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A review by alainajreads
Dust of Eden by Mariko Nagai
3.5
Actual rating: 3.5/5
This one didn’t impact me quite as much as other books I’ve read about Japanese-Americans during WWII (We Are Not Free & They Called Us Enemy), as it was much shorter and less in-depth, and I couldn’t get into it quite as much. There was conflict between Mina, the 13 year old protagonist’s, anger at the US Government for interning her family in the camp, and her sense of patriotism, but the resolution of “now I know what it means to be a real American” felt a little abrupt. I wish there were more entries for each month and I noticed some typos.
On the other hand, I do enjoy novels in verse and though the use of freestyle verse wasn’t always as effective in some other novels in verse I’ve read, it used powerful metaphors of growth and change through Mina’s Grandfather’s rose garden. (I enjoyed Mina’s Grandpa’s character especially, while it was harder to connect to Mina’s own character development.) I also enjoyed the element of letter correspondence between Mina and her brother Nick, and her friend from back home, Jamie.
This one didn’t impact me quite as much as other books I’ve read about Japanese-Americans during WWII (We Are Not Free & They Called Us Enemy), as it was much shorter and less in-depth, and I couldn’t get into it quite as much. There was conflict between Mina, the 13 year old protagonist’s, anger at the US Government for interning her family in the camp, and her sense of patriotism, but the resolution of “now I know what it means to be a real American” felt a little abrupt. I wish there were more entries for each month and I noticed some typos.
On the other hand, I do enjoy novels in verse and though the use of freestyle verse wasn’t always as effective in some other novels in verse I’ve read, it used powerful metaphors of growth and change through Mina’s Grandfather’s rose garden. (I enjoyed Mina’s Grandpa’s character especially, while it was harder to connect to Mina’s own character development.) I also enjoyed the element of letter correspondence between Mina and her brother Nick, and her friend from back home, Jamie.