Reviews

Dear America: The Fences Between Us: The Diary of Piper Davis: Seattle, Washington, 1941 by Kirby Larson

killerkakez1224's review against another edition

5.0

I grew up in the area of this book, I knew people whose families had been kept int he camps. With that knowledge, I cried the majority of this book. It is a light read, something that does not demand much of the mind, but it does pull at the heart. For kids, yes, but the demands of my life currently are not lending themselves to reading Hemmingway.

The Puyallup fairgrounds still hold the state fair, the memories of what happened there gone, but the generations to come after the internment remember. I have had the immense honor of living in Japan, and they remember. They remember the time that fear took over the hearts of American's and drove them to turn against their own people. To commit a nearly unforgivable act...and they have forgiven. This story, above all else, documents what emotions were there. It's not a piece of literature, it's no timeless piece, but in this day and age, it is poignant. If not a little watered down, my tired mind enjoyed the quick read.

aliena_jackson's review against another edition

2.0

I hate to say it...what is up with the 5 year age gap relationships in these books? I’ve been on a Dear America themed trip down memory lane, and a LOT of these books have girls crushing on/receiving attention from boys who are at LEAST five years older. In this book the age difference was 19 (the dude) and 14 (the chick). How is any of this okay?

Also, Piper was just not cool. I want the story from Betty’s perspective- you know, the one who actually lived in the camp. Definitely seeing a theme of white washing in this series........

lee_hillshire's review against another edition

The fact that this is based on a real person makes it even better. A good introduction to the topic, and 100% worth the read.

booksnorkel's review against another edition

3.0

One of the Dear America books, diaries from girls usually around 10 or 12 set during important historical events in American history. This book is set during World War II and the main event for this book is Perl Harbor. A girl whose father is a pastor for a Japanese church and her brother just joined the navy and was in Hawaii when the attack happened. The story itself is interesting because of the time, what is weird is that she is white and writing about Japanese internment. It takes away from the impact when it’s someone else who is getting harassed, someone else whose father went to prison for being Japanese, and someone else who is forced to leave their homes to live in a camp. Yes the girl and her father go to live near a camp but it’s a different story living in the camp itself. I think that this book missed a great opportunity by telling the story from the view point of a white girl. I know that she was able to write more about what the real life pastor was doing for the cause but it was not really showing you what the conditions were like. Overall another book in the series but a slightly lame view point.

windsinger's review against another edition

challenging informative reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.0

marywatkines's review against another edition

5.0

I read this because I knew the Puyallup Fairgrounds has a dark past and I wanted to know more about the history of my side of the state. Also I love Kirby Larson's previous book, Hattie Big Sky. I was excited to learn she lives in Seattle! This book made what happened more real for me, and cleared up somethings I wanted to know! Also it restored my faith in Dear America because the other one I just read wasn't very good :(

jdalton's review

5.0

I remember reading the Dear America books as a young girl when they first came out but I realized there’s a lot of them I hadn’t read. This one is one of the newer (meaning it came out about a decade after I read them as a kid) ones. I enjoyed that this one was a bit longer and that it dealt with a time that I feel we don’t talk about enough in our history (internment of Japanese Americans).

While I wished we could’ve had the story told from a Japanese American girl (aka, an American), I did appreciate the perspective written from this fictional girl in that she was able to show what other white folks were saying and doing while knowing it was wrong, even after the bombing of Pearl Harbor.

overlookingcovers's review against another edition

4.0

I absolutely adored this book.I would recommend this to anyone! The reason why i loved it so much was because you felt like you were inside of Piper and you felt her emotions. At one point, i noticed it strongly... when i wanted to kill her "Boyfriend" Bud. UGH! Can i kill him???? PLEASE!!!!!!!!!!!!! God did i want to rip him to pieces!

ephalent's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective relaxing sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racial slurs and Racism

Moderate: War, Bullying, and Hate crime

Minor: Grief

tara_dear's review against another edition

3.0

Almost done