Following the bombing of Pearl Harbor, the United States government set up a number of internment camps for Japanese-Americans. One of these camps, located in Colorado, housed evacuees from California. Sandra Dallas's fictionalized camp, Tallgrass, sits right on the edge of town where 13 year old Rennie and her family work their sugar beet farm. Reminiscent of To Kill a Mockingbird, Rennie's father is an outspoken advocate of civil rights, and stands-up for the Japanese, when the townpeople voice their prejudices. Shortly after the establishment of the camp, a local girl is found raped and murdered. Everyone suspects the "foreigners," though Rennie's family chooses instead to hire a few of the boys from the camp to work their farm. The book follows the escalating tension between the camp and the town, as seen through Rennie's young, confused, and conflicted, yet perceptive, eyes. Dallas does a good job of portraying the ignorance and hypocrisy of the townspeople, particularly when Rennie's own brother is captured by the Germans. In a town filled with alcoholism, domestic violence, secrets, and shame, the outrage the townspeople feel toward the Japanese, is clearly a mirror to our current society and its treatment of Middle Eastern-Americans. While a lot of great fiction has already been written about the injustice of the campes (When the Emperor Was Divine and Snow Falling On Cedars among them), this is a welcome addition to the list told from an interesting perspective.
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