LIL-120-A

2-1-Q

Greta Jennison

11 September 2025

2 Comments:

• Page 8&9 show the extreme emotional aftermath of being awoken in the night and told to pack up and leave. I really like how the 3 panels on page 8 show the heartbreak of the kids and their mom standing outside their apartment, especially the middle panel in this page is extremely moving and showing the mom crying in front of the kids shows how serious what is happening is. I like how the illustrator drew the tears so plump and gut wrenching to really tell the reader how big of a deal that is. Additionally, he ends that section by saying “that day is burned into my memory forever”, this is telling the audience that this was a hugely traumatizing event that is so shocking he will forever remember the raw emotion he felt when it was happening.
• On page 17, the bottom left panel shows the Japanese couple discovering that their car windows/windshield was smashed and “GET OUT” was painted on the hood of their car. This was a domestic hate crime targeting Japanese Americans that had nothing to do with the attack, or are even born and raised Americans. In this panel, the broadcast of the president addressing the nation states “The people of the United States have already formed their opinions, and well understand the implications to this very life and safety of our nation”. These words are placed on the panel of the japanese couple discovering what happened to their car is very purposeful because it is the author showing that his parents (and all japanese americans) were no longer safe and welcome in america, a place they came to for a better life.

1 Extension:

The panel on page 18 in the top right really stood out to me because it shows a barber shop offering free buzzcuts for those who enlist. I decided to research this because I was curious to see if this was a common thing that barber shops offered at the time. I learned that it was very common for barber shops to offer free buzzcuts to those enlisted as a sort of incentive to enlist and serve the country. I also learned about a WW2 vet named Manny “America” Ruiz received a free haircut on his 100th birthday, which was promised to him many decades ago. It’s also interesting to me that lots of veterans went on to become barbers after the war and offered free haircuts for other vets years after the war. This shows that in times of war and struggle that communities come together to fight wars from across the ocean.

1 Question:

I wonder how many other japanese americans experienced hate crimes like the vandalized car, and how were japanese americans treated in different parts of america? Were there some cities/states that were more welcoming?