We Are Not Free

Absolutely fantastic.
The forced removal and incarceration of Japanese Americans is underrepresented in literature. I'm so glad this book exists to highlight this important atrocity in such a nuanced, personal, and accessible way. These connected short stories bring each character to vivid life and shows how varied their experiences were, but there is also a sense of a central narrative as we move through time and their collective experiences. 

It seems I've decided to pick up a lot of titles that are heartbreaking lately.

The characters in this book may be fictional but they all seemed so very real, especially Twitchy and much like the characters in the book I could not accept that he was dead until we “saw the body” and waited for the gotcha moment where he would return.

Chee's writing manages to seem beautiful and natural but very deliberate and intentional at the same time and I'll definitely look forward to reading more of her writing.

We Are Not Free follows fourteen Japanese-American teenagers from 1942 - 1945 when they're forcibly incarcerated in internment camps.

Fourteen POVs is a lot to pull off, and I'm not sure this book did. I completely understand why this was warranted: the internment of so many thousands upon thousands of people shattered the lives of so many, the effects of which reverberate to this day. Fourteen is a feeble number compared to the reality. Yet I felt as though I never truly got to know any of the characters, and seeing them again through different POVs felt very distanced.

However, it's an incredibly important period of history, and one which I've not seen Young Adult fiction tackle before. 3.5/5.

Sad and depressing, yet a bit of hope at the same time. A nuanced look at teens during WWII and living in the internment camps.

An exquisitely written and emotional read. I was completely drawn into the lives of these teenagers, and I definitely cried.

I think this is a great novel for this moment in time and I think it would be a great novel to teach in a classroom setting. I've seen some other reviews saying they hadn't heard much about the Japanese internment camps before and they were shocked etc and I think this would be particularly engaging if it were someone's first exposure to this fucked-up history. For me I found it a little bit muddled given the many character perspectives? Just a little hard to hang my hat on any one character.

Also OK when it was Minnow's POV obsessing about Twitchy I was like "ok this seems gay" and then after Twitchy died and his gf was like "no one understands how sad I am" and Minnow was like "no I understand because I also loved him" and everyone was like "oh ok" like.....IDK felt underdeveloped!! which I guess is what happens when you have 14 POV characters!!!

ANYWAY, I'm glad this book exists but I'm just not the target for it

This could have been a great read but it wasn't; it is too sprawling and amorphous. And that's a shame because the writing isn't bad and Chee clearly did lots of research. Focusing on just a few characters, instead of trying to create 14 different narrators, would have yielded a more readable novel; every time I started to get into a character, it would shift to somebody else and lose my established interest.

I loved this! Chee does such a good job of capturing all the many emotions that could come from Japanese incarceration: anger, fear, resentment, hopelessness, and more. The strength of the book is the many different characters and their experiences of being removed from their homes. The sense of friendship and brotherhood all throughout the book is wonderful with Twitchy, Mas, Minnow, and Frankie's sections being standouts.

My slight quibble is that there are a LOT of characters and I sometimes had trouble keeping track between names and nicknames. But I will guess that's probably just me and highly recommend this to anyone who likes historical fiction, multiple POVs, books about social (in)justice and lesser-known WW2 stories - like that of the 442nd Regimental Combat Team.

I read this back in the fall as a buddy read with @bookedwithemma! I love how this book is told from multiple POVs and expresses all the complexities and permutations of Japanese American sentiment during WWII, as well as the lasting legacy of internment. Chee's afterword gave me chills. I'd highly recommend this to anyone looking to expand their knowledge through historical fiction.

A solid accompaniment to THEY CALLED US ENEMY and DISPLACEMENT, though WE ARE NOT FREE is a bit more complex so I would suggest reading this after the two graphic memoirs.