Review by Booklist Review
Gr. 1-3. Inspired by the experiences of the author's Japanese American grandparents at Utah's Topaz Relocation Center during World War II, this picture book, presented in English alongside a Japanese translation, celebrates the sense of purpose and peace that the act of creation can bring. Everything seems grim about young Mari's life in the desert camp, where the mountains, the vast sky, and the blazing sun made her feel as small as a sunflower seed. However, with gentle encouragement from her parents and art teacher, Mari crayons colorful pictures that lift her spirits, paralleling the sprouting of sunflower seeds in her mother's parched garden. The message feels a bit overt, and the slightly wandering story line may not hold every reader. Still, Hoshino's delicate mixed-media illustrations offer a wide-angle view of the daily lives of internees, and her buff-colored backdrops palpably convey the dusty, arid setting. Although a preface and endnote offer historical background, it's so brief that the book will probably work best as a supplement to more straightforward nonfiction about the time. --Jennifer Mattson Copyright 2006 Booklist
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
Lee-Tai's debut book traces one girl's gradual adaptation to painful circumstances in an internment camp for American citizens of Japanese ancestry during WWII. Mari, the young daughter of a pair of artists, has moved (just over a year ago) from her beloved California home to Topaz, a camp in the Utah desert. As the book opens, she and her mother plant sunflower seeds. Her parents sign her up for classes in the art school they've started, but Mari is too depressed to draw. Her parents are unfailingly kind and understanding. "That happens to me sometimes, too," her father says when Mari tells him about her artist's block. "But I don't give up," he adds. Sure enough, Mari discovers she can keep memory alive by drawing it-and she can grow sunflowers in Utah's sandy soil, too. Hoshino's ink-and-watercolor spreads both provide historical information and convey the story's emotional weight-and do both with grace. In one evocative painting, Mari and her mother wait in line for the latrine while, ahead of them, a pregnant woman puts her hands on her round stomach with a thoughtful expression; "What is to become of my child?" readers can imagine her thinking. One caveat: the inclusion of a Japanese translation on each page widens the book's audience to include Japanese students of English, but also crowds the pages visually. Readers will enjoy watching Mari grow in strength and confidence. Ages 6-up. (July) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Review by School Library Journal Review
Gr 1-4-Lee-Tai based this story on the experiences of her grandparents and her mother, who were interned in Topaz, Utah, during World War II. With quiet understatement, the text focuses on the confusion and sadness young Mari feels after her family's abrupt relocation to the camp. In the harsh desert landscape, she thinks wistfully of her home, where she played with her brother in a yard filled with flowers. Her parents are worried about her silence and listlessness, but an art class offers her a means of expressing her feelings. She makes a friend as well, and when her desert sunflowers put up seedlings, she feels a new sense of hope. The story is told in both English and Japanese, and the earth-toned illustrations, created using watercolors, ink, tissue paper, and acrylic paint, nicely detail the simple plot. Hoshino modeled some of her compositions on those of Hisako Hibi, the author's grandmother and a prominent Japanese-American painter. Other picture books dealing with this topic include Eve Bunting's So Far from the Sea (Clarion, 1998), Yoshiko Uchida's The Bracelet (Philomel, 1993), and Rick Noguchi and Deneen Jenks's Flowers from Mariko (Lee & Low, 2001). Lee-Tai's tale, with its emphasis on the internees' dignity and feelings, offers the gentlest introduction to this tragic episode.-Marilyn Taniguchi, Beverly Hills Public Library, CA (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Horn Book Review
In this WWII Japanese American internment story, Mari and her family are living at Topaz Relocation Center. Art classes, friendship, and sunflowers help Mari feel as if she can rise above a bleak situation and look to the future. Like the text, which is presented bilingually, the illustrations contrast the dreariness of the desert and barracks with Mari's blossoming hope. (c) Copyright 2010. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted. All rights reserved.
(c) Copyright The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Kirkus Book Review
"Spring comes after winter, and flowers bloom again. Peace comes after war." Her father's philosophy is young Mari's hope as she plants a handful of sunflower seeds in the sun-parched, barbed-wire-bound yard of the WWII internment camp at Topaz, Utah. Like thousands of other innocent American citizens, Mari and her family have been forced to leave their home to live in a relocation center; they are determined to preserve their self-respect and some semblance of a normal life. Patience and persistence let Mari find comfort in drawing; drawing lets her find questions and the courage to ask them. With time and care, Mari also finds that her sunflowers have sprouted, despite difficult, drought-blighted beginnings. This gentle metaphor, presented in English and Japanese, germinates from the real-life experiences of the author's family. Hoshino's watercolor-and-mixed-media illustrations are golden, topaz-touched; their palette and composition hint of the classic nursery rhyme art of Jessie Wilcox Smith and others, aptly evoking the era they depict. A satisfying introduction and backmatter, including personal notes from the author and artist, acknowledgments and translation credits, make this a richly informative introduction to a subject little-addressed in works for children. (Picture book. 5-10) Copyright ©Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
