“…an excellent book.” – Ohioana Library Association

Uprooted from her home in Tennessee, nine-year-old Cassie struggles to fit in at her new school in California, where her father has moved the family so he can work in one of the defense plants manufacturing materials for the U.S. during World War II. Her best friend at school—her only friend, in fact—is a Japanese-American student named Miko. Cassie’s father dislikes Miko and her family merely for being different, but when Japan attacks Pearl Harbor, he forbids the girls’ friendship entirely. Soon, however, he is drafted, and Cassie and her mother are left to make their own way in the dingy housing project that has never felt like home.

Immediately Cassie’s mother gets a job, both to help make ends meet and to satisfy her longing for connection and purpose. But Cassie finds herself lost. Not only is she alone much of the time now that her father is overseas and her mother is working, but Miko and her family have been sent to an internment camp. Cassie, lonely and homesick, feels helpless, even as she is forced to take on more responsibility, learning about rationing, coupon books, and the black market along the way.

As the war drags on, Cassie befriends a quiet, sensitive Mexican classmate named Maria, and the friendship injects fun and excitement back into Cassie’s life. Maria becomes Cassie’s new best friend, but Cassie is troubled when Miko’s letters come. Miko describes difficult and even shocking conditions at the camp, and Cassie struggles against feelings of guilt as she moves on with her life. But the consequences of war are not restricted to Miko’s family alone; ultimately the war will change everything for Cassie as well, forcing her to confront her feelings—about her father, her friendships, and even the places she calls home.