Red Berries, White Clouds, Blue Sky

Gr 3–6—After the bombing of Pearl Harbor in 1941, 12-year-old Tomi Itano's life changes dramatically. She and her family face prejudice and discrimination in town. Her father is arrested and falsely imprisoned for suspected espionage. Then Tomi, her two brothers, and their mother are relocated to an internment camp in Colorado. Initially, Tomi remains positive and does what she can to help her family and others adjust. But when her father is released from prison two years later, he is justifiably bitter and his experience affects Tomi profoundly; she questions how the country she loves could treat them so unjustly. Jennifer Ikeda solidly narrates the story, which takes place in the fictional camp of Tallgrass, which the author based on the real-life Amache internment camp. Ikeda's steady, soothing voice draws the listener into the story, and she differentiates nicely between characters. The voices of the children match their age, and Ikeda gives the parents and other adults from Japan lightly accented voices.