Shell Song - by Sharon Fujimoto-Johnson (Hardcover)

About the Book

After the bombing of Pearl Harbor, a girl's Japanese American grandfather is sent to an incarceration camp in Hawaii, where collecting seashells becomes a source of comfort and hope.

Book Synopsis

Based on the author's true family history, this picture book about Japanese American incarceration in Hawai'i during World War II is a moving tribute to the importance of finding and collecting pieces of hope, big or small, even in the darkest of times.

Grandfather loved music, seashells, and the sound of the ocean in Hawai'i. But when war came, there was no more music. And in this war, there was no kindness for anyone who looked Japanese.

Taken to an island prison, Grandfather passed many long, lonely days away from his family searching for tiny seashells. He collected the shells, labelled them, and saved them with care. His collection has been passed down to his children and grandchildren, and now, author-illustrator Sharon Fujimoto-Johnson tells the story of her grandfather and his shells.

Review Quotes

[T]his harrowing picture book manages to capture both the cruelty of humanity and the beauty of nature, emphasizing the idea that the latter will always outweigh the former. The shell makes a particularly good metaphor, scooped out of life and seemingly empty but filled with beauty and music if one is willing to spend a bit more time with it.--BCCB "April 2025"

A set of tiny seashells anchors this personal telling of Japanese American incarceration during WWII.--Publishers Weekly "3/10/25"

Sometimes a child's story touches the struggles and joys of the young. Other times it also profoundly illuminates something larger. Sharon Fujimoto-Johnson's magnificent book Shell Song tells of children listening to the echoes of grandfather's sea shells from Hawai`i. It deftly locates grandfather's long-ago discovery of those shells in a desolate WWII US government built prison camp for innocent Japanese Americans. And it shines a gentle yet bright light on what happened when "There was no justice. Not for my grandfather. Not for any Japanese Americans." A poignant, loving story for children, for us all.--Eric K. Yamamoto, Fred T. Korematsu Professor of Law and Social Justice (emeritus)

Seashells carry a family's story of hope in the midst and aftermath of injustice, resounding for all of us in Fujimoto-Johnson's moving illustrations. --Duncan Ryuken Williams (author of American Sutra)

Building on family lore and extensive historical research, Sharon Fujimoto-Johnson has crafted a moving and beautifully illustrated story based on the World War II incarceration of her Japanese American grandfather in Hawai`i along with the echoes of that story that she learned about in childhood and that continue to the present day. Both a story of historical memory and family through generations and a cautionary tale, Shell Song will be enjoyed by children and by their parents and grandparents alike.--Brian Niiya (Densho Project)

Sharon Fujimoto-Johnson's Shell Song sheds a much-needed light on the unjust incarceration of first-generation persons of Japanese ancestry in Hawai'i during World War II. Her tender prose and beautiful art are fitting tributes to the resilience of the Japanese American incarcerees and serve to invite readers to join in a collective healing from this historic travesty of justice.--Susan H. Kamei, author of When Can We Go Back to America

With spare, lyrical prose, Sharon Fujimoto-Johnson recounts the ordeal her grandfather and his family went through during the unjust and brutal treatment of Americans of Japanese heritage during the Second World War. This poignant story simultaneously spotlights both pain and the joys of an ordinary family forced to endure extraordinary hardships without being didactic or melodramatic. The writing sings like the songs of the shells while the pastel-colored illustrations soften the harsh reality of the situation. It is a perfect book to ease kids--and adults--into learning more about this tragic episode of American history.--Teresa Robeson