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Title: Displacement
Author: Kiku Hughes
Publisher: First Second Books
Publication Date: August 4th
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Summary
A mix of memoir and fiction, this middle grade graphic novel follows Kiku, who mysteriously starts going back in time. Not knowing much about her family’s history, she follows her grandmother in the Japanese internment camps in the US during WWII. After living in the camps for a time, Kiku learns the harsh realities of the internment camps.
However, the longer she’s there, the more Kiku fears she’s going to be stuck there. Will she ever get to see her mother again? And, will she work up the courage to actually talk to her grandmother? This magical realist story focuses on a period in history not talked about a lot, told in a graphic novel format.
Review: Displacement
The teen librarian where I work got a copy of this and lent me her copy to read! Thanks to First Second Books for sending us a copy. I had seen this around, and I was excited to get a chance to read it before it’s released next week.
One thing I appreciated about this was the subject matter. A lot of historical books in the YA section cover the Holocaust. Honestly, completely forgetting what happened on our own soil. It was actually great timing to read this, since my mom and I were just talking about this topic. Ironically, after watching The Babysitter’s Club on Netflix, where they also cover Japanese internment in one of their episodes. It’s a topic not covered nearly enough.
However, this graphic novel does become a bit text heavy at times. For good reason! I think one of the intents was for this to be educational. It would be an excellent supplement in a classroom. The illustrations are beautiful and bring to life the struggles that the Japanese American population faced in this time. And the consequences that have followed, like the erasure of language and culture.
The release date comes at a great time. People are being made aware of publishing’s diversity problem, so I hope this book is successful!
An important addition to the middle grade graphic novel family.
4 stars
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