   | Facing the mountain : a true story of Japanese American heroes in World War II Author: Brown, Daniel James | |
| Price: $23.78 | ||
Summary:
Portrays the journey of Rudy Tokiwa, Fred Shiosaki, and Kats Miho, who volunteered for the 442nd Regimental combat Team and were deployed to France, Germany, and Italy, where they were asked to do the near impossible while their immigrant parents were forced to submit to life in concentration camps on U.S. soil. Adapted for young readers.
Reviews:
Kirkus Reviews (+) (11/14/23)
School Library Journal (+) (12/01/23)
Booklist (+) (12/01/23)
Full Text Reviews:
Booklist - 10/01/2023 *Starred Review* This young reader’s edition has been thoroughly adapted and trimmed to about half the length of the adult original, but Brown’s contagious sense of outrage remains as he follows several young Japanese American men and women who were recruited into the U.S. military even as many of them and their families were going through the “deeply humiliating and starkly dehumanizing” experience of being uprooted from their lives and transported to “concentration camps” (as he justly calls them, though acknowledging that the Nazi ones had a more vile purpose). Despite cultural friction, the mainland “Kotonk” and the Hawaiian “Buddhahead” recruits went on to bond and, through months of hard combat in Italy and elsewhere, become one of the army’s most decorated units. Meanwhile, in an equally inspirational parallel narrative thread, the author retraces the heroic way conscientious objector Gordon Hirabayashi stood on his constitutional rights and Quaker principles back on the home front in the face of intense pressure and prejudice. Based largely on oral histories and interviews, this account of a shameful episode offers a telling lesson for all readers who take their own rights for granted: “Their stories aren’t just history,” Brown writes. “They shine a light on our own time.” - Copyright 2023 Booklist.
School Library Journal - 12/01/2023 Gr 6 Up—An incisive account of how four young Japanese American men fought for their country despite the incarceration of their families during World War II. After the bombing of Pearl Harbor in 1941, Rudy Tokiwa, Fred Shiosaki, and Kats Miho volunteered for the 442nd Regimental Combat Team during World War II, even though their families were unjustly imprisoned due to Executive Order 9066. Meanwhile, Gordon Hirabayashi, a conscientious observer, protested the racist policies of the government that would negate the rights of its own citizens. This adaptation of Brown's adult book captures the diverse perspectives of the people of Japanese descent in the United States, Hawaii and the mainland, immigrants (Issei) and first-generation (Nisei). He points out how language was used to twist the truth and enforce widespread prejudice and suspicion (the use of the pejorative terms is reflective of the time period), and places an emphasis on how fighting for the soul of your country takes different forms—putting on a uniform (and even dying) out of love for the country that doesn't love you back, or standing up for the ideals that it has preached but has never put into practice. Readers are also presented with the experiences of those who were forced to live in the concentration camps through heartbreaking stories. The resilience, patriotism, and righteous anger of those profiled will move young people to action. VERDICT A propulsive narrative, impressive back matter, impeccable research, and primary source material make this an eye-opening story that belongs in every nonfiction collection for young readers.—Shelley M. Diaz - Copyright 2023 Publishers Weekly, Library Journal and/or School Library Journal used with permission.
