Books like My Lost Freedom: A Japanese American World War II Story
By George Takei
For families ready to talk about a painful chapter of American history through the eyes of a child who lived it — this is George Takei's own memory, made for young readers. Somber, tender, and clear-eyed; grounded in memory rather than melodrama.
A young Armenian boy leaves behind his home and everyone he has known to search for refuge, carrying his story until he finally finds the courage to share it.
An enslaved man endures separation from his family in Virginia, then hits on a desperate plan: mailing himself in a wooden crate to freedom in the North.
A teacher searches for the words to tell her class about American slavery, tracing the story from fireside tales in Africa through the Atlantic crossing to the fields of the South.
Born into slavery, a woman hears the voice of God calling her north and escapes through the woods with only her faith, beginning the journey that will make her Moses to her people.
A young girl is separated from her mother at the last moment and must sail to America alone, only to discover the address for her family in New York has smudged into illegible ink.
An egg named Humpty Dumpty loves nothing more than watching birds from high on the city wall — until a great fall leaves him terrified of heights, and he must find the courage to climb again.
Across generations, the women in one family pass down the art of quilting — from a seven-year-old girl sold away from her parents who sewed secret maps to freedom, to daughters who carried her knowledge through segregation and into the fight for literacy.
A young girl must flee her family's home in Dehradun during the Partition of India, leaving behind her beloved doll Gurya in the rush to catch a train to safety.
In 1707, an eight-year-old girl travels into the Connecticut wilderness with her father to build a new home, then must find her courage when he leaves her with their Indian neighbors.
A timid squirrel afraid of thunder, hawks, and dark forest paths must carry soup through Buckthorn Forest to her sick Granny Oak, facing creatures who want to help — and some who want the soup.
A young Jewish immigrant from Lithuania grows up drawing everything he sees, then uses his art to speak out against injustice — standing up to bullies, defying teachers, and pushing the US government to help struggling Americans.
