"Journey Home"

Uchido, Yoshiko. (1978). Journey Home. Brattleboro, VM: The Book Press.

I was pleasantly surprised by this book. I was afraid that because of the content it would be a bit depressing, but that was not the case. It is about a Japanese family, and begins near the end of World War II. The story focuses on the daughter, Yuki. It begins right after they move from the concentration camp where they had been imprisoned at the start of the war. There is sort of a dual plot. The most obvious is the journey of the family from te concentration camp back to their hometown in California. The other plot, more subtle and I feel more important, is the personal journey home for each character. While they are able to return physically fairly quickly, mentally it takes a little longer, and a little persuasion to return home mentally.
There was nothing that I disliked about this book. It was very engaging, and I was really able to connect to the characters. I also liked that there was a deeper meaning to the book than just what happened.