Piper’s brother Hank watches out for her and enjoys his status as one of the most likable guys around.

Piper’s father, a preacher, devotedly serves his congregation at the Japanese Baptist Church of Seattle. Review: In the fall of 1941, all is well in Piper Davis’s family. There was an internment camp in Arizona not far from where I live now, and it made my skin crawl to read about the terrible conditions at the Idaho camp and to think about how awful it would have been in the summer in Arizona. Of course, kids all over the US should know about this part of our nation’s history, but I think it is especially important for those children living in regions where the internment camps were located. I would pair this book with a nonfiction title about the incarceration camps and encourage kids to read both. Who would we give it to? Any young reader living on the West Coast should be reading about the internment of Japanese American citizens during WWII. She is well on her way to becoming a Slatebreaker. Although Piper may not take charge in advocating for Japanese American citizens’ rights, the significant changes in Piper’s attitude and behavior demonstrate how a young woman can mature into her social conscience. She grows to become a much more self-aware young woman, and she also grows in her understanding of the cultural dynamics at play during the heat of WWII. She is obsessed with a boy and worries more about whether or not she will be allowed to wear lipstick than about the social unrest in her own community and nation. It’s a nice touch.ĭoes it break the slate? At first, Piper is nowhere near a Slatebreaking character. The updated covers also feature gold embossing which makes the hardcover books look more like an actual diary. American incarceration camps that came about after the United States got involved in WWII. I appreciate the background detail in the portrait, hinting that Piper will somehow be involved with the U.S. I miss the old portraits, especially because Piper in the portrait looks much older and more mature that the 7th grader we meet at the beginning of the book. The images on the older covers were often taken from paintings that were created in the time period about which the book was written. The picture of Piper on this book is very realistic, and you can tell that it was created in 2010 to look like something from the 1940s. They are still beautiful covers featuring illustrated portraits of the protagonist. Because the old 1990s covers are so familiar and meaningful to me, I was happy to see Scholastic maintain some of those elements in the updated series.

Genre: Historical fiction from the Dear America seriesįace Value: This is the first book from the 2010 relaunch of the series. The Fences Between Us: The Diary of Piper Davis, Seattle, Washington, 1941 by Kirby Larson.

The Fences Between Us by Kirby Larson