Shizue's Path, written by Mark Sakamoto and illustrated by Rachel Wada. Harper, 2023. $24.99 ages 5 and up

"I wish I could skip this chapter of the story, darling. 
just as you may want to skip parts of your own life 
story in time. But you see, you mustn't do that. 
You need to know your darkness to know your light. 

And I can see so much light in you. 

So I'll keep going through the dark. 

But I'd love for you to hold my hand."

Shizue is an old woman when she tells her story to a young visitor over a cup of tea. Because of her age, she must start as her life comes closer to the end. It is a story of pain and injustice; it also speaks to the courage and resilience of people who were wronged by many. There are things from her life that are not clear memories for Shizue. Others are very real and clear.

As a young child she loved school, but she did not look the same as the other children in her class. She worried about her father, a fisherman, and his safety. She worried even more when her parents' homeland, Japan, attacked Pearl Harbor and brought World War II across the ocean. She would rather not share this dark time in her life, but is part of her story. 

The anti-Asian backlash was puzzling to Shizue. No more school, forced from their homes, and sent on a train to a faraway place. The conditions were terrible; too cold, too hot, and there was no choice but to carry on. It was two years before Shizue could attend school again. Then, one day, the war ended and the people rejoiced. They did not know what was next for the Japanese people. 

"The government was planning to send me - and 
every person of Japanese ancestry - to Japan. They 
wanted all of us, gone."

What terror for a young girl! Then, good news. Shizue was invited to study at the University of Toronto. There was so much to learn and see, including hearing Rabbi Feinberg speak at a rally demanding compassion for those people who had no part in the war. It led to Shizue's life work helping people (including her family) find a place to heal. She exuded kindness wherever she went. 

It is a story that draws inspiration from Mark Sakamoto's great-aunt's life experiences and offers readers a sensitive look at how one person can send out ripples of kindness throughout that life.