Japanese Internment Bibliography     back to resources page

Elementary

1. The journal of Ben Uchida: citizen 13559, Mirror Lake Internment Camp / by Barry Denenberg.  Twelve-year-old Ben Uchida keeps a journal of his experiences as a prisoner in a Japanese internment camp in Mirror Lake, California, during World War II.
2. American Dreams / by Lisa Banim.  Developments in World War II force Amy Mochida and her family to move from Hollywood to an internment camp with other Japanese Americans, changing Amy's friendship with eleven-year-old Jeannie.
3. The Barbed Wires of Hate / by Martha Sias Purcell.  Hiroshi is shocked when his family, and all people of Japanese ancestry, are moved to internment camps after the Japanese bomb Pearl Harbor.
4. Baseball Saved Us / by Ken Mochizuki.  A Japanese American boy learns to play baseball when he and his family are forced to live in an internment camp during World War II, and his ability to play helps him after the war is over.
5. The Bracelet / by Yoshiko Uchida.  Emi, a Japanese-American in the second grade, is sent with her family to an internment camp during World War II, but the loss of the bracelet her best friend has given her proves that she does not need a physical reminder of that friendship.
6. Flowers from Mariko / by Rick Noguchi.  Mariko plants a garden to raise the spirits of her family members after they are released from the Japanese American internment camp where they spent three years during World War II.
7. Welcome Home Swallows / by Marlene Shigekawa.  Junior, a young Japanese-American boy who spent three years in an internment camp during World War II, returns home to Anaheim, California where he starts school again and waits for his family members to be reunited.
8. Japanese American Internment Camps / by Gail Sakuria.  Discusses the mass relocation of thousands of Japanese Americans during World War II, profiling individuals such as Daniel Inouye, Yoshiko Uchida, and George Takei.
9. Blue Jay in the desert / by Marlene Shigekawa.  While living in a relocation camp during World War II, a young Japanese American boy receives a message of hope from his grandfather.
10. Journey Home / by Yoshiko Uchida.  After their release from an American concentration camp, a Japanese-American girl and her family try to reconstruct their lives amidst strong anti-Japanese feelings which breed fear, distrust, and violence.
11. So far from the sea / by Eve Bunting.  When seven-year-old Laura and her family visit Grandfather's grave at the Manzanar War Relocation Center, the Japanese American child leaves behind a special symbol.
12. The Mover outers /by Florence Crannell Means.  The story of a Japanese American family put into an internment camp following the bombing of Pearl Harbor.
13. Journey to Topaz /by Yoshiko Uchida.  Eleven-year-old Yuki and her Japanese-American family are uprooted from their home and put in a concentration camp called Topaz.
14. The Journey, Japanese Americans, Racism and Renewal / by Sheila Hamanaka.  Artist Hamanaka tells of the experiences of Japanese Americans, focusing on their internment during World War II.
15. Our burden of shame: Japanese-American internment during World War II / by Susan Sinnott.  Tells how racism and anti-Japanese hysteria during World War II resulted in Japanese-Americans being imprisoned unjustly in internment camps in the U.S.
16. The children of Topaz: the story of a Japanese American internment camp: based on a classroom diary / by Michael O. Tunnell and George W. Chilcoat.  The diary of a third-grade class of Japanese-American children being held with their families in an internment camp during World War II.
17. American Dreams /by Lisa Banim. Developments in World War II force Amy Mochida and her family to move from Hollywood to an internment camp with other Japanese Americans, changing Amy's friendship with eleven-year-old Jeannie.
18. The Moon Bridge / by Marcia Savin.  The friendship between San Francisco girls Mitzi Fujimoto and Ruthie Fox is changed when World War II begins and Mitzi and her family are forced to go into an internment camp.
19. War Strikes / by Norma Jean Lutz.  The story of an American family and their Japanese-American friends who are imprisoned in internment camps during World War II.
20. The Invisible Thread / by Yoshiko Uchida.  The author describes her experiences growing up as a Nisei in Berkeley and her family's internment in Nevada.

Middle

1. Behind barbed wire: the story of Japanese-American internment during World War II / by Lila Perl.  Discusses the forced internment of Japanese-Americans in camps following the attack on Pearl Harbor and the entry of the United States into World War II.
2. The children of Topaz: the story of a Japanese American internment camp: based on a classroom diary / by Michael O. Tunnell and George W. Chilcoat.  The diary of a third-grade class of Japanese-American children being held with their families in an internment camp during World War II.
3. Farewell to Manzanar; a true story of Japanese American experience during and after the World War II internment [by] Jeanne Wakatsuki Houston & James D. Houston.  Biography of Jeanne Wakatsuki Houston relating her experiences of living at the Manzanar internment camp during World War II and how it has influenced her life.
4. I am an American: a true story of Japanese internment / by Jerry Stanley.  This book tells you about a true story of Japanese internment.
5. The journal of Ben Uchida: citizen 13559, Mirror Lake Internment Camp / by Barry Denenberg.  Twelve-year-old Ben Uchida keeps a journal of his experiences as a prisoner in a Japanese internment camp in Mirror Lake, California, during World War II.
6. Life in a Japanese American internment camp / by Diane Yancey.  Discusses the course of Japanese immigration into the United States, events leading to the relocation of Japanese Americans during World War II, and the conditions they faced in the internment camps.
7. Our burden of shame: Japanese-American internment during World War II / by Susan Sinnott.  Tells how racism and anti-Japanese hysteria during World War II resulted in Japanese-Americans being imprisoned unjustly in internment camps in the U.S.
8. Voices from the camps: internment of Japanese Americans during World War II / by Larry Dane Brimner.  Japanese Americans tell of their experiences during the evacuation to internment camps after the attack on Pearl Harbor.
9. Aleutian Sparrow / by Karen Hesse.  An Aleutian Islander recounts her suffering during World War II in American internment camps designed to "protect" the population from the invading Japanese.
10. A Boy No More / by Harry Mazer.  After his father is killed in the attack on Pearl Harbor, Adam, his mother, and sister are evacuated from Hawaii to California, where he must deal with his feelings about the war, Japanese internment camps, his father, and his own identity.
11. A Child in Prison Camp / by Shizuye Takashima. An account of what it was like to spend three years as a child in a Canadian internment camp because her parents were of Japanese origin.
12. Fighting for Honor; Japanese Americans and WWII / by Michael Cooper.  Examines the history of Japanese in the United States, focusing on their treatment during World War II, including the mass relocation to internment camps and the distinguished service of Japanese Americans in the American military.
13. My Friend the Enemy / by J. B. Cheany. In 1943 Oregon, eleven-year-old Hazel befriends a fifteen-year-old Japanese-American orphan boy she discovers hiding from internment on her neighbor's farm.
14. Weedflower / by Cynthia Kadohata.  After twelve-year-old Sumiko and her Japanese-American family are relocated from their flower farm in southern California to an internment camp on a Mojave Indian reservation in Arizona, she helps her family and neighbors, becomes friends with a local Indian boy, and tries to hold on to her dream of owning a flower shop.
15. Dear Miss Breed / by Joanne Oppenheim.  The true-life story of Clara Breed, a librarian whose outreach efforts helped a group of Japanese-American children survive the persecutions of the American government during World War II.
16. Journey Home / by Yoshiko Uchida.  After their release from an American concentration camp, a Japanese-American girl and her family try to reconstruct their lives amidst strong anti-Japanese feelings which breed fear, distrust, and violence.
17. Remembering Manzanar: life in a Japanese relocation camp / by Michael Cooper.  Uses firsthand accounts, oral histories, and essays from school newspapers and yearbooks to tell the story of the Japanese Americans who were sent to live in government-run internments camps during World War II.
18. The Eternal Spring of Mr. Ito / by Sheila Garrigue.  The fate of a 200-year-old bonsai tree is decided by a young girl and an old Japanese Canadian gardener who resists being imprisoned in an internment camp after the bombing of Pearl Harbor. Sequel to "All the Children Were Sent Away."
19. The Moon Bridge / by Marcia Savin.  The friendship between San Francisco girls Mitzi Fujimoto and Ruthie Fox is changed when World War II begins and Mitzi and her family are forced to go into an internment camp.
20. The Journey, Japanese Americans, Racism and Renewal / by Sheila Hamanaka.  Artist Hamanaka tells of the experiences of Japanese Americans, focusing on their internment during World War II.
21. The Invisible Thread / by Yoshiko Uchida.  The author describes her experiences growing up as a Nisei in Berkeley and her family's internment in Nevada.

High School

1. And justice for some: exploring American justice through drama and theatre / Wendy Lement and Bethany Dunakin.  Presents four original plays that document key cases in U.S. history including the Salem witch trials, the Anthony Burns fugitive slave trial, a case involving the internment of Japanese Americans during World War Two, and the Rosenberg trial.
2. Asian Americans: opposing viewpoints / William Dudley, editor.  Covers Chinese immigrants and the American response-- Asian Americans in the early twentieth century-- The World War II internment of Japanese Americans-- The "model minority”: Asian Americans after 1965.
3. Behind barbed wire: the story of Japanese-American internment during World War II / by Lila Perl.  Discusses the forced internment of Japanese-Americans in camps following the attack on Pearl Harbor and the entry of the United States into World War II.
4. By order of the president: FDR and the internment of Japanese Americans / Greg Robinson.  Explores President Franklin Delano Roosevelt's role in making and implementing the interment of Japanese aliens and American citizens of Japanese descent after the bombing of Pearl Harbor.
5. In defense of internment: the case for "racial profiling" in World War II and the war on terror / Michelle Malkin.  Examines the loyalty and disloyalty of various Japanese before and during World War II.
6. Japanese American internment camps / Bryan J. Grapes, book editor. Presents eighteen firsthand accounts of the internment of Japanese-Americans during the Second World War, from a variety of viewpoints.
7. Japanese American internment camps / William Dudley, book editor.  Provides a variety of perspectives from both primary sources and historical studies on the decision by President Roosevelt and others to relocate Japanese Americans during World War II.
8. Japanese American internment during World War II: a history and reference guide / Wendy Ng.  Presents descriptions of Japanese life in America before World War II, the evacuation, internment life, and legal challenges to the government's actions.
9. Korematsu v. United States: Japanese-American internment / [by] Susan Dudley Gold.  Describes the case of Korematsu v. United States, including each side's claims, the outcome, and excerpts from the Supreme Court justices' decisions.
10. Last witnesses: reflections on the wartime internment of Japanese Americans / edited by Erica Harth.  A collection of articles by various authors which explore the experiences of Americans of Japanese descent who were detained in government-sanctioned camps during World War II.
11. Only what we could carry: the Japanese American internment experience / edited with introduction by Lawson Fusao Inada; preface by Patricia Wakida; afterward by William Hohri.  Presents a collection of letters, stories, poems, reminiscences, and artwork in which Japanese Americans who were uprooted from their homes after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor and forced into internment camps, express their feelings about the experience.
12. Art of Gamen; Arts and crafts from the Japanese American Internment / by Delphine Hirasuna.  The perseverance and resourcefulness of Japanese-Americans in internment camps during World War II is evident by the startling arts and crafts they produced. This tribute to Japanese-Americans highlights their delicate, intricate, and beautiful creations.
13. Beauty Behind barbed wire; the arts of the Japanese in our war relocation camps / by Allan H. Eaton.  Looks at the beautiful artwork produced in relocation camps. 
14. Dear Miss Breed / by Joanne Oppenheim.  The true-life story of Clara Breed, a librarian whose outreach efforts helped a group of Japanese-American children survive the persecutions of the American government during World War II.
15. From Concentration camp to campus; Japanese American students and WWII / by Allan Austin. Examines the work of the National Japanese American Student Relocation Council, describing how the group helped move Japanese American college students from concentration camps to colleges away from the West Coast in the years following the attack on Pearl Harbor.
16. And Justice for all; an oral history of the Japanese American internment camps /compiled by John Tateishi.  Presents the recollections of thirty Japanese Americans who were among the more than 115,000 civilians to be imprisoned in U.S. detention camps during World War II.
17. Prisoners without trial; Japanese Americans in WWII / by Roger Daniels.  Describes and analyzes the decision to remove Japanese-Americans from the West Coast, their confinement in ten concentration camps euphemistically styled "relocation centers," and the various ways in which the Japanese-American people reacted to their unjust treatment during and after World War II.
18. Achieving the impossible dream; how Japanese Americans obtained redress / by Mitchell Maki.  Examines the process by which the Japanese-American community progressed from incarceration in 1942 to an apology and redress payments by the American government in 1988.
19. Manzanar = [Ringoen] / by John Armor.  Chronicles the internments of Japanese Americans in the United States during the mid 1940s.
20. When the Emperor was divine, a novel / by Julie Otsuka.  A novel in which the members of a Japanese American family present their unique perspectives on the experience of being forced into an internment camp during World War II.
21. No, no boy / by John Okada.  After World War II Ichiro returns home to Seattle after four years--two spent in a Japanese internment camp, and two in prison for refusing to fight in the U.S. Army, and finds himself rejected by still-frightened whites, as well as his own people.
22. A fence away from freedom; Japanese Americans and WWII / by Ellen Levine.  Relates the experiences of thirty-five Japanese-Americans and their families who were sent to American prison camps during World War II.
23. The Open Boat: Poems from Asian America /edited by Garrett Hongo. This anthology includes poems by Lawson Fusao Inada, Janice Mirikitani, James Masao Mitsui, and David Mura, all of whom have written about the camp experience.
24. Legends from Camp / by Lawson Fusao Inada.  Inada's poems about camp life are big and sprawling and would seem to be wonderful for reading aloud.

AV Materials

1. The Moon Bridge [video]  The friendship between San Francisco girls Mitzi Fujimoto and Ruthie Fox is changed when World War II begins and Mitzi and her family are forced to go into an internment camp.
2. A Time remembered VT5336 [video] Churchill Media.  Interviews, narration rare archival footage and photographs depict the life of the Japanese American fishing community of Terminal Island in Los Angeles Harbor, whose 3,000 residents were evacuated and sent to Manzanar internment camp at the start of World War II.
3. Dear Miss Breed, [video] Pyramid Media. Examines life in the Japanese-American internment camps in the U.S. during World War II through letters written by camp children to San Diego librarian Clara Breed, who spoke out against their imprisonment.
4. Japanese Americans Prisoners at Home [kit] / by Chu Godwin.  A reading kit focusing on the stories of Japanese Americans who were forced to live in prison camps during World War II. Includes book, CD-ROM, sound cassette, and teacher's guide.
5. Children of the Camps [video] PBS. This documentary captures the experiences of six Americans of Japanese ancestry who were confined as innocent children to internment camps by the U.S. government during World War II.
6. Uncle Sam, the movie collection, volume 3 [video] Chudwig Group.  A collection of short documentaries that were used to boost morale in the WWII era.  Includes “Japanese Relocation”.

    

 Websites

1. Children of the camps [web site] / produced by Public Broadcasting Service.  Captures the experiences of six Americans of Japanese ancestry who were confined as innocent children to internment camps by the U.S. government during World War II.  http://www.pbs.org/childofcamp
2. Great Depression and World War II, 1929-1945 [web site]: World War Two / Learning Page; Library of Congress; American Memory.  Contents;  The art of war-- Citizen contributions to the war effort-- Japanese American internment-- Letter, Franklin D. Roosevelt to J. Robert Oppenheimer-- General George S. Patton, diary entry-- "We can do it"-- women defense workers-- The world.  http://lcweb2.loc.gov/ammem/ndlpedu/features/timeline/depwwii/wwarii/wwarii.html
3. Internment of San Francisco Japanese [web site] / Museum of the City of San Francisco.  Deals with the evacuation of Japanese Americans from the San Francisco area during WWII, why government officials did this and the daily newspaper articles detailing how both sides felt about the issue. http://www.sfmuseum.org/war/evactxt.html
4. The Japanese American experience [web site]: an exhibition in the Museum of the Balch Institute for Ethnic Studies / Balch Institute for Ethnic Studies.  http://www2.hsp.org/exhibits/Balch%20exhibits/japanese/jap-am.html
5. Redwood City remembers [web site]: Japanese Americans in Redwood City.  The site contains a collection of documents, multimedia, and photographs that illustrate life for Japanese-Americans interned during World War II. http://www.redwoodcityremembers.info/
6. "Suffering Under a Great Injustice" [web site]: Ansel Adams's photographs of Japanese-American internment at Manzanar / Prints & Photographs Division, Library of Congress.  Created by the Library of Congress, this Web site portrays the photographic documentation of the Manzanar War Relocation Center in California, where Japanese Americans were interned during World War II.  http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/aamhtml