Obaasan’s Boots
Cousins Charlotte and Lou are visiting their grandparents in Toronto. While Lou lives in Toronto, Charlotte has flown with her mother from their home on the west coast of Canada. Both girls are half-Japanese and starting to realize there is much about their family history that they do not know. During this visit with their grandmother in her garden they ask her, respectfully calling her “Obaasan,” about her experiences. Gently, she reveals the painful stories of Japanese internment during World War ll.
In 1940, Obaasan married Koichiro, who had been educated in Japan. But in 1941, pregnant with her first child, Obaasan hears of the bombing of Pearl Harbor. Public opinion quickly turns against the Japanese in Canada, and they must register as enemy aliens. All their property is confiscated, and they are removed from the coast to internment camps. Obaasan’s camp was in the mountainous interior of British Columbia.
In both the U.S. and Canada, Japanese nationals were interned away from the west coast. This telling of a very personal story about the internment and its effect on one family is a deeply moving and evocative tale, told with simplicity for young readers. Throughout the initial uncertainties of wartime, the agonies of separation, and the forced removal of hard-earned possessions, the theme of resilience shines through.
The history of this time, place, and people is told without false emotion. We hear the experiences explained in answer to the questions of two young girls curious to understand why, as cousins, they have been raised a continent apart. The concepts involved are explained concisely but vividly. The result is a moving novel with much to recommend it to adult readers as well as to younger people.
