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Jul 24, 2019
Graceann
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In 1986, a long closed hotel is being remodeled, and many boxes of items are found in the basement. Among them is a parasol, and it sets our protagonist's mind back forty years to a very ugly time.
Henry was a small boy when the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor, thus putting into motion the US's entry into World War II, and the "relocation" of Japanese currently living in the States. Henry is Chinese, and has to wear a badge that says so in order to avoid being harassed and abused by adults; it does ...more
Henry was a small boy when the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor, thus putting into motion the US's entry into World War II, and the "relocation" of Japanese currently living in the States. Henry is Chinese, and has to wear a badge that says so in order to avoid being harassed and abused by adults; it does ...more
This historical fiction novel is well described within its own title. It is a bitter tale of what happened to Japenese Americans during World War II, and a sweet tale of the possiblities for second chances in life. The character of Henry and Keiko endear themselves to the reader by the end of the novel. I think their story will stick with me long after I have read their story for many reasons. I will take away a lot of things from this story, and wrote down some of my favorite quotes so that i w
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I've been meaning to read this book for a few years now and just finally got to it. While I don't think it was as amazing as many other reviewers have made it out to be, I did enjoy it. The first half of the book was better than the second half. I really liked the dual story lines of Henry and Keiko's friendship developing as well as adult Henry searching through the items in the Panama Hotel. In the second half of the book I felt that the story was more rushed and not as developed, so I'm settl
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This is the March selection for my neighborhood bookclub. It should make for an interesting discussion because there are a lot of important themes here. In particular, I am interested in the examination of the meaning of loyalty - to family, to country, to individuals. There is a lot of sacrifice of personal happiness in this book in the name of loyalty and obedience. While the plot and characters were sometimes a little thin, the questions raised about duty and promises kept me going and have s
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Eh. I was very interested in the subject matter. I knew going in that the protagonist was a child, but I didn't expect the writing to be stilted and childish.
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A moving story. I was a little disappointed by the ending, but the story was really good.
2 1/2 stars. While I think the author did a great job of portraying the multifaceted and complicated racism and prejudice of the times, overall the book missed the mark. It was way too sappy, and the romance between 12 year olds was not believable. Had they been just 3 years older, it could have had an intensity that was realistic, but this was ridiculous.
This book was interesting enough, but for some reason I didn't get drawn into the story. I wasn't dying to pick it up and read it and if I didn't have to read it for a class I probably wouldn't have finished it. I liked the history in the book and I did care what happened to the characters, but it was predictable.
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I loved this book. It is a timely reminder of what can happen when we demonize an entire group within our population. It's also just a lovely story about family, friendship, and loyalty. I hope that George Takei can get it made into a movie.
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Beautiful story. Beautiful.
May 03, 2013
Vicki
marked it as to-read
Oct 10, 2013
Sophie
marked it as to-read
Jan 08, 2014
Jen (NerdifiedJen)
marked it as to-read
Jun 29, 2014
Terina
marked it as to-read
Dec 17, 2014
Amy
marked it as to-read
Aug 14, 2016
Becky
marked it as to-read
Nov 15, 2018
Emily
marked it as to-read
Dec 03, 2018
Karen Pirrung
marked it as to-read
