The Buddha in the Attic

A concise, but amazing book. Written in the first person plural, "we" did this or "we" did that, the book provides a panorama of the experiences of Japanese mail order brides who arrive in San Francisco after World War 1. They marry, work, have children and begin to assimilate only to be torn from their communities after the bombing of Pearl Harbor. They are shuttled away to internment camps. The...more

A concise, but amazing book. Written in the first person plural, "we" did this or "we" did that, the book provides a panorama of the experiences of Japanese mail order brides who arrive in San Francisco after World War 1. They marry, work, have children and begin to assimilate only to be torn from their communities after the bombing of Pearl Harbor. They are shuttled away to internment camps. The perspective in the narrative changes at this point to reveal the emptiness felt in the communities from which these families were taken. This book would be a good read for a high school social studies class. Simple, yet powerful.   hide