This nonfiction historical book provides a detailed account of what life was like for many Japanese-Americans who were forced into internment camps in the wake of Pearl Harbor. Cooper tells the story of the Manzanar camp in a way that is very informational while still reading like a narrative. One aspect that is particularly great about this book is his inclusion of original photographs depicting the daily lives of those in the camp. This book is an excellent resource for children grades 5-12 and provides a great deal of information about this dark period in United States history. ( )

In 1942, after the attack on Pearl Harbor, the US government forcibly relocated over 112,000 people of Japanese ancestry living on the West Coast because they didn't know if any of them were secretly potting with the Japanese government against the US. Many of these people were US citizens and not one person that was sent to the internment camps was ever found to have done anything wrong. None of them had conspired against the US. The story of life at one of the camps, Manzanar, is described in this book. ( )