No Quiet Water - by Shirley Miller Kamada (Paperback)

About the Book

"After the U.S. declares war on Japan in 1941, all persons of Japanese descent in the Western U.S. come under suspicion. Curfews are imposed, bank accounts frozen, and FBI agents search homes randomly. Despite the fact that two generations of the Miyota family are American citizens, Fumio and his parents and sister Kimiko must pack meager belongings and are transported under military escort to the California desert to be held at Camp Manzanar, leaving their good friends and neighbors the Whitlocks to care for their farm and their dog, Flyer. The family suffer unimaginable insults, witness prejudice and violent protests, are forced to live in squalor, and are provided only poor-quality, unfamiliar food which makes them ill. Later, they are transferred to Idaho's Camp Minidoka, where Fumio learns what it means to endure and where he discovers a strange new world of possibility and belonging. Lyrical, visual, and rendered with strict attention to historical accuracy, No Quiet Water, shines a poignant light on current issues of racism and radical perspectives."--Publisher.

Book Synopsis

After the U.S. declares war on Japan in 1941, all persons of Japanese descent in the Western U.S. come under suspicion. Curfews are imposed, bank accounts frozen, and FBI agents search homes randomly.

Despite the fact that two generations of the Miyota family are American citizens, Fumio and his parents and sister Kimiko must pack meager belongings and are transported under military escort to the California desert to be held at Camp Manzanar, leaving their good friends and neighbors the Whitlocks to care for their farm and their dog, Flyer.

The family suffer unimaginable insults, witness prejudice and violent protests, are forced to live in squalor, and are provided only poor-quality, unfamiliar food which makes them ill. Later, they are transferred to Idaho's Camp Minidoka, where Fumio learns what it means to endure and where he discovers a strange new world of possibility and belonging.

Lyrical, visual, and rendered with strict attention to historical accuracy, No Quiet Water, shines a poignant light on current issues of racism and radical perspectives.

Review Quotes

2024 Maxy Awards Finalist - Historical & Adventure

2023 National Indie Excellence Awards Finalist - Asian American & Pacific Islander Fiction

"A well-plotted and engaging historical novel." -Kirkus Reviews

"In No Quiet Water, Shirley Miller Kamada blends breathless writing with quiet lyricism in showing World War II hardships through the eyes of a Japanese American boy and his border collie, Flyer." -Friends Journal

"With rich, abundant details of what daily life was like inside a U.S. internment camp during World War II, No Quiet Water is a poignant, touching story of an adolescent boy and his loyal dog that travels hundreds of miles to be with him." -Alden Hayashi, author of Two Nails, One Love

"A lovingly-told story about a boy and his dog, set within the context of the forced removal and incarceration of Japanese Americans on the West Coast during World War II. Shirley Miller Kamada's book serves as an introduction for a wide range of readers to this dark chapter of American history." -Barbara Johns, PhD, author of Kenjori Nomura, American Modernist: An Issei Artist's Journey