The daughter of Japanese immigrants, twelve-year-old Sumiko lives on a flower farm. She feels a bit ostracized at school, being the only Japanese student and shunned at a birthday party. But she loves the flowers on the farm, works hard to help her family, and dreams of owning her own flower shop someday. Her life turns upside down when war starts. After the bombing of Pearl Harbor, all Japanese are under suspicion and they feel the effects almost immediately. She quits going to school. Her family looses their farm, has to sell all their belongings for next to nothing, and get moved to an internment camp. First they stay at a converted racetrack, literally living in the horse stalls. Then they’re sent on a bus to Arizona. Living at the end of a road in the middle of nowhere, the hot dry dusty desert. It’s questionable what is worse, the heat or the boredom. Sumiko watches as some people around her fall into lethargy and depression while the kids run wild, lying and stealing at will. Her family seems to be dissolving- two family members were sent to a different internment camp up north, where they constantly talk about the cold in their letters. Even though she’s still with her brother, aunt and uncles, some days she hardly talks to any of them. They all feel a loss of purpose.
Gradually the people finds ways to occupy themselves, forming clubs, knitting circles, cooking for others, even planting gardens. This is where Sumiko pours her energies. (It was a nice surprise to once again read a book where the protagonist enjoyed gardening). She improves the soil, works hard to tend and protect her plants, grown from seeds she brought from home. Fields around them are planting with food crops, irrigation ditches are dug. Sumiko listens to the talk around her about the war, what the government has done to them, how they have lost their rights. There’s outrage and criticism when they hear that now the government wants their help in the war effort- they’re asked to leave the camp to work (for a pittance). Sumiko herself doesn’t want to leave. She’s found her place in the camp, strange and isolated as it is. She’s even made a few friends, including a Native American boy who sometimes meets her in a bean field. (The camp is on reservation land, and she learns that the tribe resents them being there, raising more conflict). Some of the young men are even enlisted as soldiers. It’s a whirlwind of change again near the end of the story. Her family is leaving- will she go with them? or stay with Frank. You do see some growth in her maturity, but overall I felt this was such a quietly-told story, I didn’t get a strong feel for Sumiko’s character. I found myself struggling to keep interest on the page sometimes. I’m not sure if it’s the writing style, the fact that this is still J fiction and maybe my brain is ready to move on, or that I have an intriguing sequel to another series waiting on my bedside table distracting my attention.
Borrowed from the public library.
