An Aleutian Islander recounts her suffering during World War II in
American internment camps designed to "protect" the population from
the invading Japanese. Annotation. "Your work, Vera," Alfred's
grandfather told me, "your work is to know the ways of our people."
In June of 1942, seven months after attacking Pearl Harbor, the
Japanese navy invaded Alaska's Aleutian Islands. For nine thousand
years the Aleut people had lived and thrived on these treeless,
windswept lands. Within days of the first attack, the entire native
population living west of Unimak Island was gathered up and evacuated
to relocation centers in the dense forests of Alaska's Southeast.
With resilience, compassion, and humor the Aleuts responded to the
sorrows of upheaval and dislocation. This is Vera's story, but it is
woven from the same fabric as the stories of displaced peoples
throughout history. It chronicles the struggle to survive and to keep
community and heritage intact despite harsh conditions in an alien
environment. In a luminous novel of unrhymed verse, Newbery winner
Karen Hesse brings to light this little-known episode from America's
past.
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