Obasan

by Joy Kogawa

Overview

Winner of the American Book Award

Based on the author's own experiences, this award-winning novel was the first to tell the story of the evacuation, relocation, and dispersal of Canadian citizens of Japanese ancestry during the Second World War.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780385468862
Publisher:	Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group
Publication date:	12/27/1993
Edition description:	Reprint
Pages:	320
Sales rank:	197,685
Product dimensions:	7.92(w) x 10.88(h) x 0.68(d)
Lexile:	990L (what's this?)
Age Range:	14 - 18 Years

About the Author

Joy Kogawa was born in Vancouver in 1935 to Japanese-Canadian parents. During WWII, Joy and her family were forced to move to Slocan, British Columbia, an injustice Kogawa addresses in her award-winning novel, Obasan. Kogawa has worked to educate Canadians about the history of Japanese Canadians and she was active in the fight for official governmental redress. 

In 1986, Kogawa was made a Member of the Order of Canada and in 2010, the Japanese government honored her with the Order of the Rising Sun "for her contribution to the understanding and preservation of Japanese Canadian history."

Editorial Reviews

"This quiet novel burns in your hand." —Washington Post

From the Publisher

"Obasan's power comes from the beauty of the writing, the stark imagery and vivid symbolism, and from the calm recitation of events that destroyed families, a culture and a way of life."

Globe and Mail

"Read by its author, Joy Kogawa, who is easily as gifted a narrator as she is a writer, Obasan is more than kind to the ear. It is ambrosia served in softly muted tones, to be deeply savoured from beginning to end . . . flawless."

Independently Reviewed