Summary: In this middle-grade biography, a Japanese American central California farmgirl and her immigrant parents are whisked away to the Gila River incarceration camp in southern Arizona for Japanese Americans during World War II. No longer constrained by race and social class like she was back home, Michiko Nishiura blossoms into an outspoken student leader at her camp high school and is able to leave the camp via a scholarship to Mount Holyoke College in Massachusetts. There, she is introduced to and becomes determined to make theater costume design her life’s work. However, a bout with tuberculosis forces her to drop out of college and she eventually makes her way to New York city to attend the Fashion Academy of New York. In the city, she meets her future husband, Walter Weglyn, a Holocaust survivor originally from Germany. Becoming known as “Michi,” she goes on to become an acclaimed theater and television costume and wardrobe designer, working for some of the top stars of the ‘50s and ‘60s. Then, in 1968, Michi hears the U.S. attorney general say there have never been concentration camps in the United States. Enraged, Michi embarks on a solo quest to uncover the hidden government actions leading to the establishment and operation of the World War II camps. She spent exhaustive hours in repositories including the Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library & Museum and the National Archives. After eight years of research, writing and trying to get published, her landmark book, Years of Infamy: The Untold Story of America’s Concentration Camps is released and becomes a major catalyst for an ultimately successful national movement for the U.S. government to recognize that its actions toward Japanese Americans during World War II was wrong.
“Well-crafted biography … Using well-chosen quotes from Michiko’s book Years of Infamy, Mochizuki’s work will resonate with teens. … An eye-opening history of Japanese American treatment during WWII.” – Kirkus
Mochizuki creates a convincing portrayal of a girl who was brought up to be restrained in her speech and respectful of government officials yet became a forceful woman demanding justice for all. … A detailed biography of a significant American. – Booklist
Mochizuki utilizes numerous primary sources to make Weglyn’s remarkable life come alive for readers. – School Library Journal
I am quoted on the book’s jacket flap: “I’ve always held admiration for those who walk away from ‘the good life’ to pursue a higher calling that promises no material rewards. Michi Nishiura Weglyn was that kind of person. The more I researched her life story, the more I learned how astounding she really was.” Originally written as a picture book, a visit to the Japanese American National Museum in Los Angeles, where Michi’s amazing collection of photos and documents is stored, convinced me that her story could be expanded into a more extensive book.
Ken Mochizuki 