It's 1942 in California. Pearl Harbor was recently bombed. Japanese Americans have been removed from their properties and placed in "camps" because they are security risks. For the Mendez family, this provides an opportunity to lease a farm and live in a real house rather than being migrant workers. The Munemitsus, on the other hand, have to leave their farm behind and trust strangers to take care of it. When Sylvia Mendez discovers a doll hidden in her new yellow bedroom, she wonders about Aki Munemitsu, who was forced to leave her doll behind when her family was moved to Poston, Arizona. Both girls endure their own versions of imprisonment when the local school district forces Sylvia to attend the Mexican school. While her father fights the school district in the courts, Sylvia and Aki form a friendship that will last long after both of them are free. This is a wonderful novel that deals with complex issues in such a way that kids can understand them.
