Stepping into one is like coming home. It is as if all the words on all the pages are wrapping around you in a comforting and welcoming hug. Their representation of living beings, places, and things, real and imagined, form infinite possibilities and ultimately hope. Hope is potent.
This is what a library does for many people. For me, as a patron and as a professional librarian, libraries have always meant sanctuary in all its varied interpretations. Love In The Library (Candlewick Press, February 8, 2022) written by Maggie Tokuda-Hall with illustrations by Yas Imamura is a story of finding light in darkness. It is the story of how a flicker can grow into a flame that burns for generations.
Tama did not like the desert.
She brushed the dust from her eyes as she walked to the library.
The barbed wire fences and guard towers cast long shadows over her path.
She always did her best not to look at the guards.
Tama was the camp's librarian because she enjoyed books. As she approached the library, there was George holding a stack of books. He waited for her to arrive every morning.
For a year Tama and George had been at the Minidoka camp, interned there for being Japanese American and previously residing along the western coast of the United States. Minidoka was not the only camp but like all the other camps, the living conditions were intolerable and the camps were completely wrong.
Tama, not knowing if or when she would leave the camp, felt trapped by the sameness of her days. Her thoughts about this sameness filled her mind with unease and doubt. Thankfully, she found solace in the library and in the presence of George.
One day Tama whispered her word for the worlds revealed in the pages of books and George questioned her out loud as he smiled. She shushed him. Tama tried, but she could not smile. George asked her a question again, and Tama could not respond as tears welled in her eyes. Then, Tama, asked George a question. George did not smile, but Tama had her answer. From that day forward the sameness for Tama, and for George, changed.
Based on the truth of her maternal grandparents' lives at Minidoka, Maggie Tokuda-Hall writes with the same music in her heart as a composer penning a symphony. In this narrative Maggie Tokuda-Hall takes the symphony, supplying readers with the notes used to make the final piece. Her word choices are intentional. They take us into the camp providing us with intimate details of the conditions there. We are privy to the thoughts swirling in Tama's mind. We are there in the moments when she and George converse. Single recurring words provide powerful connections throughout the book. Here is a passage.
"What's wrong?" George asked.
"Nothing. Or everything," Tama said. She did not need to tell him what she meant.
He knew. Everyone in Minidoka knew. "I try not to complain. I know this isn't fair, but I
also know there is nothing to be done. I try not to be afraid. But I'm just so---so---"
It's like walking through a portal into history when you look at the open and matching dust jacket and book case. On the right side, front, we see Tama and George, with his usual armload of books. This is the world they make for themselves inside the walls of the library. When we look through the window, their harsh reality is presented in the form of the barbed wire fence and manned guard tower. To the left, on the back, is the building housing the library. Behind it, the barbed wire fence stretches beyond our sight. Several people are near the building. Two are carrying books. A third man is working in the yard. This image is used within the book.
The opening and closing endpapers reflect the grim history faced by those forced into the camps. Barbed wire fencing stretches from left to right across a rocky and sparsely vegetated land. Behind this is a gray-green sky. We are close to the fence as if standing in front of it. On the title page are crumpled internment instructions and a single suitcase. The suitcase depicting all they were allowed to bring.
These illustrations by Yas Imamura rendered
in gouache and watercolor
are both heartbreaking and healing. Each captured scene, whether it is a double-page picture, a single-page loosely framed image, or a full-page illustration, places us in the world of Tama and George. The varied perspectives enhance the emotional impact.
The body postures and facial expressions on the people mirror a range of moods. Light and shadow are used superbly. In one picture a ray of sunshine illuminates George as he sits at a library table with an open book. George is the ray of sunshine in Tama's life.
One of my many favorite illustrations is a single-page picture. It is as if we are looking down on the setting. Most of the page is the surface of the library table. On it are two open books. A hand, Tama's hand, extends across the right side of the pages of the book closest to us. Seated across from the book farthest from us is George. We see his upper body, one arm resting on the table, and the other arm and hand as it reaches out to softly touch Tama's fingers. This gesture is meaningful. This image completely elevates and complements the written words.
Oh my goodness. This book. This book, Love In The Library written by Maggie Tokuda-Hall with artwork by Yas Imamura, is striking in every respect. The text and images will take your breath away. In an author's note on two concluding pages, including a picture of Tama and George, Maggie Tokuda-Hall talks about the story of her grandparents, internment camps and the cruelty of placing the Japanese Americans there. In subsequent compelling paragraphs she addresses present day racism, the tradition of racism in America, and what we can do to fashion a better future. I highly recommend this title for both your personal and professional collections.
By following the link attached to their names, you can access the websites of Maggie Tokuda-Hall and Yas Imamura to learn more about them and their other work. Maggie Takuda-Hall has accounts on Instagram and Twitter. Yas Imamura has accounts on Instagram and Twitter. At the publisher's website, you can download another author's note and a teacher's guide. At Penguin Random House, you can view interior images. Both creators are interviewed at We Need Diverse Books about this title. They are outstanding interviews. Author, reviewer, and blogger Julie Danielson highlights this title along with some interior illustrations at her site, Seven Impossible Things Before Breakfast.
Maggie Tokuda-Hall discusses Love in the Library from Candlewick Press on Vimeo.
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