BookFrontier
Beneath the Wide Silk Sky by Emily Inouye Huey

Book

Beneath the Wide Silk Sky

Emily Inouye Huey

Scholastic Inc. · Hardcover · October 18, 2022

Reading lane: 21st-Century US YA

Stunning, devastating, poignant: Debut author Emily Inouye Huey paints an intimate portrait of the racism faced by America's Japanese population during WWII.

At a Glance

Why This Clicks

Quiet Threads

A YA read with identity, friendship, and a quietly giftable feel.

Come here for

  • Asian American threads
  • giftable YA with a polished shelf presence

Expect

  • multigenerational YA framing
  • prejudice-and-racism themes

Book Details

Authors
Emily Inouye Huey
Publisher
Scholastic Inc.
Published
October 18, 2022
Format
Hardcover
Theme
21st-Century US YA · Prejudice & Racism for Teens
Reading lane
21st-Century US YA

Affinity

Publisher Categories

  • 20th-Century US YA

  • Asian American YA

  • Prejudice & Racism for Teens

About This Book

Stunning, devastating, poignant: Debut author Emily Inouye Huey paints an intimate portrait of the racism faced by America's Japanese population during WWII. Perfect for fans of Ruta Sepetys and Sharon Cameron. Sam Sakamoto doesn't have space in her life for dreams. With the recent death of her mother, Sam's focus is the farm, which her family will lose if they can't make one last payment. There's no time for her secret and unrealistic hope of becoming a photographer, no mat...

Read full description

Stunning, devastating, poignant: Debut author Emily Inouye Huey paints an intimate portrait of the racism faced by America's Japanese population during WWII. Perfect for fans of Ruta Sepetys and Sharon Cameron. Sam Sakamoto doesn't have space in her life for dreams. With the recent death of her mother, Sam's focus is the farm, which her family will lose if they can't make one last payment. There's no time for her secret and unrealistic hope of becoming a photographer, no matter how skilled she's become. But Sam doesn't know that an even bigger threat looms on the horizon. On December 7, 1941, Japanese airplanes attack the US naval base at Pearl Harbor. Fury towards Japanese Americans ignites across the country. In Sam's community in Washington State, the attack gives those who already harbor prejudice an excuse to hate. As Sam's family wrestles with intensifying discrimination and even violence, Sam forges a new and unexpected friendship with her neighbor Hiro Tanaka. When he offers Sam a way to resume her photography, she realizes she can document the bigotry around her -- if she’s willing to take the risk. When the United States announces that those of Japanese descent will be forced into "relocation camps," Sam knows she must act or lose her voice forever. She engages in one last battle to leave with her identity -- and her family -- intact. Emily Inouye Huey movingly draws inspiration from her own family history to paint an intimate portrait of the lead-up to Japanese incarceration, racism on the World War II homefront, and the relationship between patriotism and protest in this stunningly lyrical debut.

Similar Books