We Are Not Strangers: A Graphic Novel

by Josh Tuininga, Josh Tuininga (Illustrator)

Overview

Inspired by a true story, this graphic novel follows a Jewish immigrant’s efforts to help his Japanese neighbors while they're incarcerated during World War II. Winner, Best in Young Adult Non-Fiction from the Excellence in Graphic Literature Awards

“A powerful book about advocating for friends and neighbors during times of great division.” —Kazu Kibuishi, #1 New York Times bestselling author-illustrator of the Amulet series

An evocative and beautiful graphic novel revealing the truth of one man’s extraordinary efforts, We Are Not Strangers converges two perspectives into a single portrait of a community’s struggle with race, responsibility, and what it truly means to be an American.

Marco Calvo always knew his grandfather, affectionately called Papoo, was a good man. After all, he was named for him. A first-generation Jewish immigrant, Papoo was hardworking, smart, and caring.

When Papoo peacefully passes away, Marco expects the funeral to be simple. But he' caught off guard by something unusual. Among his close family and friends are mourners he doesn’t recognize—Japanese American families—and no one is quite sure who they are or why they are at the service. How did these strangers know his grandfather so well?

Set in the multicultural Central District of Seattle during World War II and inspired by author Josh Tuininga’s family experiences, We Are Not Strangers explores a unique situation of Japanese and Jewish Americans living side by side in a country at war.

Following Papoo’s perspective, we learn of his life as a Sephardic Jewish immigrant and his friendship with Sam Akiyama, a Japanese man whose life is upended by Executive Order 9066, which authorized the incarceration of nearly all Japanese Americans and residents of Japanese ancestry. Determined to keep Sam’s business afloat while he and his family are unjustly imprisoned, he and Papoo create a plan that will change the Akiyama’s lives forever.

"At its core, a relatable tale of friendship, shared experiences of discrimination, and the power of individuals to make a difference." — The Beat

Introduction by award-winning author Ken Mochizuki

Afterword by Devin Naar, author of Jewish Salonica

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781419759949
Publisher:	Abrams ComicArts
Publication date:	09/12/2023
Pages:	208
Product dimensions:	9.60(w) x 6.80(h) x 1.00(d)

About the Author

Josh Tuininga is an author, artist, and designer living in North Bend, Washington. After studying fine art at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, he founded an art and design agency, where he continues to work as its creative director. His work has been published in Communication Arts magazine and HOW Design magazine, and he was awarded with the Communication Arts Award for excellence in illustration. Tuininga is the author of the children’s books Why Blue? (Xist Publishing, 2014) and Dream On (Indiegogo campaign, 2019). We Are Not Strangers, which has been awarded a 4Culture Heritage Grant, is his first graphic novel.

Editorial Reviews

08/07/2023

Tuininga (Why Blue?) presents an uplifting historical graphic novel that employs the fictional pairing of two fishing buddies from disparate backgrounds to map the rippling effects of the incarceration of Japanese Americans during WWII. Marco, a first-generation Sephardic Jewish immigrant, has carved out a modest living in Seattle’s ethnically diverse Central District. When time allows, he baits his hook to cast on the waterfront, often alongside Sam, the Japanese American proprietor of a local fish market. Following the attack on Pearl Harbor, Marco hears news of orders to forcibly relocate and incarcerate Japanese Americans. Dismayed by the fearmongering and jingoism, he devises a plan to help Sam’s family retain their home and business. Tuininga augments the straightforward plot with extensive historical detail, portraying the region’s immigrant neighborhoods and documenting conditions in incarceration camps. Pages awash in autumnal brown and overcast gray-blue exude a sense of perpetual worry in the community, while the characters’ affable faces signal hope for a path forward. As a bonus, Tuininga includes archival newspaper headlines and a guide to historical landmarks in an appendix. The result is both a forthright condemnation of a shameful chapter of American history and a heartening reminder of the value of community. Agent: Elizabeth Wales, Wales Literary Agency. (Sept.)

Publishers Weekly

Allyship takes many forms. From a scrap of family folklore, Josh Tuininga imagines a better world in which those targeted on the basis of race could count on their neighbors—a story all the more meaningful as we are called upon to stand with others who are demonized in the present moment. Seattleites will recognize the look of places long gone and some that remain.

coauthor of We Hereby Refuse: Japanese America Frank Abe

As a son of Japanese American parents who were incarcerated during World War II, I grew up in Seattle’s Seward Park neighborhood with many Jewish classmates and friends. There was a closeness and quiet understanding we shared knowing the difficulties our communities suffered during the war. This book beautifully uncovers a deep emotional connection between our communities that is known by few and—I promise—will leave you changed forever.”—Tom Ikeda, founding executive director of Densho

“Allyship takes many forms. From a scrap of family folklore, Josh Tuininga imagines a better world in which those targeted on the basis of race could count on their neighbors—a story all the more meaningful as we are called upon to stand with others who are demonized in the present moment. Seattleites will recognize the look of places long gone and some that remain.”—Frank Abe, coauthor of We Hereby Refuse: Japanese American Resistance to Wartime Incarceration

“Grounded in the historically diverse Central District of Seattle, Josh Tuininga’s We Are Not Strangers intertwines the stories of a Japanese American family and a Sephardic Jewish family, revealing deep personal loyalty against a backdrop of racist accusations of disloyalty. Based on careful research into both communities, this book shines a light on how world events challenged both families and how one individual’s act of quiet resistance impacted many.”—Ellen Eisenberg, author of The First to Cry Down Injustice?: Western Jews and Japanese Removal Durin

“As sparing as it is moving, as memorable as it is timely, We are Not Strangers is beautifully drawn and evocatively told. This story is fascinating, important, and too little known—I learned so much about communities I’ve long been part of and neighbor to—but even better, it tells a different kind of love story, a different kind of hero story, a different story about race and immigration and community, which surely is what the world needs now. Josh Tuininga has made magic here.”—Laurie Frankel, New York Times bestselling author of This Is How It Always Is and One Two Three

“The tones and texture of the artwork is intimate, tactile, and forlorn. Reading We Are Not Strangers feels like finding some dusty artifact of loss and fortitude in an attic.”—Jonathan Fetter-Vorm, author of Trinity: A Graphic History of the First Atomic Bomb

“We are Not Strangers inspires readers to treat fellow human beings with fairness and dignity. Tuininga wonderfully succeeds in showing and telling a real story with real people in a real time.”—Sharon Hashimoto, author of The Crane Wife and More American

From the Publisher

As sparing as it is moving, as memorable as it is timely, We are Not Strangers is beautifully drawn and evocatively told. This story is fascinating, important, and too little known—I learned so much about communities I’ve long been part of and neighbor to—but even better, it tells a different kind of love story, a different kind of hero story, a different story about race and immigration and community, which surely is what the world needs now. Josh Tuininga has made magic here.

New York Times bestselling author of This Is How I Laurie Frankel

The tones and texture of the artwork is intimate, tactile, and forlorn. Reading We Are Not Strangers feels like finding some dusty artifact of loss and fortitude in an attic.

author of Trinity: A Graphic History of the Fi Jonathan Fetter-Vorm

We are Not Strangers inspires readers to treat fellow human beings with fairness and dignity. Tuininga wonderfully succeeds in showing and telling a real story with real people in a real time.

author of The Crane Wife and More American Sharon Hashimoto

As a son of Japanese American parents who were incarcerated during World War II, I grew up in Seattle’s Seward Park neighborhood with many Jewish classmates and friends. There was a closeness and quiet understanding we shared knowing the difficulties our communities suffered during the war. This book beautifully uncovers a deep emotional connection between our communities that is known by few and—I promise—will leave you changed forever.

founding executive director of Densho Tom Ikeda

Grounded in the historically diverse Central District of Seattle, Josh Tuininga’s We Are Not Strangers intertwines the stories of a Japanese American family and a Sephardic Jewish family, revealing deep personal loyalty against a backdrop of racist accusations of disloyalty. Based on careful research into both communities, this book shines a light on how world events challenged both families and how one individual’s act of quiet resistance impacted many.

author of The First to Cry Down Injustice?: We Ellen Eisenberg

2023-07-13
A touching tale of friendship during World War II.

The debut graphic novel from Tuininga opens in 1987, with a man walking to a Sephardic synagogue in Seattle to attend his grandfather’s funeral. “My name is Marco,” he explains. “I was named after my papoo. My grandfather.” At the service, he notices mourners from “a different neighborhood,” one of whom signs the guest book with the name Sam Akiyama. The younger Marco introduces himself to Sam and learns that the man befriended his grandfather during the early days of World War II. The elder Marco, a Jewish immigrant from the Ottoman Empire, was horrified when he learned that after the invasion of Pearl Harbor, Sam and his family—along with many other Japanese immigrants and Japanese Americans—would likely be imprisoned in camps under President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s now-infamous Executive Order 9066. Tuininga briefly depicts the Akiyama family’s imprisonment and then their return to Seattle and later reveals that Marco had been working behind the scenes to save their home and business. “Some say all it took was a little research and some paperwork,” the younger Marco explains. “While others say the only thing needed was a simple handshake.” Tuininga’s illustrations are uniformly beautiful, with mostly dark, understated colors that match the anxieties of the era; his characters’ facial expressions convey their emotions beautifully. Some of the most powerful pages in the book are ones that lack dialogue, such as a spread in which Marco fishes alone, missing his friend Sam. The writing is less successful, heavy on exposition—Tuininga understandably wants the book to be as much history lesson as novel, and it turns heavy-handed in parts. The book needs more story, more detail; as it is, it feels unfinished. The artwork is undeniable, but one wishes the narrative were more than the broad strokes.

Beautiful illustrations can't quite save an overly simplistic graphic novel.

Kirkus Reviews