by Mariko Nagai
Flap Copy Description:
Imagine your country is at war.
Now imagine everyone around you thinks you're the enemy. Mina Tagawa is just like any other American girl in middle school, sharing secrets with her best friend. But all that changes in December 1941 when Pearl Harbor is attacked. Suddenly her classmates are calling her a Jap, her father is arrested by the FBI, and newspaper headlines in Seattle and throughout the West Coast warn people not to trust Japanese Americans.
Within weeks, Mina's family is forced to leave their home and sent hundreds of miles away to an internment camp. For the next three years they live under armed guard - Americans treated as enemies.
My Thoughts:
Although I have read numerous novels in verse, Dust of Eden touched my soul like none other. To say that it is well-written, has beautiful prose, and is a story everyone should read, is all true; but it was the raw truth of how the American government and society treated its own that was so poignant and powerful. I hope Ms. Nagai's novel becomes a recommended book for middle grade students. Its thought-provoking message is something well-worth being reminded of...at any age. I would highly recommend Dust of Eden to readers from the ages of eight to eighty.
To learn more about the author, Mariko Nagai, click here: http://www.mariko-nagai.com/#!about/c786
