Sylvia & Aki
This novel presents a fictionalized account of injustices endured by two real California children during World War II and is based on multiple interviews with both and other historical records. In alternating chapters Conkling follows the forced relocation of young Aki Munemitsu and her family to a camp in Arizona and the experiences of Sylvia Mendez, who moves into Aki’s old room when her father rents the Munemitsus’ asparagus farm. When his children are denied enrollment in the town’s main school, Sylvia’s father institutes what becomes the landmark desegregation suit Mendez v. Westminster School District. Though both story lines feature only the sketchiest of plots, the author perceptively focuses on both children’s inner questions about their own self-worth and identities as Americans in the face of open discrimination. At the war’s end the children meet (they’re still friends to this day) and exchange dolls. Conkling closes with notes about the families, the suit, the camps, and further resources. This story, despite its purposeful agenda, illuminates a lesser-known milestone in our country’s struggle for equal rights for all. Grades 4-6. --John Peters