#26: Farewell to Manzanar

Farewell to Manzanar is Jeanne Wakatsuki Houston's memoir of her time in the Manzanar internment camp. The author describes what her life was like as a young child, but also looks at what this experience did to her father.

Jeanne Wakatsuki was 7 years old when World War II broke out. Her family lived in Southern California, where her father worked as a fisherman. This led to his arrest and imprisonment in North Dakota and the family's internment at Manzanar, in the Owens River Valley of eastern California. Wakatsuki describes what life was like, moving from a comfortable existence to overcrowded accommodations in an unfamiliar climate.

Wakatsuki describes many of the details of life at the internment camp, from the lack of privacy to searching around for the best cooked food to her training as a majorette. She focuses mainly on her own point of view, but also goes into the overall camp experience, with events such as the pressure to sign loyalty pledges and for young men to join the military.

At the end of the book, Wakatsuki describes what life is like when the family leaves the camp. They return to Southern California, but there is lingering racism. Also, her father has been a different man since he returned from his confinement.

Farewell to Manzanar offered an interesting lesson on what life was like for the internees. I enjoyed reading the author's story, but I would still like to know more about the history of Manzanar, and would be interested in visiting at some point.