Aleutian Sparrow

Pre-reading...

I had never heard of the people of the Aleutian Islands, before this class. I knew of the Japanese being held in camps during World War II, but not of the Aleutian people. Both of my grandfathers fought in WWII. Neither one of them ever liked to talk about it or their experiences. My mother was actually the one who told me of the Japanese being held in the camps when I was younger. I looked at the link with the timeline, and I realized that the Aleutian and Pribilof Islands Restitution Act wasn't signed until the year I was born. That was a long time from when the terrible things happened to those people. This all shocks me and I am a little concerned that I never knew of these terrible things that happened. I am anxious to read the book.

Post-reading...

After reading Aleutian Sparrow I am still in shock over the treatment of these people. I can't even imagine being taken from my home and place into an environment like the ones that were talked about in the book. This book was sad, but informative. I think this is a topic that Americans need to know and learn about. I liked the way the book was written, it helped the story move at a easy/fast reading pace. I have also read Out of the Dust by Karen Hesse and I love it and so I fell in love with this book too.

I liked the free verse poems. They connected well and made the story flow. I read most of the entires more than once to make sure I understood what was being said, because of the mixing of the languages. I could sense the passion of Vera and her story from the words in the free verse poems. She is a character that could go with any of the others and fit in with what they were doing. I enjoyed reading of the changes she went through and the way she described them to the reader. Hesse did a good job with having an open character to tell of all the happenings of the "imprisoned" people. I really enjoyed this book and if I ever decide to teach upper elementary, then I will definitely use this book.