Best Friends Forever: A World War II Scrapbook - Hardcover

Patt, Beverly

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0761455779 ISBN 13: 9780761455776

Publisher: Two Lions, 2010

Synopsis

German-American Louise Kessler, 14, starts a scrapbook when her best friend, Dottie Masuoka, leaves for the Japanese internment camps. Louise’s scrapbook includes items from her life “on the home front” as well as Dottie’s letters and drawings from the internment camp. Together, their intertwined stories tell of a friendship that even war cannot tear apart.

About this title

About the Author:

Author Beverly Patt writes from her suburban Chicago home, which she shares with her high school sweetheart husband, four wonderful kids and faithful dog, Hally. Before becoming a writer, Bev worked as a Sick-Bird-Catcher, Waitress, Licorice Inspector, Family Counselor and Special Education teacher. Haven is her first novel. Close on it's heels is Best Friends Forever: A WWII Scrapbook.  Best Friends Forever: A WWII Scrapbook received a starred review from SLJ and has been named to the Great Lakes, Great Books Spring 2010 List.

Illustrator Shula Klinger was born in St. Albans, England. Her poetry, journalism, and creative non-fiction have been published in the UK, the US, and Canada. She holds an undergraduate degree in English from Oxford University and a Masters in Educational Technology from Cambridge. Before moving to Canada, Shula worked in children’s book publishing and for a multimedia division of the BBC. Since completing her Ph.D. at the University of British Columbia, Shula has mentored teachers and developed online course materials for schools in British Columbia. While working for the Vancouver School Board, she also created and moderated "The Attic," an online community for students who love reading and writing. She now works as a consultant in online education for schools throughout the province. She is also the developer and moderator of Wordspace, an online domain for young writers. The Kingdom of Strange is her first novel.

Review:

Starred Review: In this appealing and accessible fictional scrapbook, 14-year-old Louise relates the experience of being separated from her best friend, Dottie, whose Japanese-American family has been relocated to an internment camp following the bombing of Pearl Harbor. Through Louise's journal entries, Dottie's letters, and a variety of authentic-looking newspaper clippings, ticket stubs, and other artifacts, the girls' story emerges powerfully and believably. Readers sense Dottie's distress at her imposed exile, and her anger at being thought un-American. They observe Louise grappling with the injustice of it all, as she is ridiculed for her friendship with Dottie and her own family is targeted because of their German heritage. If the drama of the girls separation isn't enough, a romantic subplot and the antics of Dottie's goofy dog (living with Louise in her absence) will surely keep young readers interested. This heartwarming tale of steadfast friendship makes a wonderful access point for learning more about World War II and Japanese internment. --School Library Journal

Louise keeps a journal for her best friend, Dottie, who has moved with her family to a relocation camp thirty miles away. Dottie is Japanese, and Louise documents the general climate after the bombing of Pearl Harbor in her scrapbook with photos, newspaper articles, and handbills. The two exchange handwritten letters that Louise records in the book that she hopes to give Dottie one day when she returns to Seattle. Dottie tells Louise what the apartments (otherwise known as horse stalls) are like, and what living with her family, especially her Grumpa, in such close quarters is all about. Louise joins the Junior Red Cross and keeps herself busy collecting supplies for the war effort and taking CPR training. She also takes up knitting and keeps in touch with a wounded soldier for whom she has knitted a pair of socks. Toward the end of the scrapbook, his and Dottie's lives intersect. One hopes that most teen readers are familiar with the internment camps in the U.S. during World War II. Because this novel is written in the form of letters, artwork, and clippings for a scrapbook, readers will be in for a real treat with what feels like a firsthand perspective. Issues such as what does an American look like, racism, poverty, and more are encountered by these two best friends feeling their way through a complicated time. --VOYA (Voice of Youth Advocates)

On April 24, 1942, when Dottie Masouka's Japanese-American family lose their rights as American citizens and are removed to an internment camp in Puyallup, Wash., her best friend Louise Krueger starts working on a scrapbook to share with Dottie. Interspersed with her journal account are Dottie's letters to Louise as well as correspondence from Louise's soldier brother and sailor pen pal, newspaper clippings, drawings and pasted-in realia. Each page is antiqued and yellowed, making the whole nine-month record jibe with Patt's use of '40s slang. The youthful voices ring realistically with 14-year-old righteous indignation. Dottie's sketches and optimism reveal her determination to be strong and help her family get by while living in dust-coated stalls and being watched by gun-toting soldiers. Louise is fearful that families with German names like hers will be taken away as well. Their account of wartime terror is made more poignant by their resolution to make their lives beautiful and meaningful. The faux-diary format is sure to appeal. --Kirkus

About this edition

• Publisher: Two Lions
• Publication date: 2010
• ISBN 10: 0761455779
• ISBN 13: 9780761455776
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 80
• Illustrator: Klinger Shula