Dear America: The Diary of Piper Davis

Dear America: The Diary of Piper Davis: The Fences Between Us
     written by Kirby Larson

The Dear America section of our library now takes up 4 full shelves, and the books are regularly checked out every week. Here is the newest in the continuing series and it takes place in 1941 during World War II.

In 1941 Piper is worried about her older brother based in Pearl Harbor on the Arizona, a battleship based there. As most students of history know, On December 7, 1941 the Japanese attacked the United States at Pearl Harbor in a surprise attack. Piper notes it in her diary along with what she hears on the radio. She has neighbors who are Japanese who are members of her church, and she and her family later follow them into the incarceration camps.

I will be giving my mom a copy of this book to read because it is her life too! And I'm curious to compare her first hand experience (primary source) with this historical fiction piece.

You see... my mom was 16 on Pearl Harbor Day in 1941 and she opened her present (a radio, an expensive gift in those days) plugged it in only to hear about the bombing. Many of her friends from high school were in the service, and some of her friends who were Japanese "disappeared" from school. She never knew what had happened to them until later as an adult, her family didn't speak about it at the time. They too were worried because my mom's brother was in the service and faced many dangers. He was in General Patton's army and never spoke of the war after he came home.

It was an important time in history, and to know about it first hand is important. I'm interested to know if my mom feels the book reflects her life at that time, and how accurate the diary entries and events are compared to her personal experience.

Let me know what you think of the book after you read it, and check to see if anyone in your family remembers about World War II and what their thoughts and memories are.

ISBN: 978-0-545-22418-5