Dear America: The Diary of Piper Davis: The Fences Between Us

I came from Hawaii the as in Pearl Harbor and I can tell you this is just about the best book I’ve read so far.I have grandparents lived during The Bombing and it’s nice to hear. :)

I absolutely loved this book it really gives a detailed explanation of the book I absolutely loved it

Love it. The main character piper is modest and knows how to change things that NEEDED to be changed at the time. It was a good book, along with many others by this wonderful author.

Back in the '90s when I was in elementary school, I loved the Dear America series. When I heard that they were re-launching the series after 6 years, I was excited. The Fences Between Us is the first new book for the series.To be honest, I was very disappointed in this book. The subject is purportedly Japanese internment, but we instead get a diary of a white girl and her experiences during WWII. The book is interesting enough and well-written (author Kirby Larson won a Newbery Honor award for her children's novel Hattie Big Sky) but I was expecting to read a book about the experiences of a Japanese-American girl. The Dear America series has always been very culturally and ethnically inclusive, so I was puzzled that the book on Japanese Internment would be from a white girl's perspective. Because of this, I can't rate this book very highly. I'd suggest either picking up a different book in the series or, if you're interested in Japanese internment, read something like Farewell to Manzanar instead.

This book was great! I wish these Dear America books had been around when I was a little girl. It's like an improvement on the American Girls Collection books. It has the same basic plot format as they do - a slice of life story about a girl living at a certain key point in history - in this case, World War II. It also presents historical non-fiction information about the time period after the story, just like American Girl. But, it includes an epilogue, letting you know what 'happened' to the character when she grew up, and an activity - in this instance, a recipe for oatmeal cookies that she baked during the story. Young me would have loved this. My daughter, at almost 8, may not be quite old enough. She was initially thrilled by it, and then appeared to lose interest - though that could just be because she's reading four books at once.It told the story of Japanese internment during World War II, as seen through the eyes of the daughter of a white pastor with a Japanese congregation. It was appalling. I can't believe we did this to our own citizens. And yet, I look at some of the things going on today, and our attitude towards, say, Middle Easterners, and I CAN believe it, unfortunately. Growing up, I always believed the message school had sent - that one of the reasons America came to exist was to save people from just such persecution - that we were free, and tolerant, and would never judge anyone by the color of their skin, or their religion, nationality, or anything other than their own demonstrated behavior. The older I get, the more it seems like our country is no better than many other countries in that department. It seems like most countries just have good times where they are very tolerant, and bad times, where they are very closed-minded. Perhaps I'm letting go of the idea that individual actions make a difference on that continuum, except at a very local level. I guess philosophically, I wonder whether presenting information like this to kids makes them disheartened too young. And on the other hand, I think it's a story that people have a right to tell, and a responsibility to be familiar with.

This is a great book . This book shows that people can be really cruel and turn on their allies just because their background is their enemy. Not only that the president lost all faith of Japanese.

I loved the Dear America historical journal series growing up and had been looking forward to this one as a quick, light trip down Memory Lane - my expectations were fairly low, as I don't tend to gravitate towards the YA genre or the contrived pseudo-diary format or late additions to an established collection. That said, I really enjoyed this. Set in the 1940s, late in World War II and following Pearl Harbor, the book follows a middle school-aged girl as she corresponds with her Naval officer brother and moves with her father, a pastor, as he follows his Japanese congregation to their internment camp in Idaho. The historical details are interspersed with slice-of-life subplots like Piper's crush on a classmate and developing interest in photography, and the book manages to be fun and age-appropriate while bringing home the injustice of Japanese Internment and providing takeaway themes and a message that can easily be applied to contemporary conflicts. I would definitely recommend this to a young reader. It's well-written and aesthetically beautiful, with its purple-colored hardback format and foil cover detailing - a great addition to one's collection.

With clear and simple prose, author Kirby Larson brings to life Piper Davis. Piper is a young girl whose life is centered on boys, lipstick, and friends – until her brother is caught at the attack on Pearl Harbor, until her Father’s congregation, all Japanese, are persecuted and sent to internment campus, until she if confronted with the realities of war. Larson did an excellent job of making Piper’s struggle authentic. Piper’s best friend and boyfriend both think it’s good to send the Japanese away, and don’t understand Piper’s struggle. Her worry for her brother, her concern about her people she’s known all her life, her initial struggle to accept her father choice to move to Idaho, and her own realization about right and wrong makes this a strong story worth reading. It’s a complex subject and the book does an excellent job of making it understandable to young readers without dumbing down the subject. Suitable for elementary age readers and a fine place to start for discussions about this topic.

From December 2010 SLJ:
Gr 58In 1941 Seattle, Piper Davis is a typical 13-year-old in many ways: she enjoys spending time with her friends, listening to big-band music, and walking home from school with the boy she's sweet on. Since her mother died when she was a baby, her father, pastor at the Japanese Baptist Church, has raised Piper and her older sister and brother. She has never found straddling the two distinct communities unusual; however, after the bombing of Pearl Harbor, her world is turned upside down. Suddenly, families from her father's church are being singled out: the FBI has no qualms about arresting American-born Japanese, and "No Japs" signs appear in downtown shop windows. Most of her school friends believe that the Japanese students should be expelled and can't understand why Piper defends them, especially since her brother, Hank, was at Pearl Harbor. When her father announces that he and Piper will follow their congregation to the Minidoka War Relocation Camp in Idaho, she is furious that she is being uprooted from her friends and her home. Over the following months, though, she develops an appreciation for her father's courage, and her previous acquaintance with Betty Sato deepens into a close friendship. While Cynthia Kadohata's Weedflower (S & S, 2006) explores this infamous period in American history through the eyes of a Japanese-American girl, Piper's convincing narration allows readers to appreciate the dilemma that occurs when individual rights seem to clash with national security. The thought-provoking themes are supplemented by a comprehensive historical note, photographs, and resources, and an abundance of online activities on the publisher's site.Kim Dare, Fairfax County Public Schools, VA

Back in the '90s when I was in elementary school, I loved the Dear America series. When I heard that they were re-launching the series after 6 years, I was excited. The Fences Between Us is the first new book for the series.To be honest, I was very disappointed in this book. The subject is purportedly Japanese internment, but we instead get a diary of a white girl and her experiences during WWII. The book is interesting enough and well-written (author Kirby Larson won a Newbery Honor award for her children's novel Hattie Big Sky) but I was expecting to read a book about the experiences of a Japanese-American girl. The Dear America series has always been very culturally and ethnically inclusive, so I was puzzled that the book on Japanese Internment would be from a white girl's perspective. Because of this, I can't rate this book very highly. I'd suggest either picking up a different book in the series or, if you're interested in Japanese internment, read something like Farewell to Manzanar instead.

For the last year or so (and this is only since I've started to pay attention), I've heard a lot of people clamoring for a YA/juvenile history book that deals with the internment of Japanese Americans during WWII. As this was a bit of history that was decidedly lacking in the books when I was growing up, I was curious as to how exactly it would be presented.Piper Davis is a normal girl. When her friends say things that don't sit well with her, she doesn't necessarily correct them. When her neighbors, friends, and her father's congregation are systematically packed off to internment camps after the bombing of Pearl Harbor, she's horrified, but in no hurry to join them. She throws a fit when her father declares that they'll be following his flock because it's the "right thing" to do, but you know she's going to come around. For her faults, Piper is incredibly likable and it's hard to put the book down because you want just a little bit more.The few Dear America books I've read have either been hit or miss, but this falls squarely in the hit category. You're left wanting to know more, both about Piper and about the real events surrounding her time period. Making history come alive like this isn't always easy, but The Fences Between Us accomplishes this feat. Highly recommended.

I think a big difference in the success of a children's book is how likable the main character is. Piper Davis is very likable. She is compassionate, generous, and charming. I also appreciate kid's books that are willing to tell the truth about tricky subjects, such as propaganda. Piper is realistic. She doesn't go crusading for her friend Betty, but does gradually grow more sure of her opinions.

I loved the Dear America historical journal series growing up and had been looking forward to this one as a quick, light trip down Memory Lane - my expectations were fairly low, as I don't tend to gravitate towards the YA genre or the contrived pseudo-diary format or late additions to an established collection. That said, I really enjoyed this. Set in the 1940s, late in World War II and following Pearl Harbor, the book follows a middle school-aged girl as she corresponds with her Naval officer brother and moves with her father, a pastor, as he follows his Japanese congregation to their internment camp in Idaho. The historical details are interspersed with slice-of-life subplots like Piper's crush on a classmate and developing interest in photography, and the book manages to be fun and age-appropriate while bringing home the injustice of Japanese Internment and providing takeaway themes and a message that can easily be applied to contemporary conflicts. I would definitely recommend this to a young reader. It's well-written and aesthetically beautiful, with its purple-colored hardback format and foil cover detailing - a great addition to one's collection.

I grew up with the Dear America books. They went out of print a few years ago, and it's been hard to get the few titles I didn't already own. Scholastic has done me a favor, and brought the series back! They've already reprinted a handful of titles, and plan to do more. They also are brining in new stories. One story I haven't read before is The Diary of Piper Davis: The Fences Between Us. Seattle, Washington 1941.Piper's story is one I strongly relate to. It's based on the story of Reverend Emery Andrews, who moved whis family to Idaho, when his Japanese Baptist Church congregation was moved to an internment camp in Minidoka, Idaho. Kirby Larson gives us a teenage girl's reaction to the move, and how her friends respond to her family supporting the Japanese community following Pearl Harbor.There are some parallels today to how people related to the Arab community in the US following 9/11. Piper upsets her friends by supporting her Japanese churchmates, and yet remains silent when she watches her Japanese friends get harassed at school.I recommend this book to anyone who enjoyed the book growing up, or anyone looking for a gift for a child starting chapter books.

Well it has come as no surprise to me that I LOVED this book. When I saw that it was by Kirby Larson I knew I would. I so enjoyed Hattie Big Sky. I am a homeschool Mom and when this type of book comes to me I can only think "oh my what a great addition to a unit study". I am continually surprised by how little I learned about our nations past, in the public school system. I too only learned of internment camps within the last few years. This is a great book to show the personal side of how Japanese people were treated during the war. I also so enjoyed the facts in the back of the book. Thank-you for including the presidents speech. I would like to believe this could never happen again, and yet I know it could. Thank-you Kirby for another great book!

This book was great! I wish these Dear America books had been around when I was a little girl. It's like an improvement on the American Girls Collection books. It has the same basic plot format as they do - a slice of life story about a girl living at a certain key point in history - in this case, World War II. It also presents historical non-fiction information about the time period after the story, just like American Girl. But, it includes an epilogue, letting you know what 'happened' to the character when she grew up, and an activity - in this instance, a recipe for oatmeal cookies that she baked during the story. Young me would have loved this. My daughter, at almost 8, may not be quite old enough. She was initially thrilled by it, and then appeared to lose interest - though that could just be because she's reading four books at once.It told the story of Japanese internment during World War II, as seen through the eyes of the daughter of a white pastor with a Japanese congregation. It was appalling. I can't believe we did this to our own citizens. And yet, I look at some of the things going on today, and our attitude towards, say, Middle Easterners, and I CAN believe it, unfortunately. Growing up, I always believed the message school had sent - that one of the reasons America came to exist was to save people from just such persecution - that we were free, and tolerant, and would never judge anyone by the color of their skin, or their religion, nationality, or anything other than their own demonstrated behavior. The older I get, the more it seems like our country is no better than many other countries in that department. It seems like most countries just have good times where they are very tolerant, and bad times, where they are very closed-minded. Perhaps I'm letting go of the idea that individual actions make a difference on that continuum, except at a very local level. I guess philosophically, I wonder whether presenting information like this to kids makes them disheartened too young. And on the other hand, I think it's a story that people have a right to tell, and a responsibility to be familiar with.

I was a bit apprehensive about this book when I saw it. Since the main topic is the Japanese-American Internment during WW2, it seemed strange to me that the author would choose to make the main character a white girl, rather than a Japanese-American girl.Having read the book, I feel that while using the point-of-view of a Japanese-American girl would have been ideal, the book is only incidentally about the Internment, and using Piper Davis as the point-of-view character allows the story to focus on many other aspects of being a teenager as well. In other words, the Japanese-American Internment is important to the story, but it's not the only thing that causes the plot the move, which would be too easy a trap otherwise.The first half of the book takes place in Seattle, Washington and has Piper dealing with her brother enlisting in the navy shortly before the bombing of Pearl Harbor, the after-effects of that day and what it means for her family. She must come to terms with the fact that many of her friends (and her father's church congregation!) are Japanese-American, yet she resents the Japanese for what happened that day in December. Piper is also caught up in her first love (and that with having a somewhat strict Baptist preacher for a father!) and learning about what is important to her, as all teenagers eventually do.The second half of the book takes place in and near Minidoka Relocation Camp in Idaho. The tone changes a bit, but the main elements of the story (primarily: Piper growing up and learning about life) are still there. I rather appreciated that the diary entries are somewhat shorter and occur less often in this half, in keeping with the amount of time Piper has to write, and the number of new things to write about.I really think that the discussion of racism is fairly well-done in the book. Piper has friends who are Japanese-American, yet she resents them because she resents the Japanese. She very clearly struggles with the two emotions (love and hate), and I think it's something that people can relate to, particularly with the current wars in the Middle East and the treatment of Muslim Americans (though, of course, that doesn't nearly reach the level of the internment that Japanese-Americans suffered in WW2).Also, to risk spoiling, I really liked the interpersonal relationships that Piper has, particularly with boys. Unlike many fluffy YA books I have read, none of the boys are her "true love" and I just thought that the treatment of these relationships was fairly realistic and well-done. Likewise with the waxing and waning of her friendships with other girls.Ultimately, I only had two real problems with the book, and both are problems with me as a reader. Other than the white point-of-view character, it took me a bit to be able to suspend my disbelief with regards to the narrative style. The way Piper writes her diary entries seemed awfully unrealistic and too detailed for a thirteen-year-old, but that is a convention of the narrative style, and I found that I didn't mind it at all by the time the story ended.The inclusion of photographs and FDR's speech after the bombing of Pearl Harbor at the end of the book were rather nice inclusions.

I wasn't sure what to expect from Scholastic's first addition to the Dear America series in years, but Larson didn't let me down. Coming back to my favorite elementary school series as a high schooler, I still found The Fences Between Us to be interesting and a good read. Larson managed to incorporate great historical information into the story quite smoothly, and she offered a unique perspective on WWII. Piper Davis, the "author" of the diary, faces a rare dilemma during the early days of America's involvement in the war: her older brother is at Pearl Harbor, while her family lives in a Japanese neighborhood (her father's a Baptist minister) and eventually follows the Japanese to the internment camps. Piper is in the interesting situtation of having half of her friends support the incarceration of the Japanese while the other half are being forcibly "relocated"; Piper isn't always sure which side is right, but she discovers by the end! All in all, an educational and entertaining read.

From a teacher's point of view, the Dear America series is one of the best ways to supplement history lessons. The stories, the characters, the straightforward content, and strong references to important events in history, allow students feel like they live during that time. This attachment is an important tool to help students understand history’s significance and consequences. The story of Piper Davis is no different.This book, taken from the perspective of a 13 year-old living through the beginning of World War II, gives the reader a vivid account of the time period. Not only are you experiencing the life of Piper, you are taken into the harsh reality of being a Japanese American living as an incarceree in a camp. You also peek into the lives of soldiers battling overseas, and witness the struggles of those who stood up for the Japanese. As you read, you are experiencing the culture of the 1940s (for example, the disbelief that some women wear slacks). Additionally, the way Larson uses vocabulary appropriate to the time period is "kid-friendly" and understandable (scuttlebutt, is now I word that I incorporated into my everyday vocabulary). After reading the included historical notes, I again reflected on the importance of children gaining an emotional attachment to history. As students read this book, they will surely form an attachment to Piper, Betty, Jim, the Matsuis, etc. These characters' fates would surely strike up a discussion in any classroom. This story and other stories in this series do a wonderful job of making history "real” for both adults and children.

I wasn't expecting much from this to be perfectly honest. My mother found an arc and passed it on to me and upon first glance, I thought it too childish for me. I needed a quick, uncomplicated read just until I could pick up my library books but ended up reading it all day and the library books just sat there. It is written just like a girl's diary. The diary writer is Piper and she resides in Seattle and it is 1941. Her brother has joined the Navy and is stationed in Pearl Harbor, her father is a minister to a congregation of Japanese people, and life is about to get complicated. When her brother's boat is hit in Pearl Harbor, Piper worries sick about her brother, Hank. It takes forever to find out the details and who survived and who didn't. Meanwhile, in Seattle, caucasians have turned against the Japanese, even the American born. Even tho Piper is worried about her brother and is upset over the Japanese having possibly harmed him, she questions the sudden prejudicy around her. She goes to school and church with these people. They aren't spies.. When the Japanese are rounded up like cattle and sent to "colonies," Piper's dad decides to follow, dragging Piper with him to Twin Falls, Idaho where the Minidoko camp is. Rather than give away too much information, I will just say that this novel sums up very well a pretty much unknown (untalked about may be a better word) but very important part of American history. Thru Piper's diary, we see the prejudice, the hate, the appalling conditions that the American Japanese faced during this time. Not all the diary is serious tho. Piper has a school crush, wants to wear lipstick, has a best friend, makes new best friends, and deals with moving to a new place as well as fancies becoming a professional photographer. I also want to mention the historical information and photos in the back of the book. Terrific stuff!