When you read as many picture books as I do, once in a while one of two things (or both) can happen. The first is you think you’ve read it before (or at least a sample) or things start to feel similar due to similar subjects. A subject I am interested in are the Japanese-American internment camps from World War II. This is partly because I have family who is Japanese-American and when I realized this could be them it made it personal (I know I should care despite a connection or not, but honestly anyway to get a person to realize the right thing to do works) and partly because it is a piece of history we don’t talk about and finally because we are repeating history in a really not good way.
So, when I picked up Unbreakable: A Japanese American Family in an American Incarceration Camp (A Picture Book) I thought at first that it would shed more light on a subject I like learning about, but it felt so familiar that I honestly think I’ve read it before. However, there are a few pieces that felt new so perhaps I hadn’t read it afterall, or at least only read a sample. Regardless, Minoru Tonai, Jolene Gutiérrez, and illustrator Chris Sasaki made a story that is both poetic and straightforward fiction. Taking true events and giving them poetic licenses, we find a family separated only because of their nationality. And the events the narrator (one of the children) experienced. The included extras gives more factual information and also a few new words and understanding of things. Overall, again despite any familiarity, this was a good book to read and/or add to your collection.
The theme of a rock and how it is a symbol for multiple things is the main focus. I know I have heard of rocks, fathers, sons and how they gave strength to the characters before. I like the symbol even if it is not necessarily a new idea. It works and it is a familiar and recognizable way of allowing the reader to relate to the story. ANd the illustrations help with this as well. We see everyday people doing everyday things until they are forced out of their homes. Details and colors are more on the softer side to help balance the seriousness of things, but also do not distract from the horror that is unfolding.
Of course, after building up this title, you will need to wait until April 2026 for reading it, unless you find a physical reader copy or an online reader copy as I did.