Weedflower | 
 enlarge | Author: Cynthia Kadohata
Publisher: Atheneum
Category: Book
List Price: $17.99
Buy New: $7.17
You Save: $10.82 (60%)
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Avg. Customer Rating:  12 reviews
Sales Rank: 112682
Media: Hardcover
Reading Level: Young Adult
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 272
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.8
Dimensions (in): 8.3 x 5.8 x 1.1
ISBN: 0689865740
EAN: 9780689865749
ASIN: 0689865740
Publication Date: March 28, 2006
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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Product Description
Twelve-year-old Sumiko feels her life has been made up of two parts: before Pearl Harbor and after it. The good part and the bad part. Raised on a flower farm in California, Sumiko is used to being the only Japanese girl in her class. Even when the other kids tease her, she always has had her flowers and family to go home to.That all changes after the horrific events of Pearl Harbor. Other Americans start to suspect that all Japanese people are spies for the emperor, even if, like Sumiko, they were born in the United States! As suspicions grow, Sumiko and her family find themselves being shipped to an internment camp in one of the hottest deserts in the United States. The vivid color of her previous life is gone forever, and now dust storms regularly choke the sky and seep into every crack of the military barrack that is her new "home." Sumiko soon discovers that the camp is on an Indian reservation and that the Japanese are as unwanted there as they'd been at home. But then she meets a young Mohave boy who might just become her first real friend...if he can ever stop being angry about the fact that the internment camp is on his tribe's land. With searing insight and clarity, Newbery Medal-winning author Cynthia Kadohata explores an important and painful topic through the eyes of a young girl who yearns to belong. Weedflower is the story of the rewards and challenges of a friendship across the racial divide, as well as the based-on-real-life story of how the meeting of Japanese Americans and Native Americans changed the future of both.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 7 more reviews...
 **** My book report on Weedflower March 28, 2008
The Weedflower is a great, realistic, fiction book about a Japanese girl named Sumiko raised on a farm in California. She is the only Japanese girl in her class and is always being teased. Especially after the Pearl Harbor tragedy, she was thought of as a spy like the rest of the Japanese people in America by most citizens. Also as the suspicion grows about spies, Sumikos' family finds that they're being moved to an internment camp in one of the hottest deserts in the USA. The old life they had is now just a memory. Then Sumiko discovers that the camp is on an Indian reservation, and that the Japanese are just as unwanted there as they were at their old home. That is when she meets a young boy from the Mohave tribe. Could this be her real first friend? Even if he is angry that the camp she is living on is his tribes land. The theme is a Japanese girl who is being mistreated and being left out of a lot of things. The reason why I like this is because Sumiko always finds a way to prevail and be happy at the end of every situation she is put in.
my book report on weedflower March 23, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
The Weedflower is a great realistic fiction book about a Japaness girl named Sumiko raised on a farm in California. That is the only Japaness girl in her class and that is always being teased. Espiesally after the pearl horbor insident, she was being thought of as a spy like the rest
of the Japaness people in america by most americans. Also as the suspicion grows about spies, Sumikos family finds that thier being moved to an internment camp in one of the most hottest deserts in the usa.The old life they had is now just a memory.Then she discovers that the camp is on an indian reservation,and that the Japaness are just as unwanted thier as they were at thier old home.That is when she meets a young boy from the Mohave tribe.Could this be her real first friend. Even if he is angry that the camp she is living on is his tribes land.
 Up for a challenge October 22, 2007
I am in love with this book! Weedflower is about a twelve year old Japanese-American girl named Sumiko. Her parents died when she was little so she lived with her Aunt, Uncle, Grandfather and cousins. They raise a flower farm until Japan bombed Pearl Harbor and they had to go live in a war camp in Poston, Arizona. This book is a serious book, but it has a bit of humor. I would say that this is a challenge to anybody under fifth grade. But it is way worth it. My favorite part was when Sumiko was invited to her very first birthday party, but when she got there she got kicked out because she was not white. It was sad but I liked it. I liked this book because it kept me going. I never wanted to put it down. At one point my dad had to take it away from me. This book was the best book I have ever read, and if you are up for a challenge then I most definitely suggest this book to you!
Internment July 10, 2007
0 out of 1 found this review helpful
I really liked Weedflower, as it as very descriptive about lfe for Japanese-Americans bfore and after Pearl Harbor. It would be nice if Cynthia Kaohata wrote a sequel, too.
-Emma D. (for a school project)
A Strong Portrayal of Life for Japanese Immigrants during WWII February 19, 2007
3 out of 4 found this review helpful
Weedflower is told from the perspective of Sumiko, a young girl born to a Japanese immigrant family in the U.S. during World War II. Weedflower chronicles the treatment of Sumiko's family, as the older men not born in the U.S. are shipped off to a virtual prison, and the rest of the family is sent to a detention camp in the desert. Their property, not to mention their dignity, are stripped away because of fear caused by the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. Sumiko, however, maintains hope through her passion for growing flowers.
This book is written in a simple, easily accessible style, but tells an important story. Although set in the 1940's, Weedflower carries implications for today, in how we treat people of Muslim descent. The story is a window into what it's like for people to be mis-treated, at the hands of their own country, simply because of their ethnicity. It shows how unfair and greedy people, including the government, can be (as when the Japanese were forced to sell their possessions for pennies on the dollar). It also illustrated what can happen to people when their rights, and their ability to strive for success, are taken away. Some of the children run wild, and steal things. Some of the young men give up hope, and lie around all day. Here is an example of the boredom and hopelessness of the camp overtaking Sumiko:
"Sumiko felt the ultimate boredom closing in on her. The ultimate boredom wasn't dread of the next year or of what the government might do next; it was dread of your own mind, dread of the next day, the next hour, the next minute. You could lose your mind at any time. Like one morning, for no good reason, Sumiko actually stomped on a butterfly that landed in the dust. After she moved her foot, she saw the squished bitterly and wondered what had come over her. She hadn't thought about it beforehand, but had just suddenly stomped on the poor butterfly. She figured maybe she'd had a sudden attack of the ultimate boredom, and then when she'd seen the dead butterfly she snapped out of it."
There are examples of non-Japanese Americans who do the right thing, too. A young woman volunteers to teach the Japanese kids at the internment camp, despite difficult surroundings. A woman takes time to write to the Japanese woman whose house she is now living, to let the Japanese woman know that the other woman is taking good care of her dog. The Japanese woman sobs with happiness. Christmas presents are donated to the detention camp for the kids. The examples stand out, like the flowers that the Japanese grow from the dusty ground of their camp.
The characterization in Weedflower is quite strong. Many of the characters, especially Sumiko, her friend Frank, and her cousin Bull, feel real. Their characters are mostly revealed through action, rather than being described. This is especially true of Bull, Sumiko's quiet, strong cousin, who intervenes when he see the opportunity, to keep things running smoothly.
A scene that I think will resonate with kids occurs early in the book, before the family is sent to a detention camp. Sumiko, the only Japanese girl in her class at school, is excited to be invited to her first birthday party. She dresses up, and her uncle spends precious money for her to buy a present. However, when the parents at the party learn that she's Japanese, they quietly and politely ask her to leave. Here is what Sumiko thought afterward:
"Like anyone, Sumiko had known momentarily embarrassing moments, but right now she felt so overwhelmingly humiliated that it was as if nothing in her life would ever be the same again, as if everything she did -- disbudding flowers, heating the water, cooking rice -- would be different from now on. In the future, she wouldn't be Sumiko who was disbudding flowers, she would be Humiliated Sumiko disbudding flowers. She wouldn't be Sumiko heating water and cooking rice, she would be Humiliated Sumiko heating water and cooking rice. And right at this moment she wasn't just Sumiko sitting along on the bench, she was Humiliated Sumiko."
Overall, I think that Weedflower is strong on theme and character, and a detailed portrayal of life among Japanese immigrants during World War II. It's an enjoyable read, but it doesn't have a strong "what happens next?" sort of plot. I think that it's a book that adults will like, and that some kids will enjoy, but that others may find a bit slow-paced.
This book review was originally published on my blog, Jen Robinson's Book Page, on February 17, 2007.
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