Other Suggested Readings and Resources for 2023
We will be exploring these themes related to our 2023 Malden Reads selection, They Called Us Enemy by George Takei, through our programming and discussions. Below is a list of additional books and other resources for further consideration.
BOOK DISCUSSION QUESTIONS
RESOURCES FOR TEACHING
ADULT/TEEN BOOKS
Nonfiction / Fiction
PODCASTS
Films
WEBSITES
BOok DisCUSSION PROMPTS
Book discussion questions from Book Companion
Book discussion guide from The Los Angeles Times
resources for teaching about civil rights and internment camps
- A Teacher’s Guide to They Called Us Enemy from the Japanese American National Museum
- Teaching Japanese-American Internment Using Primary Resources from the New York Times
- Densho Learning Center (Civil Rights and Japanese American Incarceration)
- Educator Guide for Righting a Wrong: Japanese Americans and World War II from Smithsonian’s History Explorer
NONFICTION TITLES COVERING THE SAME THEMES
Facing the Mountain by Daniel James Brown
Impounded: Dorothea Lange and the Censored Images of Japanese American Internment by Linda Gordon
Infamy by Richard Reeves
Life Behind Barbed Wire by Keiho Soga
The Eagles of Heart Mountain by Bradford Pearson
fICTION TITLES COVERING THE SAME THEMES
After the Bloom by Leslie Shimotakahara
Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet by Jamie Ford
The Last Days of Summer by Steve Kluger
When the Emperor Was Devine by Julie Otsuka
Films
Allegiance: The Broadway Musical. 130 min. Not Rated. (2019)
A Bitter Legacy. 76 min., Not Rated. (2019)
The Cats of Mirikitani. 96 min. Not Rated. (2006)
Resistance at Tule Lake. 78 min. Not Rated. (2018)
To Be Takei. 90 min. Not Rated. (2014)
podcasts
OwlTail. Podcast of George Takei
Mr. Takei discusses his life.
Campu: Podcast. Campu tells the story of Japanese American incarceration like you’ve never heard it before. Follow along as brother-sister duo Noah and Hana Maruyama weave together the voices of survivors to spin narratives out of the seemingly mundane things that gave shape to the incarceration experience.
Order 9066. Order 9066 chronicles the history of this incarceration through vivid, first-person accounts of those who lived through it. The series explores how this shocking violation of American democracy came to pass, and its legacy in the present.
websites
Densho Learning Center
The Densho project documents the testimonies of Japanese Americans who were incarcerated during World War II before their memories are extinguished.
National Archives
Collection of educator’s resources for teaching of the Japanese Internment. Includes primary source and distance learning documents, National History Day resources, and educational programs at presidential libraries.
Library of Congress Japanese American Internment Camp Newspapers, 1942 to 1946
Produced by the Japanese-Americans interned at assembly centers and relocation centers around the country during World War II, these newspapers provide a unique look into the daily lives of the people who were held in these camps.