Yoshiko Uchida

As I pursued the shelves at the local public library for available books by author Yoshiko Uchida, I experienced a sense of deja vu. Flashback twenty years ago, when a younger version of myself devoured the juvenile chapter books by Yoshiko Uchida available at my local Carnegie library. I vividly remember the images in my mind that her books provoked--images of another place, another time, a different experience. As someone who has always loved reading historical fiction, I enjoyed reading her books because of the new facts and experiences about which I learned. Now, as I stood 1000 miles and 20 years away from my first encounter with her books, it was hard to select one to read. I wanted to read them all to relive those childhood moments.

Eventually, I had to select one. Since I had never read a picture book by Yoshiko Uchida, I wondered if it would possess the same power as her chapter books. I'm happy to report that this book kept my interest just as her chapter books once had.

In the book The Bracelet, Yoshiko Uchida recounts a child's perspective of the Japanese-American internment camps during World War II. The book opens with seven-year-old Emi promising her best friend, Laurie, that she will never remove the gold bracelet given to her as a farewell gift. Told from the third-person, the book explains that Emi and her family are being sent to an internment camp due to their heritage. Then, the book narrates in a chronological order their move from their house to the Tanforan Racetracks, where they will be held until being placed at a different camp in the desert. In the moving process, Emi discovers that she has lost the bracelet from Laurie. She is upset until she realizes that she doesn't need an object to remember her friends and former life; she has her memories.

This book provides an excellent springboard for beginning to teach younger students and children about different aspects of World War II, especially the internment of Japanese-American citizens. The book is written in clear, simple language which will explain the events to children in a factual manner. Young children will empathize with Emi and her sadness from being pulled away from her home and friends. Striking watercolor illustrations add to the story, pulling the reader's focus onto main events of the plot and providing a context for small children to comprehend the geographical and historical setting. In one illustration, the other characters are muted and only Emi's character pops from the page, which is a fitting way of showing how Emi was just one of many that experienced this unfair treatment. The book also presents events, such as the presence of soldiers and the poor conditions of being housed in horse stalls at the racetracks, in a matter-of-fact manner. Though Yoshiko Uchida experienced similar things when she and her family were interned during World War II, it seems that she wrote this book to convey the events and not her feelings regarding the event. Because it lacks the emotion, I think it would be good for using with young children to begin examining this aspect of America's history and for allowing them to synthesize what one's emotions would have been during this experience.

Reading this book reminded me of another book that I had read last fall. Entitled Dear Miss Breed by Joanne Oppenheim, it recounts the story of a public children's librarian who wrote faithfully to her Japanese-American patrons who were sent to internment camps, sending them books and hope during the bleak period. The book is a great resource since it contains many primary resources, including newspaper articles, posters and cartoons from the time period, and the letters written to and from Miss Breed.

Another book that I thought could be paired with The Bracelet is The Memory String by Eve Bunting. In The Memory String, young Laura recounts the symbolism of each button on her memory string to provoke her new stepmother. When the family cat rips the string and buttons are strewn everywhere, Laura is upset, especially when one treasured button can't be found. Later, the new stepmother, Jane, finds the button and Laura asks her to help restring the buttons, creating a bond between them. I think that you could read The Bracelet and The Memory String together and ask children to discuss or write about possessions that are significant to them and remind them of good memories. You could compare and contrast Emi and Laura's reactions when their items are lost or destroyed and ask students to journal about what their reactions might be.

No matter if you read the other books or not, The Bracelet is still an excellent resource to read with your students or on your own. Delve into history and explore a little-discussed aspect of American history.