Within These Lines
- Subject
- Historical - United States - 20th Century
- Age
- Teen
- Format
- Hardcover
- Pages
- 352
- Publisher
- Blink
- Size
- 14.0 cm × 21.6 cm
- ISBN
- 9780310765233
Evalina Cassano’s life in an Italian-American family in 1941 is quiet and ordinary … until she falls in love with Taichi Hamasaki, the son of Japanese immigrants. Despite the scandal it would cause and the fact that interracial marriage is illegal in California, Evalina and Taichi vow they will find a way to be together. But anti-Japanese feelings erupt across the country after the attack on Pearl Harbor, and Taichi and his family are forced to give up their farm and are incarcerated in a Japanese internment camp.
Degrading treatment at Manzanar Relocation Center is so difficult, Taichi doubts he will ever leave the camp alive. Treasured letters from Evalina are his sole connection to the outside world. Embracing the boldest action she can to help Taichi, Evalina begins to radically speak out at school and at home, shining a light on this dark and shameful racial injustice.
With their future together on the line, Evalina and Taichi can only hold true to their values and believe in their love against all odds to have any hope of making it back to one another.
Within These Lines is:
A historical YA novel set against the backdrop of WWII and the shameful era of American injustice surrounding Japanese internment campsTold from the dual points of view of an Italian-American woman and Japanese-American man brought together by love then separated by war, injustice, and hatredAs haunting and unflinching as it is hope-filled and love-drivenPerfect for fans of Monica Hesse, Ruta Sepetys, and Elizabeth WeinAbout the author
Stephanie MorrillAuthor
Stephanie Morrill writes books about girls who are on an adventure to discover their unique place in the world. She is the author of several contemporary young adult series, as well as two historical young adult novels, The Lost Girl of Astor Street and Within These Lines. Within These Lines was a Junior Library Guild Gold Standard selection, as well as a YALSA 2020 Best Fiction for Young Adults pick. Since 2010, Stephanie has been encouraging the next generation of writers at her website, GoTeenWriters.com, which has been on the Writer’s Digest Best Websites for Writers list since 2017. She lives in the Kansas City area, where she loves plotting big and small adventures to enjoy with her husband and three children. You can connect with Stephanie and learn more about her books at StephanieMorrill.com.
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What reviewers said
Poignant and evocatively relevant, Within These Lines is a tale of star-crossed love and heartrending discrimination with characters that leap off the page and challenge us to stand against the injustice in our own time. A gripping read!
Heartrending and timely, Evalina and Taichi's story leaps off the page. Morrill deftly weaves history and fiction together, shining a light on the realities of America's World War II-era home front through the eyes of her fiery and steadfast protagonists. From start to satisfying finish, historical fiction readers won't want to miss Morrill's latest.
Within These Lines is a moving story of love, hope, and family set against the dark history of Japanese internment in America. This book had me captivated!
Within These Lines will both break your heart and awaken it. Evalina and Taichi's story not only navigates a precarious romance, but it challenges racism, injustice, and the temptation to stay silent. Their boldness and call to action will stick with you long after you turn the last page. I applaud Morrill's storytelling and cannot recommend this book enough--a must-read for all historical fiction fans!
A frightening portrait of how suspicion and fear of Japanese Americans during World War II led to the incarceration of thousands at Manzanar and other camps. Precise in its history, intimate in detail, Stephanie Morrill's sensitively written novel brings to life a shameful era of American injustice, one that echoes events in the present day.
In fiercely beautiful prose, Stephanie Morrill delivers a timely new novel that sheds much-needed light on racial conflict and trauma experienced on the home front during World War II. An evocative, impeccably researched story of love, loss, longing, and the necessary hard work of reconciliation, Within These Lines offers characters who will inspire readers long into the future. Historical fiction fans, this is a must-read for 2019.
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