Write to Me: Letters from Japanese American Children to the Librarian They Left Behind. Written by Cynthia Grady and illustrated by Amiko Hirao. Charlesbridge, Penguin Random House. 2016. $19.99 ages 7 and up

"The US government thought Katherine and all people of Japanese heritage living on the West Coast could be dangerous. They looked like an enemy of the United States in a complicated war halfway around the world, so the government ordered that they be imprisoned. Miss Breed gave Katherine a stamped, addressed penny postcard ... "

We have all heard stories of the Japanese internment following the bombing of Pearl Harbor in 1941. In Canada and the United States, governments made the hasty decision that all people of Japanese descent were a potential enemy to their country, and they removed them from their homes and communities to isolated locations where they lived out the duration of the war.

It is hard for any of us to imagine what it was like for those families and their children. Clara Breed loved and empowered all the children who visited the San Diego public library where she was librarian, offering guidance for book choice and encouraging their passion for reading. So, when some of the children who were regular visitors were forced to move away, she wrote to and received letters from many of them. Those letters made a connection to the lives they led before the war made them prisoners.

Ms. Breed sent books, postcards and art supplies, wrote letters to the children and to those who had put them in those camps. She sought justice from an unjust system. The letters are housed at the Japanese American National Museum and speak to the power of books to make life better. Many quotes from the children's correspondence are included on the pages of this uplifting  book.

"Dear Miss Breed,

I was overwhelmed with joy to see
the books when the postman
opened the package for inspection.
Thank you, Miss Breed, Thank you!

Very sincerely yours,
Louise Ogawa"

"Dear Miss Breed,

We have one large shower
and one large laundry room.
We certainly don't see how
they expect over 16,000
people to be clean and also
have their clothes clean.

Yours truly,
Fusa"

Archival photographs with informative captions are featured on front and back endpapers. Colored pencils are used to create the soft, sepia-toned artwork that shows the conditions in the camps, the joy the children felt when books and postcards arrived, and the uncertainty that awaited them at the end of the war. An author's note, a timeline of important dates in Ms. Breed's life, a short history of the people who came from Japan to live in the USA, source notes, a bibliography, and books for further reading extend the learning.

Teachers and parents wanting to know more about Miss Breed should check at the library for Dear Miss Breed by Joanne Oppenheim (Scholastic, 2006). It is also worth your attention.