A Diamond in the Desert by Kathryn Fitzmaurice
Puffin Books
Copyright 2012
Summary: This book is based off of real events about what life was like for Japanese-Americans after the bombing of Pearl Harbor. These families were relocated. The book is told by a young boy named Tetsu. Tetsu tells us about his family, including his little sister Kimi. Tetsu’s family has been relocated to the Gila River Relocation Center and his father has been arrested. Tetsu has to become the father figure of their family but they soon meet their new neighbors who have a father. This family enjoys the game of baseball just like Tetsu. Soon they make a team and start a project to make a baseball diamond. The book moves back and forth between the baseball teams growth and the reality of what is happening at the center like the disappearance of Kimi.
Themes:
Race: This book is about a real life event that you really don’t hear too much about in school. Japan bombed Pearl Harbor and in return, America decided to gather all Japanese- Americans and place them in internment camps. These families had nothing to do with the bombing but just because of their race and background, they have been forced to relocate and change their entire lives. Tetsu tries to hold on to a normal life with the baseball team in the center but finds it difficult.
“People were suspicious of anyone who was Japanese after those pilots from Japan bombed Pearl Harbor. It didn’t matter that we’d lived here our whole lives or that we were American citizens” Page 3
Coming to age: Tetsu is young and innocent at first. He hasn’t had any real responsibilities before. But now with his father away and his family being relocated, he has no other choice than to become the man of the house. Along with that, Tetsu has to grow in a living situation where he is judged and held because of his race. He has to decide who he is pretty quickly.
“I did chores for mama around our barrack. I swept before she asked me to. I swept and I told her: Everything will be okay, Mama. See how clean the floors are now? What else can I do for you, Mama? Why don’t you sit down?” Page 21
Reaction: First and foremost, this book differs from other novels in the way that it is written. Some chapters are long some chapters are as short as one paragraph. They are written very symbolically and with a lot of emotion attached. It isn’t all about baseball either. Yes, it is a large portion and theme of the book but anyone could be interested to hear more about the internment camps and the view of someone who went through this part of history instead of reading it out of a text book, or for me, not at all. Students hear a lot about the concentration camps during the Holocaust but rarely focus or compare them to the camps we had here in the United States. It is a great book to teach with history of our nation.
Puffin Books
Copyright 2012
Summary: This book is based off of real events about what life was like for Japanese-Americans after the bombing of Pearl Harbor. These families were relocated. The book is told by a young boy named Tetsu. Tetsu tells us about his family, including his little sister Kimi. Tetsu’s family has been relocated to the Gila River Relocation Center and his father has been arrested. Tetsu has to become the father figure of their family but they soon meet their new neighbors who have a father. This family enjoys the game of baseball just like Tetsu. Soon they make a team and start a project to make a baseball diamond. The book moves back and forth between the baseball teams growth and the reality of what is happening at the center like the disappearance of Kimi.
Themes:
Race: This book is about a real life event that you really don’t hear too much about in school. Japan bombed Pearl Harbor and in return, America decided to gather all Japanese- Americans and place them in internment camps. These families had nothing to do with the bombing but just because of their race and background, they have been forced to relocate and change their entire lives. Tetsu tries to hold on to a normal life with the baseball team in the center but finds it difficult.
“People were suspicious of anyone who was Japanese after those pilots from Japan bombed Pearl Harbor. It didn’t matter that we’d lived here our whole lives or that we were American citizens” Page 3
Coming to age: Tetsu is young and innocent at first. He hasn’t had any real responsibilities before. But now with his father away and his family being relocated, he has no other choice than to become the man of the house. Along with that, Tetsu has to grow in a living situation where he is judged and held because of his race. He has to decide who he is pretty quickly.
“I did chores for mama around our barrack. I swept before she asked me to. I swept and I told her: Everything will be okay, Mama. See how clean the floors are now? What else can I do for you, Mama? Why don’t you sit down?” Page 21
Reaction: First and foremost, this book differs from other novels in the way that it is written. Some chapters are long some chapters are as short as one paragraph. They are written very symbolically and with a lot of emotion attached. It isn’t all about baseball either. Yes, it is a large portion and theme of the book but anyone could be interested to hear more about the internment camps and the view of someone who went through this part of history instead of reading it out of a text book, or for me, not at all. Students hear a lot about the concentration camps during the Holocaust but rarely focus or compare them to the camps we had here in the United States. It is a great book to teach with history of our nation.