No Quiet Water

by Shirley Miller Kamada

Overview

After the U.S. declares war on Japan in 1941, all persons of Japanese descent in the Western U.S. come under suspicion. Curfews are imposed, bank accounts frozen, and FBI agents search homes randomly.

Despite the fact that two generations of the Miyota family are American citizens, Fumio and his parents and sister Kimiko must pack meager belongings and are transported under military escort to the California desert to be held at Camp Manzanar, leaving their good friends and neighbors the Whitlocks to care for their farm and their dog, Flyer.

The family suffer unimaginable insults, witness prejudice and violent protests, are forced to live in squalor, and are provided only poor-quality, unfamiliar food which makes them ill. Later, they are transferred to Idaho's Camp Minidoka, where Fumio learns what it means to endure and where he discovers a strange new world of possibility and belonging.

Lyrical, visual, and rendered with strict attention to historical accuracy, No Quiet Water, shines a poignant light on current issues of racism and radical perspectives.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781685130978
Publisher:	Black Rose Writing
Publication date:	01/05/2023
Pages:	356
Product dimensions:	5.90(w) x 8.90(h) x 1.10(d)

About the Author

Shirley Miller Kamada is a former educator, education director, and bookstore owner. She lives in Moses Lake, Washington, with her husband Jimmy and their two adopted dog children Priscilla and Phoenix. No Quiet Water is her first novel.

Editorial Reviews

2022-10-04
Kamada’s debut novel chronicles the Miyota family’s imprisonment at two West Coast internment camps in the 1940s.

Ten-year-old Fumio Miyota and his family reside on a multigenerational farm in Bainbridge Island, Washington, where his life is comfortable and revolves around chores, school, and hours with his loyal dog, Flyer, and best friend, Zachary. However, after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, authorities invade the Japanese American family’s home and take some of the family’s cultural relics and belongings. Later, the family is sent to the Owens Valley Reception Center at Camp Manzanar in Lone Pine, California, and later imprisoned at Idaho’s Camp Minidoka. However, this book not only stresses the bigotry, injustice, and harsh treatment that the family experiences; it also expertly integrates the ways in which Fumio and his family find community in heartbreaking circumstances, including moments in which Fumio is able to thrive. The novel is organized into three parts by locale—Bainbridge Island; Lone Pine; and Hunt, Idaho—and offers an authentic account of the U.S. government’s horrific treatment of Japanese American people during the World War II era. It skillfully allows readers to grasp how Fumio, his family, and his community seek emotional and spiritual survival; some people use art, photography, and taiko drumming to capture time and find freedom and solace. The book’s varying perspectives are unusual, presenting both Fumio’s close third-person point of view and Flyer’s first-person perspective; the latter seems designed to engage younger readers. The author also weaves in an omniscient perspective to ground readers in the family’s home community. The book can feel long-winded at times, but it will likely endear young readers to its characters and their struggles.

A well-plotted and engaging historical novel.

Kirkus Reviews