Review:Imprisoned:The Betrayal of the Japanese Americans During World War II by Martin Sandler

The Betrayal of the Japanese Americans During World War II by Martin Sandler is a recently published nonfiction book for young adults. Over the years a lot has been published about the deplorable actions of the government and people of the United States in their treatment of Japanese-Americans during WWII. This book does an excellent job of bring together all the pieces in a very readable and accessible book that would appeal to readers grades 5-10. There are many, many primary documents, something that all librarians like to see in books that are useful for student research projects. In addition, there are many first hand accounts of the treatment of these American families at the hand of their government and their neighbors.

I have read a fair number of books and stories about Japanese Internment so I was leary that I would learn anything new. But I did. The first hand accounts really opened up the topic for me and made it even more real and sad. Thankfully the book doesn't end in 1945 when the internment ended but it talks about what has happened since that time towards making reparations for these families who lost everything.

I recommend that all libraries, especially school libraries, purchase a copy of this book. in addition let the teachers know about the book so that they can read it and figure out ways to bring the information to their students. I was given an advanced readers copy by the publisher, Walker Books for Young Readers. Though this ARC is incomplete, with placeholders for some of the photographs and charts, I plan on giving it to one of our US history teachers as soon as I get back to school.

30 books this Summer Reading Challenge

28 / 30 books. 93% done!