Sumiko is a twelve year old girl who is a japanese-american. The book takes place during pearl harbor and world war II. She lives in California on a flower farm and she has one brother. Her parents both died but their other family members adopted them into their families. She received an invitation to a party by a popular girl named Marsha, and she was the only japanese girl in her school. She wore her most beautiful dress and got the most expensive gift and wrapped it nicely, but this joy was short-lived as Marsha's mother did not know she was Japanese. Instead of inviting Sumiko, she explained to her on the porch how others and her husband would feel about her being there, so her solution was to give her a piece of cake and send her on her way home. Sumiko was devastated and sad. Her and her family's life got worse on december 7th 1941 on the day pearl harbor happened where japanese americans were thought to be secret spies so they were rounded up and sent off to internment camps. Her family and herself lost everything they had ever had and known and had become prisoners in their own country just because of how they were. They were sent to Arizona where the weather is hot and dusty because they were on a previous Indian reserve. She made her own little flower shop and dreamt of becoming a florist and having her own shop one day. She meets friends and has to find ways to survive in the camp but she makes due and survives despite all the hardship her and her family have faced. They got barely any food and had to fight for everything.
I really liked this book and thought it was incredibly interesting. I've never read a book like this and I felt connected to the story for some reason. I think it's something everyone should read even though it may not be a genre you like. I 10000% recommend because I thought I wouldn't like it and it would be a hard book to read but it was so interesting and surprisingly easy to understand.
If you find historical fiction interesting or maybe you just want to try it out I recommend weedflower. It is a phenomenal book and the author tells the story so well and I recommend you read her other books as well.
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