DUST OF EDEN by Mariko Nagai

Good morning, Blog Buds!

I had no idea Japanese Americans were interned in camps during World War II until I was in high school and I picked up a book about it on my own time.  It wasn't taught in school back then, but I hope it is now.  Farewell to Manzanar

You see, folks, this is why it's good to nurture the love of learning and stories your children are born with.  That way they can educate themselves if there are any gaps in their schooling.
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DUST OF EDEN is written poetically and in first person.  The author recounts first learning of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, Hawaii on December 7, 1941.  Within seconds, she starts hearing people say 'Jap' and looking at her in disgust.
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Ever wonder why German Americans weren't hauled away in massive numbers to internment camps?  Well, because they look like most of the rest of us, that's why.  It's a knee-jerk reaction to go after the different.
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So, the author's mother teaches her to keep her back straight anyway and her best friend says it doesn't matter.  She goes to Sunday School and celebrates Christmas. 
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The men from the government come and take her daddy away for questioning, upsetting the normalcy of even her homelife.
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There's a saying and it's true.  "Children are not born hating."  But, they can and frequently are taught rather quickly.  As this story tells, children learn to hate themselves at the same time.
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The time comes to be taken away to the internment camp.  They're told it's for their own good and safety, but that's a lie and they know it.  But, what other choice do they have.  Grandpas is old and father's in prison.  Big brother gets into fights everyday over the injustice of it all, accomplishing nothing, of course.
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Besides their home, the pet cat must stay behind.  They can only take two suitcases each.  It's hard to imagine this happening in the good ol' US of A.  Isn't it?  But, there is still goodness and rational minds.  Jamie, her best friend, promises to care for the cat and to write letters.  Not all the people are taunting them, some are upset and weeping as the Japanese Americans are herded away like cattle.
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When they get to the euphemistically named Camp Harmony, they have to gather hay to make into mattresses for sleeping on.  Not exactly glamorous.  They're obliged to submit to intrusive medical exams and their belongings are rifled through.  It's all very humiliating. 
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Rumor of a man being shot for trying to leave and another move to yet another camp continues the misery.  Barbed wire, armed guards, lines to the common bathrooms, and being at the mercy of the really lousy food because there is nothing else.
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There's a saying you'll discover when you read about the Jewish Holocaust, "Never again."  Wise words.  But, I wonder if anything like the internment of Japanese Americans could happen again, possibly to another group of undesirables, politically opponents or something. 
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God, I hope not.
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Get this book.  It's one all Americans need to read.