concerns that grabs you . . .”  (Booklist, Hazel Rochman, Boxed Review)

Additional Features:

The Children of Topaz:  The Story of a Japanese-American Internment Camp Based on a Classroom Diary.  New York:  Holiday House, 1996.  (Informational book; with George W. Chilcoat.)