Within These Lines + Novel Study

We've been studying another aspect of World War 2 - the Japanese internment camps.  This is not an area that's covered in the We Were There series, yet it's an important part of history, and one that must be remembered...

Within These Lines (Stephanie Morrill)

When Evalina Cassano and Taichi Hamasaki are torn apart by the events following the attack on Pearl Harbor, they must fight if they want any hope of returning to one another before World War II steals their future together. Within These Lines is one unflinching, haunting, historical novel you don’t want to miss; perfect for fans of Monica Hesse, Ruta Sepetys, and Elizabeth Wein.  Evalina Cassano’s life in an Italian-American family living in San Francisco in 1941 is quiet and ordinary until she falls in love with Taichi Hamasaki, the son of Japanese immigrants. Despite the scandal it would cause and that inter-racial marriage is illegal in California, Evalina and Taichi vow they will find a way to be together. But anti-Japanese feelings erupt across the country after the attack on Pearl Harbor, and Taichi and his family are forced to give up their farm and move to a Japanese-American internment camp.  Degrading treatment makes life at Manzanar Relocation Center difficult. Taichi’s only connection to the outside world is treasured letters from Evalina. Feeling that the only action she can take to help Taichi is to speak out against injustice, Evalina becomes increasingly vocal at school and at home. Meanwhile, inside Manzanar, fighting between different Japanese-American factions arises. Taichi begins to doubt he will ever leave the camp alive.  With tensions running high and their freedom on the line, Evalina and Taichi must hold true to their ideals and believe in their love to make a way back to each other against unbelievable odds.

Japanese Internment Camps - Unit Study

After the attacks at Pearl Harbor, President Roosevelt signed an executive order that allowed the military to send Japanese-Americans to camps.  Similar to concentration camps, in that the people were forced to move to an area that was surrounded by barbed wire (and not allowed to leave), they were not the death camps of Germany that most people think of when they remember this time period.  Around 120,000 people ended up in these camps.  {There were 12,000 Germans and Italians held in camps as well.)

People were afraid that Japanese-Americans would sabotage the United States and help Japan win the war, so they put them in these camps.  Entire families, including children, were sent to one of the ten camps.  They left behind their homes, businesses, pets, most of their possessions, and their livelihoods.  Schools and jobs were created in the camps, but life was very crowded and difficult.

In spite of their hardships, many of the camps functioned peacefully.  Each family lived in a single room inside of a barracks.  They ate in a mess hall and shared a bathroom with other families.  They tried to maintain a sense of normalcy by planting vegetable gardens, having baseball teams, creating music and art, and holding religious services.  

In 1943, a Japanese division was created in the Army, the 442nd, that included about 17,000 Japanese-Americans.  In 1945, the internment, or relocation, camps closed.  Family members were given $25 and a train ticket home, and they went home to rebuild new lives.  In 1988, President Reagan signed a law that apologized to each of the survivors and gave them $20,000 in reparations for the damages of these camps.

Read

• Within These Lines
• This Light Between Us
• The Bracelet
• Hotel on the Corner of Bitter & Sweet (book for mom)
• Fish for Jimmy (younger kid book)

Make / Do

• Write a journal entry as a Japanese American living in an internment camp
• Create flower origami 
• Make watercolor brush designs
• painting by Susan Rosefielde, artist
• Create an origami swan - these are the symbol of peace, and are displayed at the Hiroshima Peace Memorial  (see We Were There at the Opening of the Atomic Era)
• Host a mini tea ceremony with green tea
• Practice the art of calligraphy

Watch

• Children of the Camps (free with Prime)
• George Takei TED Talk
• Footage from Inside a Camp

Vocabulary

• Alien Land Acts
• Barracks
• Civil Rights
• Convict
• Evacuation
• Executive Order #9066
• Internment Camp
• Issei 
• Nisei 
• Nippon
• Prejudice
• Relocation Center
• Sansei

Think

• Should non-citizens (aliens) be granted the same rights and protections as citizens? Explain your answer.
• How was propaganda used during World War II to influence public perception of Japanese and Japanese Americans?

A Study of Japan:

• Covers the history of Japan from ancient times to present day
• Examines the Japanese culture and its influences
• Explores the geography of this small, but strong island
• Delves into the technology and pop-culture of the people
• Goes on rabbit trails about art, history, and modern economics of Japan and its fellow nations
• Is the equivalent of one year of high school history

Access more US History units in the American History Novel Studies Bundle!

Includes sixteen unit studies covering American History. Each unit addresses a new topic, spanning the Revolutionary War to Vietnam.  Each unit has introductory text, which will give the student basic background information about the topic at hand.

• There are photographs and illustrations, and we have also included primary documents when available.
• After this text, there are featured videos, which augment the background information and help make the topic more accessible for more visual students.
• You will also find a short list of reading books, including a featured novel that the unit builds upon.
• There are vocabulary words, places, and people to identify.
• Reading comprehension, critical thinking questions, and writing assignments are included.
• We add fun with hands-on activities and extra videos to watch that will bring the era to life.
• Some units also have cooking projects.

These studies are directed toward upper grades students, but some have resources for younger students so that the whole family can work together. Our family has used unit studies as curriculum for many years, and we hope that your family will enjoy these, too!

Product sample:  Paper Son & Angel Island Immigration  & Within These Lines & Japanese Internment

Includes:

• Casualties of War & Vietnam War
• No Promises in the Wind & the Great Depression
• Out of the Dust & the Dust Bowl
• The Watsons Go to Birmingham & Civil Rights
• Dusty Sourdough & Alaska
• The King of Mulberry Street & Ellis Island Immigration
• Paper Son & Angel Island Immigration
• The Red Menace & McCarthyism
• Johnny Tremain & Faces of the American Revolution
• Sounder & Sharecropping
• World War II Code Talkers
• Flashback Four: Hamilton-Burr Duel
• Within These Lines & Japanese Internment Camps
• Flashback Four: Titanic Mission
• Flashback Four: Lincoln Project
• The Diviners / The Great Gatsby & Roaring Twenties