Desert Diary

Desert Diary: Japanese American Kids Behind Barbed Wire

By Michael O. Tunnell.

A moving primary source sheds light on the experience of Japanese American children imprisoned in a World War II concentration camp. A classroom diary created by Japanese
American children paints a vivid picture of daily life in a so-called “internment camp.”

Mae Yanagi was eight years old when she started school at Topaz Camp in Utah. She and her third-grade classmates began keeping an illustrated diary, full of details about schoolwork, sports, pets, holidays, and health–as experienced from behind barbed wire. Diary pages, archival photographs, and narrative nonfiction text convey the harsh
changes experienced by the children, as well as their remarkable resilience.

Hardbound: 144 pp.