Kiku HughesRezensionen

This book takes Fred Rogers advice to "look for the helpers" to heart as it follows a fictional Japanese family into internment during World War II -- rousted from Seattle and imprisoned in Idaho -- and spotlights the fellow and very real Americans who didn't question their patriotism or loyalty but instead extended sympathetic and helping hands . . . even through barbed wire.

The script could have used a little more editing for some technical and pacing issues but it delivers on content. Kiku Hughes' art is good when it comes to the characters, but without the color used to enhance her art as in her own graphic novel on the Japanese American internment, Displacement, the backgrounds look exceedingly sparse and downright blank, bringing too much white space to most pages.

Still, this is a nice addition to the growing body of graphic novels about this dark stain on America's history.

This was one of the best graphic novels I have ever read. The combination of time travel and the authentic depiction of the Japenese American experience during WWII was incredible.

Displacement is a graphic novel about the internment of the Japanese in America during WWII. I have read 2 other comics on this subject and they all gave the same information. In this story our heroine Kiku is on vacation in San Francisco where her family is from. The displacements begin when she magically finds herself transported back to the 1940s when her grandmother Ernestina was forced to relocate to an internment camp. Living alongside her young grandmother and other Japanese-American citizens in internment camps, Kiku gets the education she never received in history class. She witnesses the lives of Japanese-Americans who were denied their civil liberties and suffered greatly, but managed to cultivate community and commit acts of resistance in order to survive.

What separates this account of the tragedy from others is the illustration. I like that the comic strips were larger, with 4 to a page. It made the dialogue much larger for me to be able to read on a cell phone. When reading other comics on my phone, I have to enlarge the page in order to be able to read. Then I have to reduce the page in order to turn the page. Author Kiku Hughes drew all the illustrations. This is her first graphic novel and I am very impressed with both her ability to tell a story and her drawing skill.

Hughes makes many insightful quotes in her book. One of them is: "I think sometimes a community's experience is so traumatic, it stays rooted in us even generations later. And the later generations continue to rediscover that experience, since it's still shaping us in ways we might not realize. Like losing the ability to speak Japanese, losing connection to Japanese culture, they're all lasting impacts of the camps that travel down the generations." I never realized before that the generation who suffered through the internment experience would raise their children to be American, not Japanese. They felt it would make successive generations safer from the government. They made sure their descendants did not know how to speak Japanese or cook Japanese food. It was a strategy that the entire generation followed.

Displacement gives an honest history of the internment camps run by the U. S. government during WWII. While it is a sad story, it is one we all should know about.

Good mix of story and art.

This book was so good this is the second time I've read it, and it hasn't even been a full year.

Hm, not sure how to rate! I actively disliked the time travel framing story and the passivity/contextlessness it causes until the explanation of why that framing story was used in part III. At that point it made more sense as an artistic choice at least. Maybe I need to read this a second time to get the full impact, then? I also saw that it was partly inspired by the Octavia Butler book which I haven't read yet; maybe that also provides some necessary artistic context that wasn't present in Displacement itself.

Should be 4.5 stars. Beautifully drawn and well written. I liked the use of the word “displacement“ as opposed to time travel and how it is related to memory. The young girl does not know the history of her family and through these displacements, she is able to travel back and experience what it was like for those to be locked up in Japanese internment camps. I liked how the author brought in realworld connections to what is happening with Mexicans here in America. Racial injustice needs to stop, there’s a reason why the words are “all men are created equal“. This book reminded me of They Called Us Enemy and how it was told from a female point of view. I definitely learned a lot more about the different factions of Japanese and Japanese American people. It makes me want to tell students to inquire about their families past and where they come from and what their experiences were like growing up.

Summary: Kiku, a teenager living in modern times, was pulled back in time (time travel) and live the life that her grandma lived in the 1940s during the Japanese-American internment camp era. During this experience, she learned of things that were not taught in school and witness how the older generation suffered but bear through.

Spectacular graphic novel by debut author Kiku Hughes, writing from the heart about her grandmother's experience with incarceration at the Topaz camp in Utah during WWII. The visual storytelling is extremely eloquent, and I think that the juxtaposition of a modern girl time traveling works incredibly well to emphasize the parallels with current events. It left me wanting to know more about Ernestina's life after the camp and how she became a single mother of 4, but somehow that omission created a necessary boundary, a reminder that this is a real person's story, and her privacy should be real as well. I also absolutely loved the unremarked-upon lesbian relationship that Kiku's character formed with another woman from camp. Really strong work. I look forward to seeing more from this author.

Kiku had two short “displacements” before she found herself stuck in the 1940s Japanese-American internment camp that her late grandmother, Ernestina, was forcibly relocated to during World War II. She experiences the camps in ways she never learned about in History class, or really heard about from her family.

As usual, another part of history I was only briefly educated on in public school…

“Being from the future meant very little when my education on the past was so limited.”

This story is both fiction and nonfiction - based on the author’s grandmother, but filled in a bit with fiction based on their author’s research. It really showed how complicated life in the internment camps were. It would also make the connection with Trump policies about banning Muslims, putting up the wall in Mexico, and the separation and caging of Hispanic children from their parents.

History will repeat itself if you don’t learn from your past.

The art worked amazingly well with the narrative and the story was informative and engaging.

This graphic novel is aimed towards Teens, but it can be enjoyed by anyone really. It’s a good conversation starter and introduction to this time in history.

“Being from the future meant very little when my education on the past was so limited.”

“The persecution of a marginalized group of people is never just one act of violence — it’s a condemnation of generations to come who live with the ongoing consequences. We may suffer from these traumas, but we can also use them to help others and fight for justice in our own time.”

I don’t think I can write a review that expresses how I feel about this book better than Kiku Hughes‘s own words. The forced incarceration of Japanese-Americans during World War II is yet another horrific event from our nation’s history that occurred recently enough that there are people alive today, right now, who lived it, are still reckoning with the trauma, and whose descendants will continue to be affected by it for the foreseeable future. And just like other events that fit this description, there are those who would dare to take the concept of these camps, drag them into the 21st century, and force other groups to suffer similar injustices. That’s truly sickening, and Hughes highlights these unfortunately currently relevant parallels very well.

However, seeing Hughes taking her grandmother’s experiences in the camps, and the effects they’ve had on her family, to heart and using what she’s learned to try to support and elevate the voices of those who are suffering now was really wonderful. I’m glad she chose to share this story by creating this book, because unfortunately it is a topic that’s been very much glossed over in any history class I’ve ever taken.

Displacement by Kiku Hughes uses a concept usually associated with science fiction (time travel) to tell the story of the detention of Japanese-Americans during World War II. Kiku is on vacation in San Francisco when she first finds herself transported back in time to the internment camp to which her own grandmother had been relocated. At first, the time travel episodes are short, but eventually Kiku finds she is stuck in the past, taken away from all she knows with no certainty about when or if she will ever return home. She begins to realize her situation isn’t so different from the Japanese-Americans in the camp, who have also been removed from their homes against their will and face an uncertain future. Through her experience, Kiku learns about her own family history and builds a community among the citizens living in the camp. She discovers the ways her new friends and neighbors have adapted to their circumstances and begun to resist their oppression.
Kiku Hughes makes excellent use of the graphic novel format to bring the story of this shameful part of America’s past to life. In particular, the images of the Topaz camp in Delta, Utah, evoke feelings of desolation and desperation (https://topazmuseum.org/). Through her placement of the “present” as the summer of 2016, Hughes connects the events of the past with the campaign promises of Donald Trump and the precarious position immigrants still hold in the U.S. This book hits so many genres - I would recommend it to YA fans of graphic novels, historical fiction, social issues, and sci fi. They Called Us Enemy (https://www.topshelfcomix.com/catalog/george-takei-they-called-us-enemy/1011) and Farewell to Manzanar (https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=17380544) would be great companion reads!

Essential reading
Wake up, it can happen again
History, racism, culture, family values
A wonderful way to see what your family has lived thru by putting yourself in the same position
I’m glad to have educated myself with this
I had no idea that I had driven by this internment camp

*reviewed by uncorrected egalley (netgalley)*

diverse children's middlegrade/teen graphic novel (recommended for 4th grade through 10th grade) - 16 y.o. mixed race (half Japanese) girl travels back in time and experiences years of Japanese-American "internment"--forced incarceration alongside her grandmother's family; juxtaposed with the Trump administration's Muslim travel ban and other dangerous discriminatory policies. She also develops a romantic relationship (dancing, hand-holding, kissing) with another teen girl. #ownvoices author.

At first this did seem a lot like Octavia Butler's Kindred (which I've only read in graphic format, but heartily recommend for teens/adults), and similar to George Takei's They Called Us Enemy (which I also recommend for its thoughtful first-hand account for teens and adults).

However, Displacement deserves recognition on its own--I appreciate the author's #ownvoices perspective (mixed race and queer) and also how the story delves into the aftermath of incarceration as Kiku follows her grandmother's life in NYC after the war (suspicious cancer rates, dealing with racism), how it strengthens Kiku's connections with her mother and grandmother, how it points to the dangers of racist and religious discrimination during the Trump presidency, and creates a direct, emotional connection between the reader and the modern-day victims of such policies.

I was expecting this graphic novel to be good, but I was pleasantly surprised at how excellent it turned out, in so many ways. Very highly recommended.

Graphic novel where the author, an American of Japanese descent who doesn't know much about the
history of her mother's family, time jumps multiple time back to the WWII-era America of her grandmother, experiencing the treatment of Japanese Americans and their forced internment. The author mentions that author Octavia E. Butler is one of her favs, and this reads a lot like Octavia Butler's Kindred.
I would recommend! Themes of lost family history, immigration, generations, biracial, racism, bigotry, injustice and some LGBTQ representation as well.

A classic of middle school class reading, Janet Yolen's "The Devil's Arithmetic" tells a story of the Holocaust by sending a modern child back in time to witness and experience her own family's treatment in a concentration camp, thus bringing history into a modern perspective. "Displacement" is a similar treatment of the Internment of Japanese Americans during WWII—but with a more advanced, updated story and a graphic novel format with beautiful drawings. I hope it's also widely adopted for classroom reading!

Kiku travels back in time to the Japanese-American camps in WWII where her grandmother was incarcerated because of her ethnicity. Many messages are conveyed in a beautiful simple manner; for example, it is a historical & genealogical adventure and a protest book against discriminatory immigration policies. A fast 5-star read. Highly recommended for most ages.

Based on the author's family history with the American incarceration of the Japanese. While traveling with her mother, Kiki experiences a sort of time traveling "displacement," finding herself in 1940s America as it is on the verge of rounding up Japanese families. Her longest displacement takes place at Topaz where she experiences what her grandmother and everyone else went through: terrible living conditions, harsh weather, loss of privacy and agency, and some good times such as new friends and social events. Kiku comes out of it with a greater understanding of the few stories her family has shared, and sees how the incarceration is very similar to Trump's policies on building a wall, caging children at the border and anti-Muslim travel ban. Most telling line about the impact: "But seeing how she and other nisei shied away from the issei's outdated traditions made me understand a little more just why there was almost no connection to Japan left by the time I was born."

A deeply moving and important story. Highly recommend it.

This stunning autobiographical graphic novel, is a mixture of fact and fiction. The author gathered as much information that was available to her in order to weave this story of a time or yet another time of National disgrace by our government.

Author, Hughes follows a teen experiencing Japanese internment firsthand through time travel to the WWII era. Japanese American Kiku Hughes, 16, feels disconnected from her Japanese heritage, and she knows little about her family’s history, which includes internment in Utah’s Topaz Relocation Center.
She and her mother are on a trip to San Francisco when a transient fog transports Kiku from the site of her maternal grandmother’s childhood home to the past. Later, pulled from her Seattle home during the Trump Muslim ban, Kiku spends more than a year interned as a Japanese prisoner alongside her then-living maternal grandmother.

She struggles over whether to introduce herself and manages to cope with the help of fellow prisoners Aiko Mifune and love-interest May Ide. The novel provides key and probably little known details about this moment in history. We learn of the tragic murder of James Wakasa and the further relocation of people who voted, in a loyalty questionnaire, against serving in the U.S. military and renouncing their ancestry. They were called the no no’s.

This story brings to life an often overlooked period of U.S. aggression against its OWN United States citizens. While these internment camps weren’t the same horror as the Holocaust, they were certainly inhumane and tragic.

The story does contain some loose ends, but readers will gain insights to the Japanese American incarceration and feel called to activism.

The writing is heart felt if not heart wrenching for these innocent victims. The text is supported by a muted mixture of warm and cool colors. The muted tones I feel added to the sadness.

Series Info/Source: This is a stand alone book that I borrowed from the library.

Story (5/5): Kiku is on vacation with her mother in San Francisco, her mother is trying to find the house her grandmother lived in but it’s been knocked down. In the middle of the trip Kiku finds herself back in time, in a 1940’s Japanese-American internment camp, then suddenly she is back in the present. As these displacements continue they get longer, until Kiku finds herself stuck in the past for an extended period of time and living next to her young grandmother in one of these internment camps.

This was really well done and interesting. I knew that the Japanese-American internment camps existed but it was really interesting to learn more about them. This was really well done and easy to follow.

Characters (5/5): I really loved the characters here. Kiku was really well done. All the characters in the past and present were engaging. I loved her interactions with her mother and with the people she befriends in the internment camps. The characters are very easy to engage with and I loved spending time with them.

Setting (5/5): The setting of the internment camps was fascinating and really helped me imagine what it might be like to live in one of those camps. It’s a unique historical setting and I learned a lot from it.

Writing/Drawing Style (5/5): The drawing is very colorful and cartoony in style; it was well done and easy to follow. The story was incredible, again easy to follow and unique. This was really well put together and I enjoyed it a ton.

My Summary (5/5): Overall I really loved this graphic novel and so did my 13 year old son. It’s not only just really well done and really engaging, but tells a very impactful story about an event in history that isn’t well covered in a lot of traditional books about World War II. Highly recommended to everyone.

With a nod to Octavia Butler, Kiku Hughes imagines her teenage self getting cast back into time, literally following the footsteps of her teen grandmother into an internment camp for Japanese Americans during World War II.

This is an excellent companion to George Takei's They Called Us Enemy, showing how these events can reverberate through the generations that follow. Hughes also ties those past events to the modern politics of Donald Trump, demonstrating the importance of remembering, sharing, and educating everyone about this dark chapter of American history in order to keep it from repeating.

Its a thick book, but it reads quickly with an emphasis on emotional impact over pedantic history in order to draw you in and make you want to learn more after you finish.

3.5

In this graphic novel, Hughes brings to life an ugly chapter of American history in a completely unique way. Through the perspective of a modern teen, we learn about the Japanese internment camps in the US during World War II and how the cycle of racism continues to this day. I've read a lot about these camps, but this is one of the first stories I've read that showed how people tried to rebuild their lives after. It's an important part of the story, and Hughes does a fantastic job connecting the dots through the generations of this family. The elegantly simple illustrations really contributed to the feeling of being a visitor in time, taking a glimpse into something that was all too real to the people living it. My only quibble is that the main character felt a bit flat, especially compared to her vividly imagined companions. Even then, I could see Kiku being a relatable protagonist with whom to experience this story.

I received a copy of this title from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.