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Enemy Child

The Story of Norman Mineta, a Boy Imprisoned in a Japanese American Interment Camp During World War II

Usually, I begin with a historical subject I want to explore and then search for the personal story that will bring it alive through a young person’s eyes. But this book started the opposite. I was in Cody, Wyoming, researching my Buffalo Bill book and found out that very nearby was the site of Heart Mountain War Relocation Center, one of the incarceration camps for Japanese Americans during World War II.

 

I went to visit and left knowing I needed to write about the camps. Why? Because our government unjustly imprisoned 120,000 Americans with Japanese ancestry—both adults and children—in primitive, isolated camps like Heart Mountain merely because of fear and racial prejudice.

One young prisoners at Heart Mountain, as I learned that day, was distinguished American statesman Norman Mineta, who was sent there as a boy, along with his family. I contacted Norm and he agreed to share his story with me. He remembered crowded barracks, bitter winters, dust, barbed wire, and poor food, but also friendship and small joys that helped his family endure. 

Norm never forgot that experience. He later entered politics, served ten terms in the House of Representatives, and went on to serve in two presidential cabinets. Among his many achievements was helping to pass legislation requiring the U.S. government to formally apologize to Japanese Americans for one of the most egregious civil rights violations in American history.

Signing books with Norman Mineta at the Smithsonian Museum in Washington, DC.

Signing books with Norman Mineta at the Smithsonian Museum in Washington, DC.

Publishers Weekly: Interview with the Author, c. 2019

Reviews

An inspiring story of character and endurance despite hardships. Important, well-told, and an excellent choice for social studies classes, literature circles, and libraries. Extensive back matter enriches understanding of this historical narrative.

-- School Library Journal, starred review

 

With so many individual stories, only one absolute emerges from this historical period: a large segment of our population, whether U.S. citizens for first-generation Japanese people deprived of citizenship, were denied their constitutional and civil rights. Warren leaves much to ponder about our nation’s past and present, about ‘this beautiful tapestry that is America.’

-- The Horn Book, starred review

 

With great sensitivity, Warren traces the experiences of former congressman Norman Mineta, whose family was forcibly relocated in 1942 during the WWII-era internment of Japanese-Americans. Interweaving historical background, various accounts, and Mineta’s first-person recollections, Warren skillfully illuminates what it felt like to be targeted and imprisoned. There are still too few books for youth about U.S. Japanese-American internment, and this affecting volume offers an essential view.

-- Publishers Weekly

 

Warren’s biography adroitly covers Mineta’s subsequent education and distinguished career. Extremely well researched and boasting Mineta’s cooperation, the book is generously illustrated with period black-and-white photos. It’s a fascinating record of an eventful and significant life.

-- Booklist

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Absolutely one of the most important stories for all Americans to know. A truly special book.

-- Steve Sheinkin, author of Bomb.

Awards & Recognition

  • Honored Invited Speaker, Eskin Memorial Lecture at the Library of Congress, Thomas Jefferson Auditorium, Washington, DC.
     

  • Interviewed with Norman Mineta at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History, Washington, DC.
     

  • Guest presenter, the Tucson Festival of Books, Tucson, Arizona, and the Kansas City, Missouri, Public Library, Plaza Branch
     

  • Winner: 2020 Thorpe Menn Literary Excellence Award in Kansas City from the Kansas City chapter of the American Association of University Women
     

  • Winner: The American Society of Journalists & Authors 2020 Book Award for Outstanding Children’s Nonfiction
     

  • Winner: The Society of Midland Authors 2020 Children’s Reading Roundtable Nonfiction Award
     

  • Winner: Bank Street College Flora Stieglitz Straus Award for Best Nonfiction Book 
     

  • Author interview in Publisher’s Weekly
     

  • School Library Journal Best Book
     

  • Horn Book Best Book
     

  • Honoree: California Reading Association Eureka! Gold Award
     

  • NCIBA Golden Poppy Book Award
     

  • Grand Canyon Reader Award finalist
     

  • Featured on “Standard Issue” podcast, Cambridge, England
     

  • A Junior Library Guild Selection

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