Jeanne Wakatsuki Houston

" ... In this moving memoir, Jeanne Wakatsuki recalls coming of age in Manzanar, a bleak, dusty settlement behind barbed wire. She tells of her family's struggle to adjust to life in cramped barracks, fearful and searching for purpose in their new surroundings. She describes finding a sense of normalcy in activities like glee club and baton-twirling, while armed guards loomed above in the watchtowers. Farewell to Manzanar is the true story of one...

During World War II a community called Manzanar was hastily created in the high mountain desert country of California, east of the Sierras. Its purpose was to house thousands of Japanese American internees. One of the first families to arrive was the Wakatsukis, who were ordered to leave their fishing business in Long Beach and take with them only the belongings they could carry. For Jeanne Wakatsuki, a seven-year-old child, Manzanar became a way...