Children of Topaz, The |
Publication Information
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Author: Tunnell, Michael & Chilcoat, George |
Illustrator: |
Title: Children of Topaz, The |
Date: 1996 |
Publisher: Holiday House |
City: New York |
ISBN, paperback: 0-8234-1239-3 |
ISBN, hardback: |
Recommended audience:
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ABE/ABLE:
Yes |
ESOL:
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Family:
Yes |
Young Adult:
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Picture:
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General Information:
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Book Type(s):
nonfiction, diaries and journals, true story
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HSE Descriptor(s):
social studies
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Summary: |
The authors provide an introduction to the history of the Japanese internment camps in the United States during World War II as well as a Reference and Reading List. The book is a journal kept by a third-grade class taught by Anne Yamauchi in such a camp in Topaz, Utah. The children's words and drawings document the daily events during a year of hardships and injustices. |
Teaching Ideas: |
Although very objective in tone, the book elicits strong emotional responses from the reader that could be captured in response journals and agree-disagree discussions on the role of the American government toward Japanese Americans and racism in general (there were no German American or Italian American camps). The book could be paired with The Diary of Anne Frank and I Never Saw Another Butterfly to explore World War II through writings and drawings of children. Students could search newspapers, magazine archives, and the following web sites: http://www.lib.utah.edu/spec/photo/9066/9066.htm, http://www.umas.edu/history/internment.html, and http://masumihayashi.com/ for additional information. Books by Yoshiko Uchida, Journey to Topaz and Journey Home, explore the same sad territory. |
Teaching Strategies: |
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Agree? Disagree? Why?
http://literacy.kent.edu/eureka/strategies/agree_disagree_why.pdf
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Keywords: select any link below for a list of resources which also have that keyword |
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