about the book
On December 6, 1941, twelve-year-old Tetsu Kishi was just a Japanese American living in California with his mother, father, and younger sister Kimi.
On December 7, 1941, the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor, and everything about Tetsu’s life changes. His father is taken away by the American government for questioning, and the order for the internment of all Japanese living in America is given.
Tetsu, his mother, and Kimi are sent to the Gila River camp in Rivers, Arizona. It is horrible. There are no schools, the food makes Tetsu sick, the latrines have no walls, scorpions and rattlesnakes lurk everywhere, and at any moment a dust-devil might sweep in and kick up sand in his eyes.
Things look up when Tetsu and some other boys his age decide to make a baseball diamond out in the desert and form teams. However, soon after this Kimi falls ill, and Tetsu is forced to choose between playing a sport he loves or being the responsible one in the family and caring for his sister.
about the author
Kathryn Fitzmaurice was born in New York City, but she grew up in Scottsdale, Arizona.
When she was thirteen, she was sent back to NYC for the summer, to spend time with her grandmother. Her grandmother was a science fiction author, and Kathryn remembers being amazed at how she could create characters out of thin air be and make them do whatever she wanted them to do. That was when Kathryn decided that she, too, wanted to be an inventor of characters!
Many years later, after spending time as an elementary school teacher and taking many classes on writing and literature, Kathryn broke into writing with The Year the Swallows Came Early and is now a full-time writer. She also has a Master’s Degree in Curriculum and Instruction from Chapman University.
Kathryn’s favorite thing is to walk her dog, Holly, who is so smart that she can help empty the dishwasher! Holly also knows a total of sixteen tricks, including the classic “play dead.” Kathryn also enjoys organizing messy things, like garages and closets—and yes, she is aware she is weird, and she is OKAY with it!
Source:
Author website
Also by Kathryn Fitzmaurice:
Destiny, Rewritten. Katherine Tegen Books. 2013.
The Year the Swallows Came Early. Bowen Press. 2009.
read more!
House of the Red Fish by Graham Salisbury
Two years after Pearl Harbor, young Tomi, a Japanese-American, still lives in fear of another attack, as well as the prejudice of people closer to home. His Papa and Grandpa have been taken by the government, and all Tomi has left is their fishing boat, which was sunk on the day of the attack. Maybe if Tomi can raise it from the ocean, it will be a sign that they will return soon.
Weedflower by Cynthia Kadohata
Only twelve, Sumiko feels like her life has hit a halfway point—that being before and after Pearl Harbor, the good times and the bad times. She and her family have been sent to an Indian reservation along with other Japanese-Americans being interned due to the war. Only Sumiko’s imagination, and possibly the affection of a young Indian boy, can help her survive.
The Year the Swallows Came Early by Kathryn Fitzmaurice
Eleanor loves cooking, but her plans for going to culinary school are destroyed when her gambler father bets away her inheritance. Everything starts to go wrong—her dad is now in jail, her best friend’s mother is back, and even the swallows have returned early. Is there anything that won’t change this year?