From New York Times bestselling and acclaimed author Traci Chee comes We Are Not Free, the collective account of a tight-knit group of young Nisei, second-generation Japanese American citizens, whose lives are irrevocably changed by the mass U.S. incarcerations of World War II. Fourteen teens who have grown up together in Japantown, San Francisco. Fourteen teens who form a community and a family, as interconnected as they are conflicted. Fourteen teens whose lives are turned upside down when over 100,000 people of Japanese ancestry are removed from their homes and forced into desolate incarceration camps. In a world that seems determined to hate them, these young Nisei must rally together as racism and injustice threaten to pull them apart.
The novel follows fourteen teenagers, all of whom are best friends or related or become close friends during this time in their lives. Chee navigates having so many narrators perfectly. Each voice is distinct and vibrant. While some may be stronger, or more memorable, than others, it's easy to keep track of how all of these characters are connected to one another. Their bond is remarkable, and choosing to have this many narrators is a stunning choice, because it shows truly how many people and families were affected by the incarceration of Japanese-Americans in America during World War II.
The stories—each chapter is a different narrator, a different character's perspective and experience—follow one another chronologically. That's part of the reason, other than the vibrancy of the characters, that made it easy for me to keep track of who we were following. I loved this organization, too. I felt like I was watching the progression of the cruelty and racism, and diving deeper into the depths of this horror as the book went on. When we get near the ending, we are taken out of America, but watching and knowing the way that those choices overseas affect what's going on at home and vice versa are some of the strongest moments in the book.
I also loved how each character shared their experience in a different way. Each character tells their story uniquely—whether that be through a collection of poetry, or using the second person as a way to distance themselves from it all, or through a series of letters written to his late father. Each teen processed the trauma differently, and Chee utilized the form of each chapter to demonstrate that. The emotion in each of the chapters is so raw—some characters were just so angry that it overwhelmed them, and it overwhelmed me. One of the characters, Bette, is an optimist, and her joy radiated off the page despite the horrors she experienced. One of my favorite chapters was Aiko's—it was a turning point in the book, and her chapter can be described as a telling a turning point in one's childhood.
This is one of the most emotionally powerful books I've ever read, and it absolutely earned and deserved its spot on TIME's list. You can find more of Traci Chee online at tracichee.com. Find more of my reviews of books on TIME's Top 100 YA Books of All Time list here.
*This review can also be found on my Goodreads page*
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