Naomi's Road

by Joy Kogawa, Matt Gould (Illustrator)

Based on the award-winning novel Obasan , Naomi's Road describes an often-forgotten episode in Canadian history. It tells the story of Naomi Nakane -- a little girl with "black hair and lovely Japanese eyes and a face like a valentine" -- and her Japanese-Canadian family during the 1940s, when
Canada was at war with Japan.
Naomi, her older brother Stephen, and their aunt are sent to an internment camp deep in the interior of British Columbia and then to a farm in Alberta. Through her eyes we see the effects of war as Naomi grows up in a world of hardship and prejudice. Yet throughout, she retains her essential hope
and dignity.
"The book sings. It is a lyrical and intensely moving account." -- The Toronto Globe and Mail
"This is an important, painful story told with grace and sensitivity and lacking the easy sentimentality that would have dulled its polish. Great stuff." -- The Toronto Sun

Genres: Historical Fiction, Fiction, Canada, Middle Grade, Canadian Literature, Read For School, Childrens

88 pages, Paperback

First published March 31, 1986

About the author

Joy Kogawa was born in Vancouver in 1935 to Japanese-Canadian parents. During WWII, Joy and her family were forced to move to Slocan, British Columbia, an injustice Kogawa addresses in her 1981 novel, Obasan. Kogawa has worked to educate Canadians about the history of Japanese Canadians and she was active in the fight for official governmental redress.

Kogawa studied at the University of Alberta and the University of Saskatchewan. Her most recent poetic publication is A Garden of Anchors. The long poem, A Song of Lilith, published in 2000 with art by Lilian Broca, retells the story of Lilith, the mythical first partner to Adam.

In 1986, Kogawa was made a Member of the Order of Canada; in 2006, she was made a Member of the Order of British Columbia. In 2010, the Japanese government honored Kogawa with the Order of the Rising Sun "for her contribution to the understanding and preservation of Japanese Canadian history.

Reviews

[Krista the Krazy Kataloguer · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is a children's adaptation of the author's novel Obasan. The story tells of the internment of Japanese Canadians during World War II, an event similar to that which occurred in the United States. Told from the point of view of a young child, Naomi, whose father is taken away and whose family is removed from their home and taken to a shack in the mountains, the account is spare and simple. Naomi does not seem to know the reasons behind what is happening to her most of the time throughout the story, a fact which didn't quite ring true to me. Kogawa may have been trying to portray the innocence of children against the injustice of the time, but I frankly don't think most children in that situation were that innocent. People were crowded in close quarters, and conversations could easily be overheard. Kids talk, and surely the situation might have been discussed in school. I found Naomi a bit too naive to be believed.

I also found that, because the account was so spare and simple, I was unable to connect with it emotionally. I couldn't get into the character. Nevertheless, the book was interesting to me because I had never read anything about how the Japanese were treated in Canada during World War II. I think, however, that I'll read the Obasan, for a more in-depth look.

[Karla Strand · Rating 3 out of 5]

Relocation of Japanese Canadians during WWII; based on a true story. Quick read; enjoyed it.

[Alex Nonymous · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read this for my children's lit course and from what I understand, it's an adaption of an adult story about Japanese internment camps for young readers and I'm definitely not the target audience. That being said I found it lackluster? Which I get comes with the adaptation but so much seemingly had to be removed that I'm not sure what would be there for child readers either. It felt unfinished in a sense.

[Eric Hinkle · Rating 4 out of 5]

"It is hard to understand, but Japanese Canadians were treated as enemies at home, even though we were good Canadians. Not one Japanese Canadian was ever found to be a traitor to our country. Yet our cameras and cars, radios and fishing boats were taken away. After that our homes and businesses and farms were also taken and we were sent to live in camps in the mountains."

"Mama used to say that a match was safe if you could blow it out. But what if the whole world was on fire? How could you blow that out?"

The book is a bit less bleak than that, but it's so hard to read about Japanese Canadian children playing with dolls in camps during WWII.

[Brittany · Rating 2 out of 5]

How I Came To Read This Book: Fiction for Children in my final year of University.

The Plot: This is essentially the children’s version of the Canadian book ‘Obasan’, regarding the oft-overlooked internment of Japanese-Canadians around WW2. Naomi and her family are evicted from their home, and soon after Naomi and her brother are separated from their parents and sent to a camp. Told without the aggressiveness found in Obasan, the book follows Naomi’s experience and what being interned meant to a small child, while giving the young reader a glimpse into the world beyond, and the injustices imposed on Japanese-Canadians.

The Good & The Bad: I pretty much lambasted this book in front of a class of 45 students that hadn’t read Obasan. While most of my classmates heralded the book as bringing light to a situation they, nor their children (future or existing) had much awareness of, I criticized it for not having any impact and leaving the serious questions the book brings up to the parents that let their kids read it. It’s such a sheltered version of the story next to the power and disturbing nature of Obasan that I felt it rendered the messages and the full details of the story useless. That being said, I do appreciate that SOMETHING has been written about this, that by reading it, parents and children will be forced to talk about this situation. I just don’t think this book recognizes that a child with no external knowledge of WW2 and the interment situation would actually get what this book is trying to educate them on.

The Bottom Line: A watered-down version of Obasan that renders itself ineffective.

Anything Memorable?: Just my manifesto in class, where I was typically silent, that this book was ridiculous compared to the actual novel. Several classmates mentioned to me afterwards they didn’t realize there was an adult version and they intended to read it after my critique to see if the children’s book was as pointless as I’d suggested. I doubt anyone did, but let’s just say the description of her family’s bodies being eviscerated by a nuclear bomb certainly stayed with me longer than the stories of Naomi playing with a white girl who lives near the camp.

50-Book Challenge?: Nope.

[George · Rating 3 out of 5]

Canadian author, Joy Kogawa's classic children's novel, 'Naomi's Road' is a (perhaps too) subtle and gentle "indictment of the injustice of war and the government's treatment of Japanese-Canadian citizens." But it did reveal to me that Canada's evacuation of its west-coast citizens of Japanese ancestry was even more cruel than our own. Families were separated, the internees were issued 'criminal' identification cards, their property confiscated and sold to pay for their internment, and, even after World War II ended, they were not allowed to return to the west coast of Canada until 1949. Moreover, gentle Canada earned the distinction of "being the only democratic country to deport its own citizens who were guilty of no crime," when, in 1946 the Canadian Government deported 4,000 Japanese Canadians to Japan--more than half of whom were NATIVE-BORN CANADIANS.

Recommendation: I'll climb down from my anti-government soapbox, now, so you can go read 'Naomi's Road'.

[Nisha · Rating 1 out of 5]

The tree is scarred and wounded. A bandage is on one branch. Two ropes tie the wounded branch to the trunk. Rusty sap and clear sap seeps through the wounds.
Naomi looks up into the cherry leaves. The tree makes her think of Mama, and the branch that is tied to the trunk makes her think of herself as a little girl, clinging to her. And suddenly the tears she has not cried all her life come pouring out. It is as if Mama has come to meet her and Mitzi here.
You see, she can hear Mama say. I have come to you on Friendship Road. Welcome home, my special N.

[Emily Onizuka · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this when I was little from start to finish in a day or two. I rarely finished books when I was little but this one I did. As a Japanese-Canadian child, I didn't see many people like me or stories about my family in literature or movies. I loved it because I could relate to it. When I got older I read Obasan not realizing it was the same author and story, and again felt the great feeling of reading my family's story.

[Neil · Rating 4 out of 5]

- good story/short stories about Japanese-Canadian internment during WW2
- short self-contained chapters
- maybe too slow/short of action for younger readers
- children may not understand the subtleties of the story
- good for a class read-aloud where each issue could be further discussed and explored
- gr. 4 reading level
- gr. 4-7 interest level

[Audrey · Rating 3 out of 5]

Story of a young Japanese-Canadian girl during World War Two. She and her family are sent to live in a camp in the mountains and then to a farm on the prairies. Despite being separated from her parents and facing prejudice she is a happy girl and learns about friendship.

[Heather · Rating 4 out of 5]

A touching story of a Japanese-Canadian family and their internment during and after World War II, based on the author's childhood experiences. Required reading for my upper level children's literature course.

[Lorelei · Rating 3 out of 5]

Read this one to my kids and nephews this week. Some good discussion opportunities about how Naomi processes what is happening. Sweet story but they were dying for some follow up.

[Mila Menna · Rating 2 out of 5]

I get that this was supposed to be in a child’s perspective where they don’t know anything that’s really going on and the Japanese Americans were hastily told to do stuff without knowing the future but even though I knew the historical context it was still confusing to follow. Also I feel like a majority of it was pronouns or unimportant stuff. I have liked books done through this type of narration before like The Boy in the Striped Panama’s but this one wasn’t for me. Super quick read tho, maybe an hourish

[Betsy Cypress · Rating 4 out of 5]

We found the writing style to be choppy and it was hard for us to get in to. I knew the storyline and history was vital though, so we persisted. I am glad we did. This has brought up some good conversations with my children and I regarding how Japanese Canadians and Japanese Americans were treated during and after WW2. What a great tragedy for Canada - tearing families apart....it wasn’t too much better in the USA. We read, learn, and discuss so that we do not forget or repeat the sins of our ancestors.

[Marilyn · Rating 3 out of 5]

In my review of Obasan, the original adult-oriented version of this same story, I said that Naomi, and all the characters, don’t speak of what they feel or think about their trials. And in this child version the same remains true. But there’s even less detail provided here for the reader to infer what people might feel about the events that transpire. *I* can assume how *I* would feel being torn away from my home, my life, my family, but Naomi tends to take everything that happens in silence and stoicism. It is brave of her. But doesn’t elicit a ton of emotion from the reader.

[Janine · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read this for my Children’s Lit class, so of course I am not the target audience. I tried to rate this book as if I were younger and this was meant for me. I appreciate the awareness that was being brought forward in the story about Japanese Canadians during WWII, but I felt there was so much missing in the story. I don’t think a young person would really grasp what’s actually happening because it is way too vague. In my opinion, it needed more. I did feel that it was an easy read and written fairly well for a younger audience though.

[Vera · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was assigned this book by my uni English course and I ended up finishing it in less than two days. To be fair, it was a pretty short book, which is nice to have every once in a while. Overall, a good book and I didn’t expect to enjoy it as much as I did.

4.5 ⭐️**

[Lisa]

The story of a Japanese-Canadian family and their internment during and after World War II, based on the author's childhood experiences.

[Christine B · Rating 3 out of 5]

Written in third person present. Important story but written in an uncaptivating way.

[Maddy Roberts · Rating 4 out of 5]

didnt read the age group and was much younger reading than i’m used to but still great book and great story

[Mac]

Read for class

[Shahna · Rating 3 out of 5]

Quick and easy read.
A soft introduction to Canada's shitty history.

[Esmé · Rating 3 out of 5]

When i was in elementary school, I remember hearing about the older kids getting to see a stage play of this story, and wishing that i could go. I’m glad i finally read this and i for sure plan to read obasan some day to get a more adult-oriented telling of this story.

[Danielle Price · Rating 5 out of 5]

Young Naomi's tale of being forced to move from Vancouver to an internment camp. Aimed at young(ish) readers. Beautiful told, with black and white illustrations. The historical note at the end is a must read for all Canadians about our horrifying treatment of Japanese Canadians during WWII.

[m.]

Not rating. Read for my Children's Lit class.