Sandy is a young Boy growing up in British Colombia who loves baseball. It’s one of the things he and his father enjoy together, that is when is father isn’t off providing medical treatments to folks. Sandy’s family and of Japanese decent, and they live in a thriving Japanese community in BC, who all root for the Asahi, the local baseball team who just lost the championship, but are hopeful to get it back next season. Then, the Japanese bomb Pearl Harbor, and things start getting more complicated for Sandy and his family. They have to give up some of their possessions “for safekeeping”, knowing full well they will be sold off; they have to be in their homes by sundown, which makes the father’s job much harder; and there are certain areas of port cities they are no longer allowed to live in. Soon enough, the families are transported to camps that have been set up at abandoned mining facilities.
As an American, I’ve read many books about what the American government did to Japanese Americans, but I haven’t seen a lot from a Canadian perspective. Many things are extremely similar about the way folks of Japanese descent were treated in the two different countries. One of the similarities is how much the Japanese communities in the US and Canada love baseball. In this story, baseball or playing catch is sometimes the only thing that keeps Sandy in decent spirits. I would have liked to see a little bit more from the ending. Throughout the story, there is conflict for Sandy's father with performing his duty as a doctor and being present as a father. The ending gives hope that Dad will be more present with his family, but it sort of ends at the climax with a big reveal without a lot of resolution.

​Namisato's illustrations are soft and visually pleasing. There are a ton of details in characters or backgrounds, but it works for this story. The pages could have benefited from some coloring since the illustrations are a little simple.

Kids Can Press rates this for grades 4-7, which seems appropriate aside from the possible lack of knowledge on Japanese Internment Camps in the lower grades. Without the historical context, the hardships Sandy's family goes through might fall a little flat.

Sara's Rating: 8/10
Suitability Level: Grades 5-8

Reading 2021
Book 82: Stealing Home by J. Torres

Thank you to #Netgalley for this copy of #stealinghome in exchange for my review. Pub date for this book is in October.

Sandy is a young Japanese boy living in Canada. He is obsessed with baseball and loves attending games with his dad and brother. When WWII starts Sandy and his family are forced into an internment camp. Baseball is one of the things that helps get Sandy through his time in the camps.

Reviewed for ages 9 and older this book and the wonderful art bring to life for middle grade readers what happened to Japanese people in North America during WWII. It is told in a way that kids can understand. I have read a couple of other books on internment, this one is good, but not as good as the others I have read, specifically George Takei's book They Called Us Enemy. My rating 3.5⭐.

My Thoughts:

This middle-grade graphic novel tells the story of how the aftermath of Pearl Harbor affected the Japanese community in Canada. When the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor, anti-Japanese xenophobia had been spreading for decades throughout Latin America, often influenced by U.S. attitudes and actions. It affected the life of our main protagonist, Sandy's too. Japanese Canadians were treated unjustly and were kept inside internment camps. They suffered the pain of break-ups in which the men, women, and children were sent to different camps and endured the disrespect and hostility of Canadians for their Japanese origin.

Although internment camps were associated with little freedom and the constant displeasure of being guarded, the Japanese were treated civilly. Despite the poor quality of their housing, they did have a roof above their heads. Sandy loves to play Baseball with his father, but his father has so many important duties more than playing. Sandy realizes, his life is also like 'Baseball'. The illustrations are absolutely magical and the writing is lyrical.

A touching and emotional story about a Japanese family who are forced to uproot their lives and sent to a prison camp after the attack of Pearl Harbour.

It was heartbreaking to see the family struggling to retain a sense of normalcy even as increasingly strict and unfair measures are imposed on people of Japanese heritage, before they are carted off to an internment camp.

I also loved seeing how the characters try to find the light even during such dark and bleak times. How they try to make a life in the camp. How family is everything.

Would highly recommend this graphic novel to everyone.

"Papa would say that this was all temporary but I learned that day that not only was everything different now... it was never going to be the same again."

What if one day suddenly your no longer considered someone as a neighbour, a citizen, a well wisher or helpful friend instead whenever you passby people look at you with disgust they taunt you for not who you are but which race you belong for an incident brings out the worst turning their own countrymen against... them..
It's 1941, Japan has attacked pearl Harbor and that's set needed spark to deep rooted racism against Japanese Americans in their own country for they are belittled :they are rounded , curfews are started and special restrictions are put in place... This is only start for what is about to come...! This graphic novel was eye opener for me as it was something i wasn't aware of.. The author has very well brought out the needed connect and context to help us get into it, only wish would be if author had woven more fictional account making it lengthier for readers to connect with it more it felt short as if something was amiss ; and wish the artwork could be more better than it is.. not at all impressed by art when compared to the weight of story..! Thankful to Netgalley, J torres author and publishers for providing review copy!

Greatly enjoyed this book. Written from a child's view, the harshness of racism was more mild. The main focus was, where's the parent's love and baseball. Which in truth children should get to have blinders on in life and just get to be kids.

At difficult times, when everything of yours is stolen from you, you try to fill that void with something else which makes you feel the same as that thing.

But imagine if your right to freedom is stolen and your own country people label you as an "enemy". Then how will you fill that void in your heart and top of this you are sent to ghost towns where you are secluded from normalcy on the pretext of safe bounding your country.

This is a tale of a young boy who along with his family was sent to a Japanese Internment camp during WWII in the absence of his father will struggle and find hope again through the baseball game.

A heart-warming and emotional read set during historical times at the same time is inspirational. A story from a unique Japanese-Canadian persecptiive.

This was a great look at the Japanese Canadian experience during WWII; a perspective I hadn't read about before. I love how this book is targeted towards younger readers, but even as an adult, (hopefully) you can sympathize with the main character Sandy. Baseball is life, and I'm glad baseball provided the hope they needed in order to survive the camp.

Stealing Home is the graphic novel by J. Torres. Many novels about the subject of the Japanese Interment Camp, but this is the first one set in Canada.

Sandy Saito's family is forced into an interment camp in Canada soon after Pearl Harbor is bombed. His father is a doctor and is tirelessly taking care of people and isn't with the family much. Baseball is the thing that keeps the family together is the beginning and in the end.

Definitely worth the read! I know this will be a popular graphic novel!!

for a middle grade GN is not bad yes there are some sad scenes but to me it don't seem unique or different.

Esta novela gráfica se me hizo corta. La historia y el contexto histórico de este libro me resultaron por demás interesantes y de suma importancia ya que debería ser de conocimiento público y general lo que sucedió durante la Segunda Guerra Mundial, desde el punto de vista de japoneses americanos.

Una novela gráfica basada en la vida del autor y su familia. 100% recomendado.

Heart-felt storytelling about a difficult period of Canadian history told from the viewpoint of a young Japanese-Canadian boy whose family endured the discrimination, separation, and harsh conditions of a Japanese internment camp in western Canada following the bombing of Pearl Harbor. Because the story is told in pictures and visually articulates the boy’s perspective, you feel like a companion on his uncertain journey. You feel the tensions he feels, the fear, the worry, and the hope. The story begins and ends with baseball, it’s the thread of hope that is interwove throughout the story..

This book talks about a really important part of Canada's history that is often over looked.

This book does a great job of teaching young readers about the Japanese internment camps that Japanese-Canadians were forced into after the bombing of Pearl Harbor. The perspective of the book is from a young boy, and focuses on how a child would have perceived this change and these camps.

I even learned a few things reading this book that I did not already know about the internment camps and baseball.

Highly recommend this book!

This graphic novel tells the story of Sandy Saito and his family who are forced to move into internment camps in Canada during World War 2. Through Sandy's love for baseball and his family we get to experience what this new reality means for him, how it leads to confusion and how he is more and more overwhelmed with the consequences of the war. But also how he tries to stay strong and keep up the life of a child none the less. Sandy's perspective felt very realistic in that it really was as if he were telling me this story.

I think the contrast between his views and feelings and what we as a reader know about what was happening at that time was amazingly done and really added to the whole story. I would definitely recommend this graphic novel for everyone but especially for young readers, since I think this is a great way to teach them more about Canada's history and War in general.

“𝑰𝒕 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝒂𝒃𝒐𝒖𝒕 𝒅𝒆𝒂𝒍𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒘𝒉𝒂𝒕𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒓 𝒊𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒓𝒐𝒘𝒏 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒘𝒂𝒚, 𝒉𝒐𝒘𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒓 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒄𝒂𝒏. 𝑰𝒕 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝒂𝒃𝒐𝒖𝒕 𝒕𝒆𝒂𝒎𝒘𝒐𝒓𝒌, 𝒘𝒐𝒓𝒌𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒂𝒔 𝒂 𝒈𝒓𝒐𝒖𝒑 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒈𝒐𝒐𝒅 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒈𝒓𝒐𝒖𝒑, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒎𝒂𝒌𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒔𝒂𝒄𝒓𝒊𝒇𝒊𝒄𝒆𝒔 𝒕𝒐 𝒈𝒆𝒕 𝒂𝒉𝒆𝒂𝒅 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒄𝒐𝒎𝒑𝒆𝒕𝒊𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏. 𝑩𝒂𝒔𝒆𝒃𝒂𝒍𝒍 𝒊𝒔 𝒂𝒃𝒐𝒖𝒕 𝒇𝒊𝒏𝒅𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒘𝒂𝒚 𝒉𝒐𝒎𝒆. 𝑰𝒕’𝒔 𝒂 𝒎𝒆𝒕𝒂𝒑𝒉𝒐𝒓 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒍𝒊𝒇𝒆. 𝑰𝒕 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒐𝒏𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒚 𝒕𝒐𝒐𝒌 𝒇𝒓𝒐𝒎 𝒖𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒘𝒆 𝒘𝒆𝒓𝒆 𝒂𝒃𝒍𝒆 𝒕𝒐 𝒔𝒕𝒆𝒂𝒍 𝒃𝒂𝒄𝒌.”

Stealing Home is a fantastic graphic novel for elementary and middle school readers (and young at heart) about the treatment of Japanese people in Canada during WWII, using baseball as a framing device for hope.

Although I’m not a huge graphic novel reader, I loved the way this way presented, in muted tones of black, white, brown and grey. David Namisato’s illustrations gave life to a story that shows another side of Canadian history rarely talked about. I also loved learning about the Asahi baseball team, which I knew nothing about before. After reading Kathy Kacer’s Clara’s War earlier this year with my students, I think this would make a great companion novel for independent reading that is age appropriate. There are so many connections between the treatment of the Jewish in Europe and the treatment of the Japanese in Canada at this time, including moving to a “self sustaining village.” It is also a story of hope, showing the love of baseball encouraging morale and inspiring those confined in the camps, much like the opera Brundibar did for those in Terezin.

Stealing Home is a fantastic middle school historical fiction read. I will be picking up a copy for my classroom and definitely recommend checking it out. Thank you to KidsCanPress and NetGalley for the ARC!

Thank you so much to NetGalley and KidsCanPress for an advance digital copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. As always, all opinions stated are entirely my own. I absolutely loved this book! I felt that it was very interesting, emotional, and educational. You can tell that the author did lots of research and I appreciated how there was a factual guide in the back of the book so the reader can understand the story more and be inspired to do even more research of their own. I also enjoyed the art and graphics in the book and thought they were well done. I would recommend this book to readers of all ages.

This was a part of WW2 history which was new to me and I read this brilliant, sensitively written book for middle grade children with great internet and then went and researched it further. The book is a short but very well produced story with wonderful illustrations which will really be so useful to start discussions around this part of history which needs to be told.

I hadn't known that Canada had, had such a similar policy as America in regards to the treatment of their Japanese citizens during WW 2.
It's heartbreaking but not unsurprising given what we are finding out about the Residential Schools

This is very much from the perspective of a child's, based in the concerns a child would have. But it was compelling in its own way

The art works so well in this book alongside the story, and I loved the focus on character and history. An enjoyable read all its own, and ideal for reading instruction.

A very sanitized version of the Japanese internment camps the Americans forced their own citizens in during the war. It’s a good intro to start that conversation with kids, using a relatable American pastime of baseball as a subplot.