Dear America: The Fences Between Us

Children's Literature
- Danielle Williams
The incarceration of Japanese-Americans during World War II was the result of fear and uncertainty. Most Japanese-Americans were peaceful citizens who were as patriotic as any other Americans. Told from Piper Davis' point of view, Larson presents the story of one Baptist minister's desire to protect the Japanese-Americans living in his parish in Seattle, Washington. Written in the form of diary entries, Piper tells how her father works to defend the Japanese-Americans before they are sent to the camps, and how he strives to provide aid to them after they are incarcerated. While the novel is fiction, the story is based on a real Baptist minister who fought to keep his parishioners safe and cared for.