Farewell to Manzanar

The powerful true story of life in a Japanese American internment camp.

During World War II the community called Manzanar was hastily created in the high mountain desert country of California, east of the Sierras. Its purpose was to house thousands of Japanese American internees.

One of the first families to arrive was the Wakatsukis, who were ordered to leave their fishing business in Long Beach and take with them only the belongings they could carry. For Jeanne Wakatsuki, a seven-year-old child, Manzanar became a way of life in which she struggled and adapted, observed and grew. For her father it was essentially the end of his life.

In Farewell to Manzanar, Jeanne Wakatsuki Houston recalls life at Manzanar through the eyes of the child she was. She tells of her fear, confusion, and bewilderment as well as the dignity and great resourcefulness of people in oppressive and demeaning circumstances. Jeanne delivers a powerful first-person account that reveals her search for the meaning of Manzanar.

Farewell to Manzanar has become a staple of curriculum in schools and on campuses across the country. Named one of the twentieth century's 100 best nonfiction books from west of the Rockies by the San Francisco Chronicle.

Publisher: Clarion Books
Published: 07/11/2017
Pages: 224
Weight: 0.42lbs
Size: 8.20h x 5.60w x 0.60d
ISBN: 9781328742117
Age: Young Adult

Accelerated Reader:
Reading Level: 6.7
Point Value: 7
Interest Level: Middle Grade
Quiz #/Name: 363 / Farewell to Manzanar

About the Author
Jeanne Wakatsuki Houston was born in California in 1934. She attended San Jose State University, where she met her husband, James D. Houston. For their teleplay for the NBC drama based on Farewell to Manzanar, they received the prestigious Humanitas Prize.

James D. Houston (1933-2009) was the author of several books including The Last Paradise, which received a 1999 American Book Award for fiction.