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Summary
Summary
A moving, beautifully illustrated true story for children ages 6 to 9 about growing up in Japanese American incarceration campsduring World War II-from the iconic Star Trek actor, activist, and author of the New York Times bestselling graphic memoir They Called Us Enemy .
February 19, 1942. George Takei is four years old when his world changes forever. Two months after the bombing of Pearl Harbor, President Franklin D. Rooseveltdeclares anyone of Japanese descent an enemy of the United States.
George and his family were American in every way. They had done nothing wrong. But because of their Japanese ancestry, they were removed from their home in California and forced into camps with thousands of other families who looked liketheirs.
Over the next three years, George had three different "homes"- the Santa Anita racetrack, swampy Camp Rohwer, and infamous Tule Lake. But even though they were now living behind barbed wire fences and surrounded by armed soldiers, his mother and father did everything they could to keep the family safe.
In My Lost Freedom, George Takei looks back at his own memories to help children today understand what it feels like to be treated as an enemy by your own country. Featuring powerful, meticulously researched watercolor paintings, this is a story of a family's courage, a young boy's resilience, and the importance of staying true to yourself in the face of injustice.
Author Notes
George Hosato Takei was born on April 20, 1937. He is an American actor and author, best known for his role as Hikaru Sulu, helmsman of the USS Enterprise in the television series Star Trek. Takei is also a proponent of gay rights and active in state and local politics apart from his continued acting career. He has won several awards and recognition in his work on human rights and Japanese-American relations, including his work with the Japanese American National Museum.
Takei enrolled in the University of California, Berkeley, where he studied architecture. Later he attended the University of California, Los Angeles, where he received both a Bachelor of Arts and a Master of Arts in theater. He attended the Shakespeare Institute at Stratford-upon-Avon in England, and Sophia University in Tokyo, Japan. In Hollywood, he studied acting at the Desilu Workshop.
In 2004, the government of Japan named Asteroid 7307 "Takei" after him. In June 2012, the American Humanist Association gave Takei the LGBT Humanist Award. His book, Oh Myyy! (There Goes The Internet) was released on December 21, 2013 and became a New York Times bestseller in 2014.
(Bowker Author Biography)
Reviews (4)
School Library Journal Review
Gr 1--4--Solemn music opens and closes Takei's gentle, earnest recall from age four when he was among 120,000 Americans of Japanese descent unjustly imprisoned during World War II. His introduction is initially jaunty: "Hi! I'm George Takei, an 87-year-old actor. Yes, I have lived long and prospered," referencing his evergreen Star Trek fame. His gravely, aging voice turns somber to reveal "memories of when our differences became our devastation." Takei, his parents, and his two younger siblings fell victim to President Franklin D. Roosevelt's Executive Order 9066. "But we were Americans who had done nothing wrong." Yet the Takei family was herded through three locations: the Santa Anita Racetrack, Camp Rohwer, and Tule Lake. "My childhood behind barbed wire was a mix of both fond and terrifying memories. But through it all, Mama and Daddy always took a stand. They were my solid American heroes." VERDICT With additional preface and afterword enhancements, Takei's inviting audio rendition provides a full experience.
Publisher's Weekly Review
Embracing a child's wide-eyed perspective of historical events, activist and actor Takei details his family's incarceration in Japanese prison camps during WWII. Takei is four years old during the 1941 Japanese bombing of Pearl Harbor, after which "the lives of all Japanese Americans were suddenly and drastically changed." Following President Roosevelt's declaration of war on Japan, a February 1942 presidential order forces the Takeis, along with all other Japanese Americans on the West Coast, from their Los Angeles home. Pages detail the family's time at Arkansas's swampy Camp Rohwer ("a strange and magical place" where the author caught tadpoles in a drainage ditch) and Northern California's Tule Lake, a maximum-security prison with "huge, rumbling tank patrols." Lee's crisp mixed-media illustrations echo the text's childlike tone (when the family is held at a racetrack, Takei "thought it would be fun to sleep where the horsies slept") in portraying individual, familial, and communal experiences throughout a "hard, terrible war." A glossary and pronunciation guide, notes, and photos conclude. Ages 6--9. (Apr.)
Kirkus Review
Star Trek actor and activist Takei looks back on a childhood marked by war and injustice, transformed by parental heroes. Takei was 4 years old in 1941, when Pearl Harbor was bombed. Soon after, President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed Executive Order 9066, decreeing that Japanese American people be imprisoned in concentration camps. Takei and his parents and younger siblings were forced to leave their home in Los Angeles and live in a series of camps--first at the San Anita racetrack and later at Camp Rohwer, Arkansas, and Tule Lake, California. Takei offers an unflinchingly honest, child's-eye view of these events: stalls stinking of horse manure and filled with bugs and germs, sweltering barracks guarded by sentry towers with armed soldiers. Mindful, though, of young readers' sensibilities, he interweaves moments of levity and escape: movie nights, a baseball league, a dog named Blackie, a snowball fight, and more. His parents' courage shines through, too: Mama transforming their dismal surroundings into a home; Daddy serving as manager of their block. Lee's mixed-media illustrations depict children in brightly colored outfits set against backgrounds of earth tones and deep blues to capture readers' attention and underscore the individuality of the imprisoned citizens. Lee also inserts visual details to complement Takei's evocative text. An author's note details the harassment Takei's family experienced as they rebuilt their lives in L.A. A candid yet tender glimpse at a bleak chapter in U.S. history. (glossary and pronunciation guide, photographs) (Picture-book memoir. 4-9) Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Booklist Review
Takei, the actor best known for playing Lieutenant Sulu on the original Star Trek, was four years old when the U.S. declared war on Japan. Like other Japanese Americans on the West Coast, his family was forced to leave their home and live for several years in prison camps. First, armed soldiers escorted them by train to Arkansas. A year later, they were sent to a harsher detention center in Northern California, where they stayed until the war ended. This unusual picture book details the family's hardships, their everyday experiences, and their determination to retain their integrity and help their fellow detainees. Younger children may not grasp the few political elements of the story, such as Takei's parents' refusal to lie on the questionnaires designed to test their loyalty and their willingness to join America's armed forces, but overall, the first-person narrative maintains a child's perspective. Lee's gentle, appealing illustrations portray the family with great warmth. The extensive back matter provides more detailed information. This worthwhile picture book introduces an important topic in American history.
