{"id":4124,"date":"2021-07-26T07:15:47","date_gmt":"2021-07-26T14:15:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/auntagathas.com\/aa\/?p=4124"},"modified":"2021-07-26T07:15:47","modified_gmt":"2021-07-26T14:15:47","slug":"naomi-hirahara-clark-and-division","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/auntagathas.com\/aa\/naomi-hirahara-clark-and-division\/","title":{"rendered":"Naomi Hirahara: Clark and Division"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>This book is a knockout.\u00a0 Hirahara, author of three different series set in contemporary Los Angeles and Hawaii, has turned her eye to 1944 and the plight of American born Japanese, as well as first generation immigrants, right after Pearl Harbor.\u00a0 It is still shocking to me that we created internment camps for Japanese citizens who were simply going about their daily lives.\u00a0 Hirahara brings it home by focusing intimately on one family, the Itos.<\/p>\n

The Itos \u2013 parents and daughters Rose and Aki \u2013 are hardworking, successful citizens.\u00a0 Mr. Ito manages a produce market and Rose and eventually Aki work there too.\u00a0 Rose is the star, the center of the family.\u00a0 Aki looks up to her and wishes she had her strength.\u00a0 This book could simply be the story of Aki discovering that strength in herself, but it is so much more.<\/p>\n

One day the Itos are ordered to report to a camp where they will spend the next two years, sharing a room and a communal toilet that offers no privacy.\u00a0 One of the more heartbreaking things in this book is the slow decline and implosion of Mr. Ito, who, deprived of work and freedom, begins to drink heavily.\u00a0 Mr. Ito\u2019s situation is not front and center, but it\u2019s a heartbreaking through line that subtly illustrates the cruelty of the situation.<\/p>\n

After a few years, the government begins to resettle Japanese all over the country, taking them from their familiar homes and plunging them into completely unfamiliar environments with instructions for not more than 3 to gather at one time.\u00a0 Rose, the beautiful star of the family, goes on ahead to Chicago, and eventually the rest of the family will be able to follow her.<\/p>\n

The day finally comes and the Itos head to Chicago, relishing the freedom of the train after being in camp for so long.\u00a0 When they get to Chicago, it\u2019s dirty, noisy and confusing, and worst of all, when they arrive at the apartment Rose has found for them, they discover that she has died in a subway accident the night before.<\/p>\n

Aki makes it her mission to discover everything she can about Rose\u2019s life in Chicago, talking to her roommates, going to the police department to retrieve her belongings, arranging a funeral and visiting her ashes, and delving deep into her sister\u2019s diary as she knows in her heart that her beautiful Rose would never have taken her own life.<\/p>\n

Aki\u2019s journey to find out what happened to Rose mirrors her journey of growth as she becomes more confident and stronger, forcing herself into situations she would otherwise have avoided.\u00a0 She finds her voice.\u00a0 She and her parents find jobs \u2013 she ends up working at the iconic Newberry Library \u2013 and she finds a suitor, Art, whose family is well established in Chicago.<\/p>\n

While the main part of the story \u2013 and it\u2019s beautifully told and rendered, and utterly heartbreaking \u2013 is the story of the family being sent to the internment camp and then resettled in a foreign place, it\u2019s also the story of Aki.\u00a0 This intimacy with the character as a reader makes you experience, along with Aki, what\u2019s happening, almost in real time.\u00a0 This is a completely immersive reading experience and a completely unforgettable one.<\/p>\n

This is a shameful part of our history which Hirahara has turned a light on, but by giving the reader the gift of the Ito family, she provides some light and hope in the darkness.\u00a0 This is a beautiful book, and one of the reads of the year.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This book is a knockout.\u00a0 Hirahara, author of three different series set in contemporary Los Angeles and Hawaii, has turned her eye to 1944 and the plight of American born Japanese, as well as first generation immigrants, right after Pearl Harbor.\u00a0 It is still shocking to me that we created internment camps for Japanese citizens … Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[639,638,636,637,166],"class_list":["post-4124","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-reviews","tag-639","tag-chicago","tag-japanese-internment-camps","tag-naomi-hirahara","tag-soho-press"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/auntagathas.com\/aa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4124","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/auntagathas.com\/aa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/auntagathas.com\/aa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/auntagathas.com\/aa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/auntagathas.com\/aa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4124"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/auntagathas.com\/aa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4124\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4130,"href":"https:\/\/auntagathas.com\/aa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4124\/revisions\/4130"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/auntagathas.com\/aa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4124"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/auntagathas.com\/aa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4124"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/auntagathas.com\/aa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4124"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}