The Children of Topaz is a great read for elementary, middle school, and high school students. The book transitions back and forth from offering real-life journal accounts of the Japanese Internment Camps during World War II and providing background information of events. The various journal entries from the 3rd grade class at Topaz Elementary School provides the reader with a unique experience of what students and families were experiencing in relocation camps. ( )

Tunnell’s book on the Japanese-Internment camp at Topaz is very informational and also interesting, especially because of its format. Tunnell begins the book by providing background information on the internment camps and how they were a reaction to the attack on Pearl Harbor. However, when telling the story of Topaz, he does so from the point of view of a third grade classroom. The format of the book follows different diary entries from a third grade class at the Topaz elementary school, and uses the children’s entries as a springboard for describing what life was life for the people living in the camps. Tunnell also provides many original pictures from the camp, which add a lot to the book. This would be a great resource for students in grades 4-12. ( )

The classroom diary written by the third grade children of Topaz is a very well written book. The author included actual page from the journal. Each journal page was written and then a student’s drew a picture on the page. The book was very consistent in the layout of the book. The author included a bold type copy of the journal. The book flows well between journal selections and historical facts about the Japanese-American Internment Camp. There is a biography, author note, index, reference, and acknowledgements in the back of the book. ( )

Michael O. Tunnell and George W. Chilcoat retell and explain the diary of a third grade class in the Topaz internment camp. The book recounts daily events that happen throughout Miss Yamaguchi’s third grade class in 1943. Tunnell and Chilcoat highlight the extreme difficulties for teachers, students, mothers, fathers, and all people to live in the internment camps at Topaz.
The Children of Topaz is not a story but a recollection of various events throughout the time period in Topaz. It is also an explanation of what the diary makes references to and the truth of what happened in the camp. Tunnell and Chilcoat emphasize the desire for Japanese-Americans to discard their “Japan-ness.” Furthermore, it draws attention to the breaking of many Japanese traditions that occur the longer the Japanese-Americans are in the internment camps. The Children of Topaz can be used for grades 3 and up because it follows a third grade class in the Topaz internment camp; I feel students will be able to compare and contrast the lives of the third graders in the camps and their own experience as third graders.