| Author | Illustrator | Publisher |
 |
 |
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| J. Torres | David Namisato | Kids Can Press |
What do you do when your home and everything you love is taken away from you?
In the 1940’s, when Canada was at war, Japanese citizens were by government decree considered as enemy aliens and stripped of their civil rights. People lost their homes, possessions, jobs, and place in the community. They were restricted from certain locations and eventually removed to remote camps. Families were torn apart and many never recovered. Sandy Saito find his family caught in the net of racism and tries to hold onto what he loves most, baseball and his family.
Questions:
- What would you do and how would you react if you and your family had to deal with what Sandy deal with?
- Do you think Sandy is right in getting angry with his father?
- What do you think about internment camps?
- If you had to leave everything behind, what would you miss and what would you have to take with you?
- Why do you think that the Asahi are so important to Sandy?
Reviews:
Cosmic C
Stealing Home is a graphic novel about a Canadian boy called Sandy Saito whose parents are of Japanese descent. He lives in Vancouver and is crazy about his local baseball team, the Asahi. One day his life changes forever. When the Japanese bomb Pearl Harbor in Hawaii during World War II, many Canadians turn on Canadians of Japanese descent, blaming them for that happened, saying that they were the enemy and it was their fault that the Japanese had attacked. Along with other people in his neighbourhood, Sandy was no longer allowed to go to certain places and had a curfew imposed. After sometime, Sandy, his brother Ty and mother were sent to an internment camp and separated from his father. Sandy was worried they would never be reunited but eventually his father joined them at the same camp. Sandy was young and didn’t understand everything that was happening and the reasons behind it, but he tried his best to find ways to cope. Throughout it all baseball remained his passion.
Although the story is fictional it is based on real life events during the second World War. I’d learned about this at school as well but what I really enjoyed about this book was the story was told through the eyes of a child. That helped me understand it better. Even though the illustrations are in shades of black, white and brown only, they describe the story well. Although a lot of the story is quite sad, there are happy personal moments in the book, helping to show how Sandy managed to find hope during difficult times. I think it’s important that the story of the Canadians of Japanese descent doesn’t get forgotten so that we can learn from our mistakes, and help communities heal from wrongs done to them in the past.
SD20 Webster Elementary Red Cedar Readers
Sandy is obsessed with baseball, especially the Asahi team. I really liked this book eaven the most so far because of the art and what it is describing in the story. I also enjoy it because it is a relatively short book so I would read it but long enough that it wouldn’t take me like ten to thirty minutes. I would recommend this book to Grade four or up.
Stealing Home was a great experience. I loved Stealing Home because I really enjoy sports and I loved the way it was written. I liked how it was not boring and I could keep reading without getting distracted. If you are really into sports and graphic novels, I recommend this book to you. I loved this book and I rate it a 5/5 stars.
Stealing Home was a very good book. I really enjoyed reading it because it didn’t take me long and it kept me entertained. I recommend this book for people who are Grade 4-7 or people who are 7 to 12. I rate this book a 5/5.
This book is amazing! There were so many things that I thought were going to happen but something completely different happened. There were so many twists and turns. Some parts were sad but it was overall a great book. I rate this book 5/5.
This book was really good. It was kind of sad how they were sent to the camp and the father was never with them. I like how most of the book revolved around baseball, and the Asahi team. I would recommend this book to anyone from Grades 4-7, or anyone that is interested in the second World War.
I really like the book Stealing Home. It was a little bit sad. I liked it because it was about baseball and I love baseball. There were some parts of the book that were a little sad but for the most part it was really good. I think grades 5-7 should read this book. Overall I rate this book a 4/5.
I really enjoyed the book Stealing Home, especially because I play softball and I like watching baseball. I recommend this book to grade 4 and up. I also recommend this book to people who play baseball or softball. Overall I give this book a ⅘.
Stealing Home is a well written graphic novel about the Japanese Internment. Although it is a hard subject, the author and illustrator make it an enjoyable read for people between the grades of six and eight. I like how the plot picks up decently close to the start. I would recommend this book to people who enjoy historical fiction or graphic novels.
I loved Stealing Home! This book had so many things in it that are all contributors to why I loved it so much! It had a great setting as well as the fact that they got to the excitement really quickly. There was tragedy, suspense, and even a few action scenes! I really enjoyed Stealing Home, and I think other people will enjoy reading it too. I would recommend this book to anyone between Grades 3 and 8.