smilagros's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
5.0
“ Being in the future meant very little when my education on the past was so limited“. This is one of my favorite graphic novels of all time. I wish more people would talk about it because wow. It was beautiful illustrations and the story was not a history book even though it’s about history. I cannot recommend this graphic novel enough.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Police brutality, Racism, Terminal illness, War, Cancer, Deportation, Confinement, Gaslighting, Hate crime, and Xenophobia
readingwithkaitlyn's review against another edition
emotional
informative
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Racism, Death, Blood, Murder, Confinement, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Gun violence, Medical content, Deportation, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Colonisation, Grief, and Hate crime
Minor: Cancer, Xenophobia, Terminal illness, War, and Death of parent
Incarceration camps, disconnection, WWII, Donald Trump, Pearl Habor, Anti-Muslim rhetoric (critical stance), Anti-Black racism, Pearl Habor, Civil Rights Movement, cigarettes, starvation, suffering, poor living conditions.emily_mh's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
informative
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
This story is about Kiku, a displaced girl who is landed in the displacement of a whole group of people, namely Japanese-Americans in WWII. She’s on a journey learning about why she feels so disconnected from her Japanese heritage; that it’s because her ancestors were forcefully disconnected from theirs. Her story is about generational trauma and how this can reach through time to affect the present and future. Hughes draws parallels between the generational trauma of Japanese-Americans from WWII, and the generational trauma being generated right now in the US with racist, xenophobic, and Islamophobic immigration policy that lands people in border detainment/incarceration.
Hughes also emphasises the power of memory, of remembering. Both are galvanising and unifying and instructive. I particularly loved this quote on the topic: “But when a community comes together to demand more, when we do not let trauma stay obscured but bring it up to the surface and remember it together - we can make sure it is not repeated.” I also loved this quote, how it implies the consequence of not remembering the past: “Being from the future meant very little when my education on the past was so limited.”
Overall, this story provided a massive learning curve for me regarding the incarceration camps. This is the first book I’ve read on them and I learnt so much. The book is written with Kiku as both MC and narrator which works well, as the story she tells is deeply informative and takes you through all kinds of aspects of the incarceration. Specific facts that have stuck with me are the information about No-Nos, and the discussion on how white people used Japanese-Americans’ history of incarceration camps to feed into model-minority myth in the 60s.
I think that in terms of the medium, there could have been a bit of editing of the panels. There was an excess of landscape and context panels that was unnecessary and led to repetition. But the art style was good; I particularly liked the cleanness of the lines and the fact that the panels weren’t overcrowded.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Racism and Xenophobia
Moderate: War, Death, and Grief
Minor: Death of parent, Medical content, Fire/Fire injury, Injury/Injury detail, Terminal illness, Blood, Excrement, Cancer, Islamophobia, Racial slurs, Confinement, Vomit, Drug use, and Gun violence
Major: Japanese-American incarceration camps Moderate: forced separation fro loved ones, loss of a loved one Minor: nuclear warfarekazbrekkercore's review against another edition
informative
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
Finished it in about ten minutes. Very informative about Japanese internment camps, and their lasting effects. Reminds me of The Devil's Arithmetic.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Racism
Moderate: Death, Death of parent, and Terminal illness
Minor: Racial slurs
alisazhup's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
emotional
inspiring
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Confinement, Death, Murder, and Racism
Moderate: Cancer, Death of parent, Islamophobia, Religious bigotry, Terminal illness, and Xenophobia
Minor: Racial slurs
Japanese incarceration campsspinesinaline's review
challenging
emotional
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
A really informational and emotional read. And grateful for the author's references so I can do more reading! Thanks to Taylor for her review that got this book on my radar!
This graphic novel is inspired by the author’s research into her own family so much of it is pulled from personal facts and conversations, though with a slight fantastical spin.
The author is actually a character in the book (the young girl in the foreground of the cover)! Kiku is on vacation with her mom in San Francisco when she finds herself “displaced” to the 1940s. The displacements continue happening until Kiku is stuck in the past, forced into the same internment camp as her grandmother, and able to learn firsthand about this history she’s been taught so little about.
I really appreciated this firsthand account as there’s so much of even the little details of this history that I’m unfamiliar with. The displacements act as a very obvious way for Kiku to relate to her grandmother, in the actual act of being taken away from her life, and it was helpful to understand the camps through her eyes and with her commentary on how little she is prepared for it, and ignorant of what’s coming, because of her limited education on the history.
It’s an emotional and powerful story that Hughes ties in nicely to present-day American policies, and I’m very grateful for all the resources she shares at the end so I can continue learning!
This graphic novel is inspired by the author’s research into her own family so much of it is pulled from personal facts and conversations, though with a slight fantastical spin.
The author is actually a character in the book (the young girl in the foreground of the cover)! Kiku is on vacation with her mom in San Francisco when she finds herself “displaced” to the 1940s. The displacements continue happening until Kiku is stuck in the past, forced into the same internment camp as her grandmother, and able to learn firsthand about this history she’s been taught so little about.
I really appreciated this firsthand account as there’s so much of even the little details of this history that I’m unfamiliar with. The displacements act as a very obvious way for Kiku to relate to her grandmother, in the actual act of being taken away from her life, and it was helpful to understand the camps through her eyes and with her commentary on how little she is prepared for it, and ignorant of what’s coming, because of her limited education on the history.
It’s an emotional and powerful story that Hughes ties in nicely to present-day American policies, and I’m very grateful for all the resources she shares at the end so I can continue learning!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Forced institutionalization, Racism, and Xenophobia
Moderate: Death, Death of parent, Islamophobia, Murder, Religious bigotry, and Terminal illness
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