The end of the story

The end made me mad! It stopped so abruptly.. :(

Travel Tracing

Hana and Taro leave their friends behind to go to a different internment camp in Utah (p. 224)

They finally see Mary, their daughter for the first time since she ran away from home (p. 228)

Dr. Kaneda decides to leave back to Japan (p. 236)

Kiku's sons and other young men volunteered to serve in combat to prove their loyalty to the country (p. 241)

Taro got shot by a guard in the camp because he thought Taro was trying to escape (p. 252)

Taro dies (p. 254)

Kiku and Hana are reunited at the internment camp (p. 258)

Thoughts on Mary- Hana- Taro relationship?

When Mary was still a child, you could tell that Hana really did care about her and lover her, but as Mary got older you could see that the two of them started to drift apart. Mary began to become embarrased about her mom, and Hana begins to think less of her decisions, such as when Mary told her and Taro about her dream to become a doctor. When Mary left, Hana was angry at her for making what she saw as a stupid decision. What makes me wonder is why wasn't Taro angry at Mary. Throughout the story, Hana makes it clear that Taro is "blinded" by her love for Mary, so wouldn't it make more sense for Taro to be angry?

If you have any thoughts, post them in the comments below.

Ch6- 20 Research

Influenza Outbreak of 1918
more people died from the flu than casualties in WWII
came in two steps
     spring: was not as severe and killed only a few. Went unnoticed
     Fall: was more severe; people died within hours or three days
inflicted 25% of the U.S. population

Gentlemans Agreement
1907- informal agreement between Japan and U.S.A
Japan would no longer issue passports
U.S. allowed immigration only for families of Japanese immigrants already in U.S.
initiated because San Fransico aproved seperation of Japanese in schools
Promoted "Picture Brides" to come to America,as the only way to come was to be family of a current immigrant

Ch. 23 Illustration

This stands for Mary's empty room when she ran away with Joe 

This resembles Hana when she found out that Mary had run away

CH. 21-28 Summary

When chapter 21 starts, Mary was 16 and in high school. She was embarrassed of her culture during school because no one else was like her. When she went into college, she started dating a lot. She met a man named Joe Cantelli, and he was a white guy. Her mom was worried about her, but Taro told Hana to relax. Soon after, Mary left a note in her room saying that she had and Joe had run away together. The news broke her mother's heart. Although that was shocking news, even worse news occurred. It came to be that Japan has bombed Pearl Harbor. Seeing the Japanese as a threat, they were given days notice before they were sent to an internment camp. On the other hand while Taro and Hana were boarding, other news came to them that Henry Toda, their old friend, had been shot last night by a white, racist man.

Ch. 1-5 Research

-Setting was in the year 1917-1918
-November, San Francisco
-Cold weather
-during that time period, women were more conservative compared to today
-the cover of the book shows that she is a Japanese girl sitting in front of a mirror, and in the mirror shows an American girl
-many other immigrants were also coming through Angel Island to come to America
-happening during WWI
-common in Japan to marry someone they havent met