Based on a true story of events during World War II in China City, a 12-year-old Chinese American girl named Mei Ling Lee was separated from her best friend Yayeko Akiyama when she and her family were interned in the Manzanar War Relocation Center. By writing letters to each other, both young girls recounted their lives and hardships in China City and Manzanar. This unprecedented children’s book depicts the cross-cultural experiences of Americans of Chinese and Japanese ancestry during the war years.

• ISBN: 9780970165480
• Author: Smith, Icy
• Illustrator: Roski, Gayle Garner
• Published: 2008, East West Discovery Press
• Themes: Discrimination, Friendship, Internment Camps, Letters, World War II
• Descriptors: China, Historical Fiction, Japan, Picture Book, Primary (ages 6-9), United States
• No. of pages: 40