“We are not free. But we are not alone.” ― Traci Chee, We Are Not Free

We are Not Free by Traci Chee is a book told in glimpses. It is the short interconnected stories of fourteen Japanese American teenagers experiencing World War II and the Japanese internment camps in the United States. The stories show different experiences and perspectives throughout the war from a young soldier, prisoner, aspiring starlet, female baseball player, and many more. The teens grew up together in Japantown, San Francisco but were moved to a relocation camp during the war eventually beginning to evolve and change all going in different directions throughout the story but staying connected through their identity and unique experiences.

I picked this book to review because it's one I've seen everywhere lately! This book is a Printz Award Nominee and a Walter Award Nominee and has been nominated for quite a few young adult literature awards. This book is a great addition to a young adult literature collection in a high school and would be a wonderful addition to the curriculum as well. This book is historical fiction which allows for discussions around the experiences of Japanese Americans in World War II and about an aspect of history that isn't discussed quite as much in the history books. Books like We Are Not Free can be a great introduction to the historical fiction genre and a starting point for valuable classroom discussions.

We Are Not Free was the book I was the most excited to read for my class because it was the book I had heard the most about but knew the least about in terms of the plot. Because the story follows fourteen different teenagers the fourteen voices are extremely distinct. One character writes purely in poetry, another communicates his experiences as a soldier, one is optimistic and hopeful, while another is pessimistic and scared. The characters range in age, family dynamics, and sexual orientation. I listened to the audiobook and read the physical book at the same time. The audiobook mirrored the physical book by having a full cast, and different narrators voiced different characters and it changed the dynamic drastically. I found myself connecting to each story in different ways. There were little tidbits that pulled me into each story making its themes universally accessible to readers of all experiences and ages. I will fully admit going into this that I didn't have a ton of knowledge about the Japanese internment camps in America. I knew they existed but I didn't know much about how they worked or the day-to-day experiences. This book created a vivid picture and understanding in my mind leading me to seek out more information about this part of American history. There is mature language and mature themes in this book but they are necessary to understanding the reality of what these teenagers were going through. I highly encourage anyone interested in reading this book to read it and go in with an open mind.