Rachel Smith- Weedflower- 2nd 1/2

After reading the second half of Weedflower, my perspective on this book changed only a little. This book, is probably by far my favorite book we have read in this class so far. In the second half, Sumiko is now at the camps where all of the people of Japanese descent were sent because of the bombing at Pearl Harbour. She feels very lonesome for a long time and feels like she needs to keep herself busy in order to distract herself. One of the main things I noticed throughout this book is that when she got to the camps she felt very responsible for Tak Tak but by the end of the book I noticed that she was still caring for him but not nearly as strict as she was. While she is with her new friend Frank, she notices that she doesn't know where Tak Tak is and how he probably is playing marbles with the other kids from the barracks. That is the main thing that I loved about this book is how the author incorporated Frank into this story. When Sumiko lived back on the flower farm, she didn't have any friends except those in her family, and this became very clear when she wasn't allowed into the birthday party of her class mate Marcia. I love that she much later becomes friends with Frank because in the beginning she is somewhat hostile towards him because he's the same to her. This is because they are of different backgrounds, he is a Mohave Indian living on a reservation, while she is Japanese at this interment camp in Poston. Their differences seem to connect them while they don't even realize it and by the end of the story they become so close that I could have honestly thought they would get married when Sumiko would be of the age. I could see this friendship of theirs turning into something really special and in the long run I could also see this being such a huge change in Sumiko's life because she wouldn't be use to having someone like this in her life that isn't a family member. In the second half of Weedflower, her neighbor Mr. Moto starts up a garden and Sumiko remember's the seeds she took from her uncle's shed and starts helping Mr. Moto with this garden. I love that it is such a challenge and that she found something she so loved to do because it kept her busy and it also was something she was really passionate about. She would have done anything for those flowers in order to fertilize them and to keep them going, she did gather chicken droppings in order to fertilize them in the first place! I really loved Sumiko's spirit in this how she never wanted to give up even though the seeds at first didn't grow, but she kept with it and in the end it benefitted her. I honestly saw alot of myself in Sumiko and while I know that may sound a bit conceded I think its true. I haven't gone through nearly as harsh conditions as Sumiko ever did but I feel like my drive for the things I'm passionate about are pretty similar. In Sumiko's perspective it was really interesting to see how she kind of took each day as it came and conquered it, made the best of it, and tried to live it like she didn't know what would happen with tomorrow. That is something I hope to do, now and in the future, I know that things won't always be here and in order to appreciate them all we have to live each day like its our last. That's another thing I really enjoyed and took from this book is that this book allowed me to see through another's eyes but it was so diverse that it was probably like none other I've read before.I always felt like I was there and honestly flabbergasted with some of the events that took place. The fact that it got me seeing a snip it of what the Japanese went through during that time was really powerful because this was like no other perspective I've ever really seen, so personal and direct. This book made me feel so many things and I went through so emotions that I honestly felt like I was on an emotional roller coaster while reading it. I was thinking towards the end of the book that Sumiko was standing up for herself quite alot, and in my mind I was thinking "you go girl" but also I was really wowed that she would be asking those kinds of questions at her age. I think she matured into a young woman throughout the entirety of the book without even realizing it even as she saw that Frank matured into the leader of his tribe that he needed to become after his brother died. I kind of look up to Sumiko in a way because she went through so much and at the same time she always kept a good head about it. She was troubled sometimes but not to an extent that got too out of control. She was always trying to find solutions to the problem at hand and she wanted what was best for those she loved the most. If it weren't for Frank to point out to her that she should go with her aunt because that is the place she was suppose to be, I seriously think there would have been alot more opposition to the move to Chicago then there was in the end. She realized that that is what he wanted for her in order for her to be happy. I also look up to Sumiko because she has so much heart and she puts her whole heart into everything she does. I hope I can be more like this in the future and I think that this young girl is a true hero to Weedflowers readers all over the world.