When the Emperor Was Divine

This book is about a family that was torn apart by the internment of Japanese during WWII. The story was told by each member of the family in a somewhat detached manner. It was almost as if there was a murky glass window one was looking through when reading this story. There were very touching moments in the books, the mother setting free the pet bird, killing the family pet and the homecoming.

I think this book is wonderful. It has a lot of hidden meanings: excellent to do for Language Arts class! It's written in a beautiful style- unemotional, but that brings out the characters more. It seems like there's a lot of extraneous detail, but almost every detail is a metaphor for something, if you look carefully enough. Although some might say "there's no plot and no conflict", that's absolutely true- but this is historical fiction, people. There is a plot, it just doesn't involve unicorns and people bearing magical sticks of wood (no offense, but..it's true). If you're looking for a light, fluffy, simple read, this wouldn't be the best book for you, but even if you're not interested in this kind of thing but looking for a more involved, brutally realistic read, this is definitely a book I'd recommend.

My son asked me to buy this for him ($4.00 @ Amazon) it's for a class he has to take. It was on the couch so I picked it up and read it in about 4 hours. It's not the type of book I would ever read on my own, but I have to say I absolutely loved it. It is very dry and unemotional - which actually makes it heartbreaking. I fell in love with the characters, even though they have no names, somehow, that made them even more real to me. I know that this book would not be everyone's cup of tea, but I think it's an excellent read.