Dear America: The Fences Between Us

by Kirby Larson

Overview

Newbery Honor author Kirby Larson brings us the first new Dear America diary in years, taking readers through the attack on Pearl Harbor, the start of World War II, and the Japanese incarceration. With this sweeping tale of life on the World War II homefront, Newbery Honor author Kirby Larson brings her incredible talent to the Dear America series. When Pearl Harbor is attacked, America is finally unable to ignore the wars raging in Europe and Asia any longer. And one girl's entire life is about to change when everything she knows is turned on its head. After the devastating attack on Pearl Harbor, where her brother, a navy sailor, is stationed, Piper Davis begins chronicling her compelling journey through one of history's most tragic and unforgettable eras.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780545414999
Publisher:	Scholastic, Inc.
Publication date:	08/01/2011
Series:	Dear America Series
Sold by:	Scholastic, Inc.
Format:	eBook
Pages:	320
File size:	6 MB
Age Range:	8 - 12 Years

About the Author

Kirby Larson

Kirby Larson is the acclaimed author of the 2007 Newbery Honor Book, HATTIE BIG SKY, as well as a number of picture books, including the award-winning THE MAGIC KERCHIEF and TWO BOBBIES: A TRUE STORY OF HURRICANE KATRINA, FRIENDSHIP, AND SURVIVAL.

She lives in Washington with her husband.

Editorial Reviews

The incarceration of Japanese-Americans during World War II was the result of fear and uncertainty. Most Japanese-Americans were peaceful citizens who were as patriotic as any other Americans. Told from Piper Davis' point of view, Larson presents the story of one Baptist minister's desire to protect the Japanese-Americans living in his parish in Seattle, Washington. Written in the form of diary entries, Piper tells how her father works to defend the Japanese-Americans before they are sent to the camps, and how he strives to provide aid to them after they are incarcerated. While the novel is fiction, the story is based on a real Baptist minister who fought to keep his parishioners safe and cared for. Piper herself is an average white American girl; while it is important that the story of the Japanese who were incarcerated in camps during World War II be told, the story, as told from the viewpoint of a child who could come and go as she pleased, misses the mark in retelling this dark chapter from America's past. The novel is part of the "Dear America" series. Reviewer: Danielle Williams

Children's Literature - Danielle Williams

The Dear America series continues with the World War II diary of Piper Davis. Her father, a pastor in Seattle, Washington, serves a Japanese American community. When her older brother is stationed on the USS Arizona, Piper's caretaker, Mrs. Harada, gives her a diary to help her cope. Piper fills the pages with typical teenage worries about not wearing lipstick and boy troubles, until the Japanese bomb Pearl Harbor. The entries become serious as she watches her Japanese friends and classmates' fathers being beaten and sent to Fort Missoula. She begins to understand the situation when all "alien and non-alien persons of Japanese ancestry" must leave Bainbridge Island. Larson does an excellent job recreating the tension Piper feels. Her patriotism and loyalty to her brother, who survived the bombings, creates a fear of the enemy that is juxtaposed with her complete indignation at the incarceration and mistreatment of her Japanese neighbors. When her father decides to follow his parishioners to Camp Minodaka, Idaho, the severity of the treatment shows up on her front door as she and her father are harassed into moving out of their house. Such details as gas rationing, censored letters from her brother, and WWII slang also contribute to this book's appeal. The diary format forces the narrative into some unrealistic situations, but the formulaic structure provides a comfort level for readers familiar with the series. Teachers and students wanting to bring history alive will enjoy this well-researched novel. Reviewer: Ann Reddy

VOYA - Ann Reddy

Gr 5–8—Piper Davis, the 13-year-old daughter of a pastor for a Japanese Baptist church, shares her diary as she goes from worrying about when her father will let her date and wear lipstick to agonzing about her older brother who was stationed at Pearl Harbor on the Arizona when it was attacked on December 7, 1941. With Elaina Erika Davis's poignant pacing and clearly voiced characterizations, listeners will feel the emotional torments and celebrations that Piper experiences in this historical novel by Kirby Larson (Scholastic, 2010). Each event that Piper and her family must face—from her sister needing to find a job and ultimately marrying her boyfriend before he gets deployed to the food and materials rationing they must endure—is clearly conveyed through her diary entries and Davis's narration. Listeners will hold their breath along with Piper as she awaits the fate of her brother and his friends. Among the most powerfully expressed emotions are those that Piper feels as she tries to understand what is happening to her Japanese friends as a result of newly imposed government regulations. The scenes in the Japanese internment camps are heartbreaking, and Piper's confusion, anger, and frustration is palpable. The inclusion of an historical note, web resources, and an audio clip from President Roosevelt's speech about "the day that shall live in infamy" make this powerful audiobook even more robust.—Stephanie A. Squicciarini, Fairport Public Library, NY

School Library Journal

Piper Davis is 13 in the fall of 1941 when she begins her diary. Her older brother has just been stationed in Hawaii—far, his family thought, from the fighting in Europe. Piper's community in Seattle is a seemingly tight-knit one, and her father is minister to the Japanese Baptist congregation. The quick escalation of events after Pearl Harbor, the worries about her brother, the incarceration and relocation of friends and neighbors—all are chronicled with care and detail. Piper's voice is believably that of a young girl in the war years, and though the narrative is somewhat episodic, it has plenty of emotional resonance. The appalling removal of immigrant and American-born Japanese from their homes and the discomfort, sorrow, grit and struggle in Camp Minidoka in Idaho are detailed through Piper's visits with her father, who is appointed to its church. An epilogue brings the story into the present for several of the characters. This auspicious relaunch of the Dear America series includes an historical note, archival images, web resources, a recipe, Roosevelt's "day that will live in infamy" speech—and the author's name on the cover. (Historical fiction. 9-13)

Kirkus Reviews