Books

The following books reflect the personal stories of Japanese American interment and resettlement:

From Our Side of the Fence: Growing up in America’s Concentration Camps

From Our Side of the FenceBrian Komei Dempster, Editor

“From Our Side of the Fence” contains the first-person accounts of eleven former internees who recall their memories of childhood and youth in American’s concentration camps. This collection traces each author’s personal and psychological journey through war, giving voice to a history that has been silenced. Emerging from a writing workshop taught by the editor, Brian Komei Dempster, this book also offers lesson plans for use by educators and students, and for internees who wish to tell their own stories. More info


Making Home from War: Stories of Japanese American Exile and Resettlement

Making Home From WarBrian Komei Dempster, Editor

With honesty and an eye for detail, Making Home from War is the long-awaited sequel to the award-winning From Our Side of the Fence. Written by twelve Japanese American elders who gathered regularly at the Japanese Cultural and Community Center of Northern California, Making Home from War is a collection of stories about their exodus from concentration camps into a world that in a few short years had drastically changed. More info


My Dog Teny

My Dog TenyWritten by Yoshito Wayne Osaki
Illustrated by Felicia Hoshino

The heartwarming essay that touched a community is now a new children’s book for all ages. The true story about a boy and his dog and the friendship that they shared during the time of the forced evacuation of Japanese Americans during World War II. More info

In the aftermath of World War II, more than 110,000 persons of Japanese ancestry – roughly two-thirds of whom were American citizens – were released from forced imprisonment in U.S. concentration camps. But released to return where, after being taken from their homes along the West Coast? When they were finally allowed to leave the internment camps, they faced a new challenge: How do you resume a life so interrupted.

Authors