5/19/2023 0 Comments Paper Wishes by Lois SepahbanFor her lost voice, Manani substitutes pictures she draws and feeds to the ever-present wind-all cries for the past to come back. Though much is unspoken, what comes through are her feelings, especially confusion and sorrow for her past life that was so abruptly taken away. We are allowed to know only what Manami knows. The plot is subdued also-most of the historical context is supplied in the author note. The voice is muted, subtle and slightly formal, appropriate for young girl whose first language is not English. I wish the dirt would cloud my eyes, too, so I would not see this place that is and is not my home without Yujiin. When I open my mouth to speak, the dirt no longer feels like sand. Without Jujiin, the internment camp at Manzibar is nothing like home: However strange the experience of sorting out their possessions and packing up all they can carry in one suitcase each, nothing prepares her for the last wrenching blow, when Yujiin is torn out of her arms: No dogs! That’s the rule. Though her parents were born in Japan, Washington is home to Manani-until that terrible day when the US government told her it was not. Life is good for ten-year-old Manami, who lives on Bainbridge Island with her fisherman father and grandfather, mother, and (last but not least) best friend Yujiin, a loveable white pooch. Farrar Strauss Giroux, 2016, 175 pages + author note This quiet story takes us into the mind of a Japanese-American girl who finds herself an alien in her own country.
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