Stealing Home by J. Torres is a middle-grade graphic novel that introduces the World War II internment of Japanese citizens and residents in a heartfelt and genuine way. Through illustrations that appear sketched in the style of old-fashioned comic books, the author and illustrator bring Sandy Saito to life. In sparse text peppered with onomatopoeia, readers watch as Sandy's life in western Canada unravels. Following the attack on Pearl Harbor, his father, a doctor, is sent to a work camp "where he is needed most," while his mother is forced to relocate with him and his younger brother to a camp in the interior of Canada. As the story progresses, Sandy is forced to grow up, but he doesn't know if his life or his family can ever return to normal.

As a graphic novel, Stealing Home has less room for the author to create personalities and connections with the characters, and as a result, some readers may have difficulty connecting with Sandy. At times, he seems very young, even childlike, but at others, he seems more like a preteen. Similarly, I found it difficult to "know" him or his father as characters. Is Sandy self-absorbed and self-centered? Or are his concerns over his father's busy schedule well-founded? Is Dr. Saito focused on his career over the welfare of his family? Or is he doing his best to balance his professional life with his home life? The dynamic between father and son is so integral to this story, and their shared love of baseball gives the story its backbone, but I don't have a strong sense of their relationship or of their virtues and vices as characters. I would have liked to see more of the personalities of the two main characters to have more empathy with them and more investment in the story, which is important and well-plotted and gentle.

The Canadian side of Japanese intrenment is rarely shown in children's stories, so this graphic novel is an excellent counterpart to the body of children's, middle grade, and young adult works that tell the American side of this era. The illustrations are visually engaging, and the story itself is full of heart and hope. As a graphic novel, it will entice many readers who may be off-put by traditional text-heavy novels, and I would encourage students to read it as a companion for their studies of the World War II era.

After the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor, Americans and Canadians of Japanese ancestry were forced out of their homes and into internment camps. They had to give up most of their belongings, and lived in deplorable conditions. This is the story of one such Japanese Canadian family, as told through the eyes of one of their children. Fans of George Takei’s ‘They Called Us Enemy” will enjoy this book, I know I did.

In Stealing Home, J. Torres follows Sandy Saito and his Japanese Canadian family through their imprisonment in a Canadian concentration camp during World War II. Sandy loves baseball and cheering on the Asahi team, but his life changes after the Japanese bomb Pearl Harbor. Similar to the fate of Japanese Americans in the United States, families like Sandy's are forcibly removed from their homes and sent to live in hastily-built wooden shacks in remote parts of Canada. But through it all, Sandy's love of baseball brings him hope. Life in the camps is beautifully rendered by David Namisato, whose artwork brings Sandy and his family to life.

This graphic novel reminded me of Kiki Hughes's Displacement. Sandy is a little bit younger than Kiku and Ernestina and, likely because of the intended audience, the book doesn't go into as much detail about the conditions of camp life and the struggles of those imprisoned there. But Torres is able to convey Sandy's sadness, confusion, and fright at what is happening to him and his family. I'm ashamed to say I knew little about Japanese American internment during WWII and even less about Japanese Canadian interment. But together, these two books are a welcome and necessary introduction for readers of all ages. I would highly recommend Stealing Home and look forward to reading more of J. Torres's work.

I received a free e-ARC from the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

In 1941 when Pearl Harbor is attacked, Japanese people that were living in Canada and the United States were discriminated against. I’m really glad that an this widely unknown time in history is being published to kids. This graphic novel follows a child at the time who doesn’t fully grasp what is going on, so the description of what is happening has an innocence to it because there is no bias. In the afterword, the author fills in the holes that may have not been filled by the young boys point of view.

Sandy is a Japanese Canadian boy who has to leave with his family to go to an abandoned town, which is basically a prison camp. Sandy and his mother and brother are separated from his father, who is needed in the camps to help treat sick people. Throughout the story Sandy wants to watch and practice playing baseball. His father is too busy and his brother is too young. By the end of the story, his father shows him a baseball diamond that the people of the camp have made. This is a heartwarming story where no matter how much things change, there can be one good thing that doesn’t.

this was a quick read set in one of the most tragic times in human history - WWII. i love everything that's related to this period so no wonder i picked this graphic novel up!
it was more of a story about the relationship between a child and his father & also baseball so if u love baseball - u will love this more than i did cuz i don't really care about sports 😂 also this was set on a camp which just brought the memories of what people told on the internet about what they actually endured there... i do recommend reading this!

As told through the eyes of young Sandy Saito, Stealing Home tells the story of how the aftermath of Pearl Harbor affected the Japanese community in Canada. Despite the circumstances Sandy realizes that the struggles in life mirror baseball, which quickly became a way to escape the stress of life. By using the comic/graphic novel style it is easier to teach younger children about historical events.

A unique glimpse into the world of Japanese internment camps, The graphics were well done and added to Sandy’s story, but the abrupt ending left me underwhelmed.

(NetGalley arc)
"Stealing home” is a short yet heartbreaking graphic novel showing a glimpse of a young boy’s experience of the aftermath of the attacks on Pearl Harbor, namely the dispossession as well as the forced relocation of the Japanese Canadian population to internment camps where people lived under terrible circumstances. Our protagonist does not only lose the life he knew, knowing that it will never come back, but is also, for a long time, separated from his father as Japanese men were sent to road camps to perform forced labor.

As difficult as it was to read certain passages, this graphic novel remains very relevant today. On the one hand, it is an important resource for educational purposes - I must admit that it filled a huge educational gap of my own as the post-Pearl Harbor suffering of the US and Canada’s Japanese population was completely left out in my history classes (Austria). Furthermore, the topics addressed in the novel, namely the discrimination, dispossession and forced relocation of people and the trauma that goes along with these horrible experiences, are still very relevant if we look at the current suffering of other people all over the world (e.g., the Uyghurs, the Rohingya people, Palestinians, and many others).

I appreciate that the novel ends with extended background information and that it provides other references for further research. I highly recommend reading it!

While the story was easy to follow and the fact it was interesting to see the eyes of Asian Americans who were affected during World War but it needed to show exactly how baseball games were played then. Look I may not be a “pro” at baseball but it would have been nice to teach us more on how they coped with organising baseball games during that time…

I received an e-copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Huge thanks to NetGalley and Kids Can Press
2.5 stars
Wanted to like this book more because this is a part of history I'm interested in. This graphic novel shows us life from the point of view of a Japanese kid living in the time of the pearl harbour attack. How it became as excuse to make racism okay, to take away rights of Japanese people living outside of Japan, the sad reality of the government calling prison camps "relocation centres". The book focuses on how baseball made the difficulties of this child easier yet there were was no game at the ending. No closing. No prologue about how long they stayed there, how they managed to leave (or not). The ending was rather abrupt and messed up the flow this book had created.

I got a e-arc from Netgalley for an honest review.

I love anything involving war, so reading about this story and what the Japanese went through even though they weren’t involved in the bombing of pearl harbour. I wish there was more to the story like when do they actually get back to their old lives?

This is a great historical graphic novel, that everyone should be adding to their collection. I am so glad to see more historical stories come out in graphic novel form, because sometimes children and even adults can relate to it better by seeing it.
Stealing Home is a glimpse of Sandy Sato and his family's life in the Japanese internment camps in Canada. I loved the illustrations and how well the it all flowed. I loved the look into baseball in the camp and how it united them and helped them continue to have hope.
I just wanted a bit more from the story. But I did like all the information at the end.

Thank you NetGalley for this ARC!

This was another well done historic graphic novel about Japanese internment during World War II. This reminded me of two other graphic novels - They Called Us Enemy and Displacement and the award-winning picture book - Baseball Saved Us. I like how the baseball analogy was tied into the story in how it related to Japanese Americans and Canadians ability to endure during these challenging times. My fourth grade students are very interested in learning about World War II, and I can definitely use a book like this to expose them to the reality of what was happening in our country as a result of Pearl Harbor. I like that this subject is being featured in books for younger readers because I don't remember learning about this when I was in school, and it is important for us to understand America's dark history so we do not repeat it. This historical graphic novel would be a great addition to promote diverse literature in any upper elementary or middle school library.

Stealing Home is a beautiful and heartbreaking historical fiction graphic novel. It follows Sandy Saito, a Japanese boy living in Canada. As a big fan of the Asahi team, all Sandy wants is to play ball. However, Sandy's life takes a big turn after the bombing of Pearl Harbor. His friends in class are starting to act mean to him and Japanese people aren't allowed to go to certain places, for example the beach. Some Japanese people are even being sent to internment camps. And not long after, so is Sandy's family...

The description of Stealing Home says "long with its links to social studies and history lessons, this book offers a perfect lead-in to discussions about differences, inclusion and empathy, and about why this history is relevant today." and I couldn't have said it better (which is probably also the reason why I'm not a writer). What stands out in this graphic novel isn't just that it can lead to discussions about inclusion in history, but also in present day.

What didn't sit well with me however, was the ending of the graphic novel. A major subject in Stealing Home is how playing baseball together with other people in a similar position can help with dealing with the situation, and just as we were getting to that point, the story ended. I would have loved to see an epilogue.

I thought this was a pretty interesting story, because it teaches you about a personal experience during the war. However, the ending was pretty abrupt, and I felt like there could've been more to it

Whew, I didn't expect this very short graphic novel to be very emotional. Stealing Home is a glimpse of Sandy Sato and his family's life in the Japanese internment camps in Canada, and I really wished the brief glimpse was more of a window, as I would have liked to know more about the camp and the going ons. There was a lot of turmoil in Sandy's family and that part really made me tear up. I loved the narration style and the art was well. My only note is that I wish the length was a lot longer. The ending I felt was a nice way to tie up the story in a sort of hopeful way, and was very heartwarming compared to the rest of the book.

Stealing Home

This is a beautifully illustrated graphic novel about a young Canadian boy who was sent to an internment camp during WWII, and how baseball united and keep the hope for many in the camps.

The graphics were beautiful and the story was sad and informative. I didn’t know that Canadians also had internment camps. The ending however felt a little sudden, I thought there was going to be more. The end notes, however, provided a lot of additional information, but I wish more was included throughout the story.

I still think this is a great classroom resource for talking about the Japanese Internment camps, especially for getting all kids engaged in the topic.

Pub Date: October 5th






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A quick read about a baseball loving kid, in the midst of WWII. After the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor in Deember of 1941, many internment camps opened and Japanese immigrants were forced out of their homes and sent to live in those camps. Beautiful artwork and a fun story for baseball and history lovers.

This gave an interesting glimpse into what life was like for a young boy in an internment camp in Canada. Unfortunately, because of the length, this is all we got - a glimpse. I would have liked more about the day to day operations. It also seemed to end so abruptly; they play baseball and that's it, no more problems in the camp.

"It was the one thing they took from us that we were able to steal back"
This was a heartfelt book about a Japanese boy, who faced discrimination during the time of WW2 and was forced to move to a camp with his family, this heart-wrenching tale about how the boy, Sandy and his family find a safe place by playing baseball, a thing which lightens up everybody's mood!