"The Bracelet" --A book by Yoshiko Uchida

                “The Bracelet” by Yoshiko Unchida is a story about a young girl, Emi, who is a Japanese-American who was being sent to a prison camp because America was at war with Japan.  Emi’s friend, Laurie brings her a bracelet to take with her to the camp.  Emi wanted to keep the bracelet forever in order to always remember her friend.  When Emi arrived at the lonely, dirty camp, she realized that she had lost her bracelet.  At first, she was extremely sad that she had lost the bracelet, but then she understood that she did not need a bracelet to remember Laurie, but that she would always carry Laurie with her in her heart.  She would never forget her best friend.

                I liked that this book showed the truth of the hardships that Japanese-Americans went through in 1942.  I was hit hard when I read that there was a sign that read “We are loyal Americans.”  An important role of children’s literature is to show the truth about historical events.  I liked that this book was willing to show the mistake of putting Japanese-Americans through such harsh conditions during the war with Japan.  Although it’s humbling and difficult to read the truth at times, I appreciated the honest portrayal of this time in this children’s book.  I wish that this book had given a few more details about what was going on in history during the time of the war.  I think that if the author had included more of the details of the author’s note throughout the story, children would walk away with a deeper understanding of the historical events. 

                In reading “The Bracelet” I learned that at times, children’s literature can be more honest than adult literature.  Seeing how a child is impacted by a terrible event such as the prison-camps, one can learn a new perspective of history.  The viewpoint of a child seems to give an honest and naïve look at evil deeds.  I learned that at times, it is children who can teach us the most because of their honesty and simplicity.

Other books by Yoshiko Uchida:

Samurai of Gold Hill

Journey to Topaz

Jar of Dreams

Picture Bride

The Best Bad Thing

Journey Home