Love in the Library

Name: Love in the Library
Brand: Dreamscape Media
Availability: InStock
Author: Maggie Tokuda-Hall
ISBN: 9781666530186

Author: Maggie Tokuda-Hall

Narrator: Sura Siu

Unabridged: 14 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Publisher: Dreamscape Media

Published: 01/11/2022

Categories: Children's Fiction, Children's Social Themes, Historical Stories

Synopsis

To fall in love is already a gift. But to fall in love in a place like Minidoka, a place built to make people feel like they weren’t human—that was miraculous. After the bombing of Pearl Harbor, Tama is sent to live in a War Relocation Center in the desert. All Japanese Americans from the West Coast—elderly people, children, babies—now live in prison camps like Minidoka. To be who she is has become a crime, it seems, and Tama doesn’t know when or if she will ever leave. Trying not to think of the life she once had, she works in the camp’s tiny library, taking solace in pages bursting with color and light, love and fairness. And she isn’t the only one. George waits each morning by the door, his arms piled with books checked out the day before. As their friendship grows, Tama wonders: Can anyone possibly read so much? Is she the reason George comes to the library every day? Maggie Tokuda-Hall’s elegant and true love story about her grandparents for listeners of all ages sheds light on a shameful chapter of American history.

About Maggie Tokuda-Hall

Maggie Tokuda-Hall is the author of Also an Octopus, illustrated by Benji Davies, and the novel The Mermaid, the Witch, and the Sea. She lives in Oakland, California.

About Sura Siu

Sura Siu is a first-generation Asian American voiceover actress who has a passion for breathing life into characters, stories, and the printed word. When not performing, she enjoys playing video games, biking, and meditating.

Reviews

Goodreads review by Dave on June 12, 2023

Update sharing (below) what Maggie Tokuda-Ha;; decided to do in response to Scholastic's offer to republish/promote this book, and apologize for their wanting to edit her author's note, but if you don't have time to read her blog piece, the author said no, she rejects the offer from Scholastic: https......more

Goodreads review by Scottsdale Public Library on February 16, 2023

Okay, this one is a bit of a tear-jerker! During World War II, FDR signed an executive order that led Japanese-Americans to be confined to internment camps along the West Coast of the United States. Love in the Library is a story loosely based on Tokuda-Hall's grandparents and their love story. Whil......more

Goodreads review by Lisa on April 23, 2022

Wow! I haven’t been in the mood for many picture books for some time but I’ve been reading a few here and there. I was expecting to like this one but I really loved it. It’s excellent. The (mostly true) story told in not too many words is interesting and the illustrations are lovely and perfectly ca......more

Goodreads review by Reads on November 01, 2023

My kids and I love this book.......more

Goodreads review by Karen on April 14, 2023

Read earlier when first published - a gentle story about two young people finding joy in difficult conditions. They are both in a WWII Japanese internment camp. In the news today because in light of the ongoing and outrageous attempts by the Christofascist Right here in the US to limit discussion of......more

Quotes

The author’s gentle text captures the resilience of human dignity and optimism even during times of immense challenge and adversity.