Caged Eagles

November 1, 2000
Gr 6-9-This sequel to War of the Eagles (Orca, 1998) stands on its own. In 1942, all the inhabitants of the fishing village in British Columbia where Tadashi Fukushima was born and raised are evicted and temporarily resettled in a former Vancouver fairgrounds. Courtesy, patience, and a fatalistic attitude seem to help the adults cope with the indignities to which they are subjected. However, 14-year-old Tadashi can't understand why they cooperate when family possessions must be left behind; his father is forced to live separately; and he, his mother, sisters, and elderly grandmother must make an animal's stall their home. Soon he finds a friend with whom he can explore and test the limits of their confinement. Slipping under the fence, they venture outside, only to discover the hostility of Vancouver streets. In the end, though, their willingness to take risks makes it possible for his father and other villagers to decide the fate of their boats, which represent their livelihood. Tadashi is a likable character who struggles to understand how his hardworking father and neighbors could be seen as spies, cares deeply for his family, and even has sympathy for the discomfort of a Canadian bureaucrat. Readers share his bewilderment at the injustice of his situation. In an afterword, the author makes clear the point at which the fiction differs from the historical record and discusses the difficulty of writing from outside the culture. A disturbing and convincing story that needs to be told.-Kathleen Isaacs, Edmund Burke School, Washington, DC

Copyright 2000 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

December 1, 2000
Gr. 6-9. In this companion to "War of the "Eagles (1999), Walters hopes to help readers "understand a neglected and sad time" in Canadian history, and he admirably succeeds. His fast-paced novel avoids heavy-handed moralizing as it portrays the internment of Japanese Canadians during World War II. Walters focuses on 14-year-old Tadashi Fukushima, whose family is forced to settle with other "enemy alien" families in cattle barns at the Pacific National Exhibition grounds. Readers will share the family's humiliation, anger, and depression as its members try to maintain their dignity while avoiding retribution. They will also recognize, as Tadashi does, that in spite of demeaning conditions, a family member's death, and uncertainty about the future, the situation has elements of adventure. This becomes apparent after Tadashi meets Sam, who introduces him to no-holds-barred baseball, the excitement of sneaking out of the camp and smuggling out letters, and the rewards of helping Tadashi's father achieve a defiant measure of revenge. In an afterword Walters shares his concerns about writing from the vantage of an outsider. (Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2000, American Library Association.)