 Jon Ostenson | In part one of a three-part series for the remaining January weeks, contributor Jon Ostenson brings us the Weekend Picks for January 17th. He focuses on historical fiction, including this week's recommendation. Jon is a former high school English teacher, an associate professor, and the current director of the English Education program at Brigham Young University. He teaches courses in young adult literature and writing pedagogy. Although he enjoys every class he teaches, he particularly enjoys his assignment to teach General Education literature courses where he can introduce students from all disciplines to the power and diversity of Young Adult Literature. Our thanks to Jon for the beautifully written depictions of the historical fiction 2024 graphic novel Pearl. |
Pearl by Sherri L. Smith and Christine Norrie
 | Thirteen-year-old Amy lives in Hawaii and is a typical American teenager who enjoys going to the movies and hanging out with friends. Her father is from Japan, and in 1941, Amy travels alone to Japan to visit her great-grandmother who is ill and likely to die soon. Although Japan is very foreign to her, she soon settles in with her father’s family on their farm outside Hiroshima. The Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor shuts off any hope she might have of returning to the United States. As a native English speaker, she is quickly conscripted by the Japanese Army and forced to translate American radio broadcasts. At first she delights in the taste of home she gets from listening in to these broadcasts, but she soon hears rumors of people of Japanese descent being interned by the American government. After she finds out that the rumors are true and that her parents and baby brother have been imprisoned in one of these camps, she finds her loyalties divided and changes her attitudes towards her work for the Japanese military. |
After the war ends with the devastating atomic attacks, Amy decides she wants to be reunited with her family and return to the United States, but she finds herself thwarted and begins to feel that she has no true home.
 Author Sherri L. Smith | This is a short but powerful graphic novel that tells a riveting and complicated story. The bond Amy has with her great-grandmother pervades the story, and as an example of courage and survival, she inspires Amy during her time in Japan. And survival is the key here: Amy’s life is disrupted by the attack on Pearl Harbor when she has to stay in an unfamiliar country, then again when she’s forced to work for a regime she doesn’t initially believe in against the country she thinks of as her own. She barely survives the atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima and faces a grueling recovery, only to be recruited by the Americans for whom she transcribes stories of survivors of the atomic bomb. Throughout all of these challenges, Amy draws on the strength of her great-grandmother and the bonds of family. |
| Illustrations feature simple blue tones and bold lines that subtly and powerfully define Amy, her family, and their struggles. The depictions of the dropping of the bomb and its devastation are perhaps the most powerful illustrations. The story is a testament to determination and survival in the face of horrible circumstances outside of one’s control. It’s also a reminder that survival often exacts a heavy price. |  Illustrator Christine Norrie |
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