by Kirby Larson
I believe that I interpret the will of the Congress and of the people when I assert that we will not only defend ourselves to the uttermost, but will make very certain that this form of treachery shall never endanger us again.
Hostilities exist. There is no blinking at the fact that our people, our territory and our interests are in grave danger.
With confidence in our armed forces — with the unbounding determination of our people—we will gain the inevitable triumph — so help us God.
I ask that the Congress declare that since the unprovoked and dastardly attack by Japan on Sunday, December 7, a state of war has existed between the United States and the Japanese empire.
From the Author
There are hundreds of stories to be told from World War II — why did I choose this one?
A few years ago, I wrote Hattie Big Sky, which is set during World War I, before Piper’s story takes place. While I was researching that book, I came across an interview with a German American woman who, the day after Pearl Harbor, brought two sacks of groceries to her Japanese American neighbors. “I remember during the other war,” she told them, “when my mother couldn’t buy any food anywhere. I am afraid that might happen to you.” This interview brought tears to my eyes. Just think — over twenty years had passed, yet that childhood incident was powerfully fresh and painful.
I grew up in the Seattle area and have been a Washington resident nearly all of my life. It wasn’t until I was in college, however, in the 1970s, that I learned about the Japanese incarceration. How could I have grown up in an area where thousands of residents had been forced from their homes without being aware of it? I was shocked, and began reading about this shameful time in American history on my own. About a year ago, I heard the story of Pastor Emery “Andy” Andrews, who moved from Seattle to Twin Falls, Idaho, to be near his congregation, all of whom had been incarcerated in Minidoka. Though his course of action was terribly hard on his family, I was in awe of his courage and commitment. He didn’t get caught up in the mob mentality that swept our country after Pearl Harbor. He did what he believed was right, no matter what.
I don’t know if I could ever be as brave as Pastor Andrews, but I do know that it gives me hope to read about people like him. Perhaps that’s true for you, too. And that’s why I wrote this story.
— Kirby Larson, Seattle, Washington
Kirby Larson is the acclaimed author of the 2007 Newbery Honor Book Hattie Big Sky. She has also collaborated with Mary Nethery on two picture books — Two Bobbies: A True Story of Hurricane Katrina, Friendship, and Survival, which won the ASPCA Henry Bergh Award and the SIBA Book Award; and Nubs: The True Story of a Mutt, a Marine & A Miracle, a New York Times bestseller and a Christopher Award winner. Kirby lives in Seattle, Washington.
Acknowledgments
Though mine is the only name on the cover, there are many people who helped this book come into being. I am especially grateful to Brooks Andrews for sharing his father’s story (and lending me many books!). Pastor Emery “Andy” Andrews and his caring and courageous actions were the inspiration for this story. Thanks, too, to Tom Light for talking with me about his experiences as a young boy at Minidoka; to Dee Goto for setting me straight about whether to use the term “interned” or “incarcerated” to my nephew, Cody Miltenberger, for research assistance; to Lee Biggerstaff, Robert Colson, and Jack Glass, all of whom served on the USS Enterprise during WWII and were willing to help me understand many facets of life on board; to Eleanor Toews, Archivist at the Seattle Public Schools; and to Gloria Shigeno, who generously lent a complete stranger her precious copy of the Minidoka Interlude, the camp yearbook. Heartfelt thanks, too, to the people behind the Densho Project (www.densho.org), who are working feverishly to record the stories of the World War II incarcerees before it is too late.
Finally, thanks to Lisa Sandell, who is lovely inside and out and patiently pushed me to fill in the blanks; to Jill Grinberg, über-agent and miracle worker; and to all the patient early readers — Bonny Becker, Kathryn Galbraith, Sylvie Hossack, Helen Ketteman, Ann Whitford Paul, and especially David Patneaude, who helped me find a happier ending for Piper’s story. And I would be nowhere without Neil Larson and Mary Nethery, who are the best team of cheerleaders any writer could want.
Grateful acknowledgment is made for permission to use the following:
Cover portrait by Tim O’Brien.
Cover background: Granger Collection, NY.
Japanese aerial photo of Pearl Harbor, Naval Historical Foundation.
A small boat rescuing a seaman from the burning USS West Virginia in Pearl Harbor, neg. #80-G-19930/National Archives.
Loose Lips Might Sink Ships poster, neg. #NA 44-PA-82/ National Archives.
Victory garden poster, neg. #NA 44-PA-368/National Archives.
Victory gardeners, Corbis.
Soldier and Nisei posting Civilian Exclusion Order No. 1, neg. #PI-28038, Seattle Museum of History & Industry.
Instructions to All Persons of Japanese Ancestry, courtesy of the Yamada Family Collection, Densho: The Japanese American Legacy Project, www.densho.org.
Japantown boarded up, neg. #PI-28068/Seattle Museum of History & Industry.
Envelopes, courtesy of the Yamada Family Collection, Densho: The Japanese American Legacy Project, www.densho.org.
Hand-drawn map of Minidoka incarceration camp, Special Collections, University of Washington Libraries.
A panoramic view of the Minidoka incarceration camp, neg. #210-G-D106/National Archives.
A row of barracks, neg. #210-G-G413/National Archives.
Interior of incarceree’s barrack apartment, Seattle Post-Intelligencer Collection, #86.5 (1), Seattle Museum of History & Industry.
Incarcerees preparing for Christmas, courtesy of Densho: The Japanese American Legacy Project, www.densho.org.
Incarcerees looking at the camp’s honor roll, courtesy of the Mitsuoka Family Collection, Densho: The Japanese American Legacy Project, www.densho.org.
The Blue Box, courtesy of Brooks Andrews.
Map by Jim McMahon
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The Diary of Margaret Ann Brady
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Copyright
While the events described and some of the characters in this book may be based on actual historical events and real people, Piper Davis is a fictional character, created by the author, and her diary and its epilogue are works of fiction.
Copyright © 2010 by Kirby Larson
Cover design by Elizabeth B. Parisi
Cover portrait by Tim O’Brien, © 2010 Scholastic Inc.
Cover background: The Granger Collection, NY
All rights reserved. Published by Scholastic Inc., Publishers since 1920. SCHOLASTIC, DEAR AMERICA, and associated logos are trademarks and/or registered trademarks of Scholastic Inc. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without written permission of the publisher. For information regarding permission, write to Scholastic Inc., Attention: Permissions Department, 557 Broadway, New York, NY 10012.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Larson, Kirby.
The fences between us:
the diary of Piper Davis / by Kirby Larson.
p. cm. — (Dear America)
Summary: Thirteen-year-old Piper Davis records in her diary her experiences beginning in December 1941 when her brother joins the Navy, the United States goes to war, she attempts to document her life through photography, and her father — the pastor for a Japanese Baptist Church in Seattle — follows his congregants
to an Idaho internment camp, taking her along with him. Includes historical notes. Includes bibliographical references ( ).
Trade Paper-Over-Board edition ISBN 978-0-545-22418-5
Reinforced Library edition ISBN 978-0-545-26232-3
1. World War, 1939–1945 — United States — Juvenile fiction. 2. Japanese Americans — Evacuation and relocation, 1942–1945 — Juvenile fiction. 3. Minidoka Relocation Center — Juvenile fiction. [1. World War, 1939–1945 — United States — Fiction. 2. Japanese Americans — Evacuation and relocation, 1942–1945 — Fiction. 3. Photography — Fiction. 4. Diaries — Fiction.] I. Title.
PZ7.L32394Fe 2010
[Fic] — dc22
2009044972
First edition, September 2010
All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, down-loaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of publisher.
eISBN: 978-0-545-41499-9