#we are not free
We Are Not Free by Traci Chee
Set in the United States during World War II, We Are Not Free by Traci Chee follows a group of American teens of Japanese descent. At first, life is pretty straightforward - the standard dramas of high school, the looming specter of adulthood on the horizon. Then, Japanese-Americans are removed from their homes, forced to leave most of their possessions behind, and relocated to camps. Inside the fence, life is different, but the teens are still teens: they love, they laugh, they dance, they fight, they play sports, they create, and they dream. Their circumstances initially bind them together, but everyone is unique, and eventually different ideas about how to respond to their internment threaten to drive everyone apart. Relocation, imprisonment, and even death are all distinct possibilities. College is one possible way out of the camp, for those who can convince the admissions office they are real Americans; another is the Army, which brings the dangers of fighting Nazis in Europe. Chee uses the voices of fourteen different teens to show many different perspectives, challenges, and circumstances, and weaving all those threads into one narrative highlights the power of community in the face of oppression.
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