WILLA Literary Award It\'s 1942: Tomi Itano, 12, is a second-generation Japanese American who lives in California with her family on their strawberry farm.
What does she need to do to prove she is an honorable American? Sandra Dallas shines a light on a dark period of American history in this story of a young Japanese American girl caught up in the prejudices and World War II..
Tomi becomes bitter, wondering how her country could treat her and her family like the enemy.
Many other Japanese American families face a similar fate.
The rest of the Itano family is sent to an internment camp in Colorado.
Suspected as a spy, Tomi\'s father is taken away.
Things get much worse.
No Japs Allowed signs hang in store windows and Tomi\'s family is ostracized.
But after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, things change.
She doesn\'t speak Japanese and has never been to Japan.
Although her parents came from Japan and her grandparents still live there, Tomi considers herself an American.
WILLA Literary Award It\'s 1942: Tomi Itano, 12, is a second-generation Japanese American who lives in California with her family on their strawberry farm
