I have to admit that growing up, the shipping of Japanese Americans to internment camps during the war in the 1940s was basically a line item in my history textbook. I never gave it much though. Yes, it sounded bad, but it was presented as part of a section of "life on the home front," and I doubt if I ever gave it a second thought.
In Jamie Ford's Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet, I was forced to give the issue some thought. This historical fiction title explores the struggles those with ethnically diverse backgrounds have had to endure over time. This story is told from the perspective of Henry Lee, a Chinese-American living in Seattle. Henry is a scholarship student attending an all-white school in the 1940s when he meets Keiko, a fellow student who is an American of Japanese descent. The prejudice shown against these twelve-year-old children is mind boggling and very sad. The story goes on to explore the emotions of hatred, fear, and love encountered between these characters as Keiko prepares and is then forced to leave her Seattle home with her family to be imprisoned in various camps further inland to places such as Idaho and Texas.
This was a moving story. The love story is touching, but the tales of abuse against large groups of Americans in our not so distant past is what kept me listening. The Random House Audio version of this book is excellent. Both the audio and print versions are available at Greenwood Public Library.
Click here to place the book on hold.
Click here to place the audiobook on hold.
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