Kerry's Response to the Second Half of Weedlfower

The second half of Weedflower just flew by for me! I could not seem to put it down. One of my favorite parts early in the second half is when Jiichan sends Sumiko paper to write him a letter on. Her uncle writes, “Oh and Jiichan says to send you the enclosed blank sheet of paper. He says there must be a paper shortage in Poston, since you are using old newspapers to write on. He says I wonder where your Aunt is getting the blank paper that she writes to us on.” (pg.137) I just love this part of the book because it gives the reader a chance to laugh in such a sad book.

The Japanese gardens touched my heart. I love how Sumiko took such great care of her garden and worked so hard to get it to flourish in the middle of the desert. I think the gardens that the Japanese Americans built represent the Japanese people well. They were forced into the desert against their will yet they found ways to survive and flourish in a place where most of us would think it impossible. They worked hard and against the odds to make a place that was not even their permanent home beautiful. The line on page 235 sums this up well, "Together the Japanese had made the desert bloom." The Japanese Americans persevered and survived. This is a lesson that children and adults alike should take to heart.

One of my favorite parts in the second half of Weedflower is the relationship that forms between Sumiko and Frank. They remind me so much of Vera and Alfred in the Aleutian Sparrow. They are such unlikely friends and yet they are the best kind of friend to one another. You can tell that both of them really care about the other. Sumiko takes an extra cup of ice every time she goes out into the bean field just in case she sees Frank. Frank talks about Sumiko to his brother calling her pretty and giving her the nickname “Weedflower.” And at the end of the story Frank urges Sumiko to leave the camp because he knows that it is what is best for her. I was inwardly torn during this part. It is so hard to give a friend or a loved one up; I do not know if I would have the same courage that Frank had to tell her to go. One of the most powerful parts of the book is when Frank tells Sumiko that his brother has been killed in battle in the Pacific. Sumiko and Frank both realize that Japanese soldiers killed his brother, and Sumiko feels so guilty for this. This is just an unbelievably sad part of the book. No child should have to bear this kind of burden.

The relationship between Sumiko and Tak-Tak was also very touching. Sumiko and Tak-Tak’s relationship reminded me so much of the relationship Bo and Prosper had in The Thief Lord. Sumiko loves her brother so much and does her very best to take care of him. She always tucks him every night and removes his glasses for him to make him as comfortable as he can be.

The ending of the book slightly disappointed me; I was left craving more. What happened to Sumiko? Did she eventually get to open up her flower shop? Did the family ever get reunited? Did Bull and Ichiro make it back safely form war? This are questions that I really wanted answer to!

All in all, I would definitely use this book in my classroom. This story provides such a stark example of racism and prejudice in our great nation’s history. It gives us such an immense opportunity to discuss this with our students. Sumiko and Frank give us such a real example to build on; what if we all were as brave as Sumiko and fought for our friends and for those other people consider inferior or different. I loved it when Sumiko stood up for Frank when the other children were literally beating him because he was different. This same scenario has happened to various groups of people from the Jews, the Aleutians, and the Japanese. We need to make our students understand that these are real people whose lives were dramatically changed. None of these people did anything wrong or in any way deserved this; they simply dealt with the prejudices of their times.

Racism is such a real thing and it still exists today. Anytime that you hear a comment or joke being made about someone’s looks or heritage, that is racism in action. As future teachers we need to take the initiative to stop this kind of thing from happening in our own lives; anytime we hear a relative, friend, or even a stranger make a racist comment we need to call them out on it. People are people, regardless of their skin color, eye color, height, or age. We all share common emotions, thoughts, and experiences that bind us together. We all experience love, death, and even birthdays, we need to start focusing on what we have in common rather than we do not. This applies to our future classrooms as well. If we don’t make the everyday change in our lives and in our classrooms, than how can we expect to make a global change? And if we don’t make a global change, if we don’t stand up for others and put a stop to this senseless judging of others, than who knows what’s next.