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What Members Thought
I really liked this book. The first half was maybe a little slow for me, but by the end, I really liked it. It's about a Chinese boy and Japanese girl who become friends in Seattle during WWII - it deals with issues surrounding the Japanese internment and is very objective. The author did a wonderful job of presenting facts without pushing his opinions of that time in our history, which he says is what he tried to do. He definitely succeeded. Sweet, touching, and definitely bittersweet as the ti
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Here's a story of love and love lost, of Chinese filial duty contrasted with American individualism, of prejudices on small and large scales, of the past coming alive. Yes, the story itself was beautiful and bittersweet ... and yet I didn't enjoy this novel nearly as much as I thought I would.
Though the premise was good, the book was infused with sentimentality. Parts of the story felt very contrived; I kept waiting for it to get better, but even the final scenes were a little hokey. There was t ...more
Though the premise was good, the book was infused with sentimentality. Parts of the story felt very contrived; I kept waiting for it to get better, but even the final scenes were a little hokey. There was t ...more
I feel guilty saying it was only "ok", but it just wasn't my favorite. It came highly recommended by people I trust, but it just didn't do anything for me. Although, it was certainly worth reading for the knowledge I gained about the Japanese internment.
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Mar 25, 2010
Marla
rated it
it was amazing
Shelves:
young-adult,
historical-fiction,
book-club,
teleconference,
adult,
asian,
romance,
zz-2010,
book-discussion,
won
Sweet story of friendship and love between a Chinese American boy and a Japanese American girl.
The characters in this story were endearing. I cannot love a book, if I don't love any of the characters, and I am emotionally involved with several in this book: Henry & Keiko, Sheldon Thomas (jazz musician), and Samantha (Henry's soon-to-be daughter-in-law). And I loathed Chaz and his cronies.
Gotta love a book that made me laugh and made me cry.
The descriptions about the Japanese internment camp an ...more
The characters in this story were endearing. I cannot love a book, if I don't love any of the characters, and I am emotionally involved with several in this book: Henry & Keiko, Sheldon Thomas (jazz musician), and Samantha (Henry's soon-to-be daughter-in-law). And I loathed Chaz and his cronies.
Gotta love a book that made me laugh and made me cry.
The descriptions about the Japanese internment camp an ...more
I loved all of the references to Seattle...I think I need to take a trip to the International District soon.
I had a hard time getting into this book at first, but I ultimately I liked it. It's the sort of book that's easy to pick up and I appreciated his retelling of the internment of the Japanese during WWII.
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I would give this book 3 1/2 stars, but since goodreads only allows full stars (argh) I downgraded to 3. I really enjoyed reading it. although somewhat slow in the beginning it definitely picks up. I liked the book. I loved the ending. Easy read.
Kind of a slow paced book, but the historical information was interesting.
I loved this book! A good clean read. Warning - fellow interrupters - I would like to discuss this book next year for book group, so if you don't want to read it twice, wait until then.
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I don't know, I went in with no expectations and it was a book that stayed with me. It's one I want to read again.
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Cute easy read. Learned a little more about the Japanese internment during World War II.
May 01, 2012
Sarah
marked it as to-read
