A Great Book, 27 Jul 1999
In this novel,the nisei drama is sincerely depicted by J.Okada. By penetrating the characters' inner life, we readers not only witness about the conflicts and difficulties they share, but also their struggle to find a way out of this vicious circle. Within this vicious circle there are significant characters like Ichiro (the protogoinst) and Kenji. Kenji served America during WWII. He lost one of his leg in the war, but also he lost his masculinity. However, what bothers him most is the feeling of being deceived by his country. Of course, what is behind of this is the idea of racism, and Okada carefully marks this point. However, things are not same for Ichiro. He refused to fight not only for US. ,but also on behalf of Japan. So he not only rejects both of the countries, but also their cultures. Not knowing where to belong he suffers throughout the book. He suffers complete alienation and psychological confusion because he is the victim of history. Thats where the essence of the situation begins for Ichiro. I bet you are going to love this character and you are going to be Ichiro, you will feel the agony, the logical and emotional torture he's been going through. I loved Ichiro and I felt sorry for Kenji. Kenji knew his end and he is a good friend, because he is the only character which directs Ichiro to the right path. To conclude, in this book you'll also find other concepts like language, religion, culture and customs which play a great role in the book. I strongly recommend this book to everybody.

A must-read if you're interested in U.S. society and history, 27 Jul 1999
I think the historical signifigance of this novel is enormous. It's a 'first-'hand' account of being Japanese-American during WWII. As an Asian-American and avid student of American history and politics, I found Okada's description of the time to be invaluable. Deconstructing his novel from a modern perspective, however, I do have one big gripe. The tone of the novel is restrained. I can sense the anger and somtimes read allusions into the rage, resentment, and sadness the protaganist Ichiro feels about the situation he is in. He also seems to give a lot of excuses and almost apologize for his unhappiness at times. Considering the time and racial climate in which Okada wrote, it's understandable that he tailored his work to be acceptable to a wide audience. And I'm also not surprised that Okada was reluctant to fully vent his anger at a country that still held so much power over, and animosity towards, him. However, those are not the only reasons. I think this is a real problem in Asian-American literature even today. Instead of self-censoring, mitigating, prettifying, or even apologizing for very natural and necessary feelings and sentiments (like Okada does in 'No-No Boy'), minority authors should fully unleash their voices. Otherwise the integrity of the work suffers and the work is does not completely realize its potential. There is a critical element missing. Having said that, I would still strongly recommend 'No-No Boy' to anyone who is interested in America: it's history, it's government, and it's people.

A novel that should be taught in schools more often!, 27 May 1999
In my AP English Literature class, I had a choice of reading any novel of "literary merit" I wanted, and to complete a 25 page analysis of the novel. Of the four books I analyzed in this way this year, No-No Boy was by far my favorite. I am caucasian, yet have always been interested in the dark side of America's role in World War II - the Japanese internment camps. This book is a vivid portrayal of one young man's suffering due to his decision not to swear loyalty to a country that had foresaken his rights as a citizen, and the consequences that result from this decision. Okada deals with a very touchy subject in this novel, for both the white and Japanese-American communities. Ichiro's self-inflicted punishment helps the reader to realize just how awful this experience was for the real No-no boys. This realistic portrayal is rather ironic, since Okada himself chose to serve the United States loyally in the army during World War II. Perhaps this novel was written from the side of him that related more to his Japanese roots than to his newfound American identity, and the guilt he himself must have carried when serving in the Pacific, telling Japanese to surrender in their own language. Okada also deals with a seemingly untouchable issue - that of the discrimination the Japanese-Americans themselves practiced toward other U.S. citizens, although they faced discrimination themselves. This adds to the truthfulness of the novel. Perhaps the only disappointing aspect to the novel is the all-American, happy ending that seems a little too contrived, although it must have been necessary for Okada to write the novel this way in order to gain any readers, because the novel's subject was so controversial at the time it was written. This novel should be taught in high schools and universities across the country, in American literature courses, and not just Asian-American literature courses. Now, multicultural education movements have succeeded in gaining the teaching of more women and African-American writers' novel, but Asian-American literature has still been neglected. The tolerance and understanding that students will gain from reading this novel should be evident immediately after one has read No-No Boy, even though the novel is enjoyable and is hardly preachy-sounding.

Touched my heart deeply, 16 Apr 1999
I have never been so affected by a book before. It amazes me that all the issues brought up in the book still pertains to today's Asian Americans. I found the writing to be honest and refreshing. It shows what happened to the Japanese Americans after the camps and how each were affected differently. I wish Mr. Okada would have received more recognition for his work. Maybe we can change that now.

This Book Is the BOMB! WHY? WEll,You Got To Read it to know, 26 Mar 1999
The No No Boy could have been one of the most asianized novel I have ever read. The fact that it's similar to the article in the reader, " READER ACROSS AMERICA CULTURES." He (Ichiro) was a character who felt like a coward because he didn't believe in himself. He did not know weather he was Americanized or Asianized because he did not join the War and felt like he wasn't a part of any culture. His mother was proud of him because he didn't jion the war, but he felt like he could do something about it, for his country and for himself. SO the novle is based on an indivisual guy with his own opinion about the things that happens around him and why he didn;t joint the war. I give this novel four stars and I highly recommend it.

A Great Book, 27 Jul 1999
In this novel,the nisei drama is sincerely depicted by J.Okada. By penetrating the characters' inner life, we readers not only witness about the conflicts and difficulties they share, but also their struggle to find a way out of this vicious circle. Within this vicious circle there are significant characters like Ichiro (the protogoinst) and Kenji. Kenji served America during WWII. He lost one of his leg in the war, but also he lost his masculinity. However, what bothers him most is the feeling of being deceived by his country. Of course, what is behind of this is the idea of racism, and Okada carefully marks this point. However, things are not same for Ichiro. He refused to fight not only for US. ,but also on behalf of Japan. So he not only rejects both of the countries, but also their cultures. Not knowing where to belong he suffers throughout the book. He suffers complete alienation and psychological confusion because he is the victim of history. Thats where the essence of the situation begins for Ichiro. I bet you are going to love this character and you are going to be Ichiro, you will feel the agony, the logical and emotional torture he's been going through. I loved Ichiro and I felt sorry for Kenji. Kenji knew his end and he is a good friend, because he is the only character which directs Ichiro to the right path. To conclude, in this book you'll also find other concepts like language, religion, culture and customs which play a great role in the book. I strongly recommend this book to everybody.

A must-read if you're interested in U.S. society and history, 27 Jul 1999
I think the historical signifigance of this novel is enormous. It's a 'first-'hand' account of being Japanese-American during WWII. As an Asian-American and avid student of American history and politics, I found Okada's description of the time to be invaluable. Deconstructing his novel from a modern perspective, however, I do have one big gripe. The tone of the novel is restrained. I can sense the anger and somtimes read allusions into the rage, resentment, and sadness the protaganist Ichiro feels about the situation he is in. He also seems to give a lot of excuses and almost apologize for his unhappiness at times. Considering the time and racial climate in which Okada wrote, it's understandable that he tailored his work to be acceptable to a wide audience. And I'm also not surprised that Okada was reluctant to fully vent his anger at a country that still held so much power over, and animosity towards, him. However, those are not the only reasons. I think this is a real problem in Asian-American literature even today. Instead of self-censoring, mitigating, prettifying, or even apologizing for very natural and necessary feelings and sentiments (like Okada does in 'No-No Boy'), minority authors should fully unleash their voices. Otherwise the integrity of the work suffers and the work is does not completely realize its potential. There is a critical element missing. Having said that, I would still strongly recommend 'No-No Boy' to anyone who is interested in America: it's history, it's government, and it's people.

A novel that should be taught in schools more often!, 27 May 1999
In my AP English Literature class, I had a choice of reading any novel of "literary merit" I wanted, and to complete a 25 page analysis of the novel. Of the four books I analyzed in this way this year, No-No Boy was by far my favorite. I am caucasian, yet have always been interested in the dark side of America's role in World War II - the Japanese internment camps. This book is a vivid portrayal of one young man's suffering due to his decision not to swear loyalty to a country that had foresaken his rights as a citizen, and the consequences that result from this decision. Okada deals with a very touchy subject in this novel, for both the white and Japanese-American communities. Ichiro's self-inflicted punishment helps the reader to realize just how awful this experience was for the real No-no boys. This realistic portrayal is rather ironic, since Okada himself chose to serve the United States loyally in the army during World War II. Perhaps this novel was written from the side of him that related more to his Japanese roots than to his newfound American identity, and the guilt he himself must have carried when serving in the Pacific, telling Japanese to surrender in their own language. Okada also deals with a seemingly untouchable issue - that of the discrimination the Japanese-Americans themselves practiced toward other U.S. citizens, although they faced discrimination themselves. This adds to the truthfulness of the novel. Perhaps the only disappointing aspect to the novel is the all-American, happy ending that seems a little too contrived, although it must have been necessary for Okada to write the novel this way in order to gain any readers, because the novel's subject was so controversial at the time it was written. This novel should be taught in high schools and universities across the country, in American literature courses, and not just Asian-American literature courses. Now, multicultural education movements have succeeded in gaining the teaching of more women and African-American writers' novel, but Asian-American literature has still been neglected. The tolerance and understanding that students will gain from reading this novel should be evident immediately after one has read No-No Boy, even though the novel is enjoyable and is hardly preachy-sounding.

Touched my heart deeply, 16 Apr 1999
I have never been so affected by a book before. It amazes me that all the issues brought up in the book still pertains to today's Asian Americans. I found the writing to be honest and refreshing. It shows what happened to the Japanese Americans after the camps and how each were affected differently. I wish Mr. Okada would have received more recognition for his work. Maybe we can change that now.

This Book Is the BOMB! WHY? WEll,You Got To Read it to know, 26 Mar 1999
The No No Boy could have been one of the most asianized novel I have ever read. The fact that it's similar to the article in the reader, " READER ACROSS AMERICA CULTURES." He (Ichiro) was a character who felt like a coward because he didn't believe in himself. He did not know weather he was Americanized or Asianized because he did not join the War and felt like he wasn't a part of any culture. His mother was proud of him because he didn't jion the war, but he felt like he could do something about it, for his country and for himself. SO the novle is based on an indivisual guy with his own opinion about the things that happens around him and why he didn;t joint the war. I give this novel four stars and I highly recommend it.

It was delightful and entertaining!, 06 Aug 1999
This book was very enjoyable. I bought the book to give to my great neice. There is poem titled "God, Why am I brown?" My family has married a lot of anglo's so most of all our neices/nephews and the great neices/nephews are all very light coloring. But this one great neice came out dark with black hair. I feel pure joy and pride when I see her. But, she gets teased about being dark and has asked the question "why am I dark and the others are not". So when I read the poem, I knew I had to give it to her. It has given her pure joy. She is now OUR Aztec princess. She now has a good come back when asked why she is so dark. Thank you for the book. I hope you will publish more like it.

A Great Book, 27 Jul 1999
In this novel,the nisei drama is sincerely depicted by J.Okada. By penetrating the characters' inner life, we readers not only witness about the conflicts and difficulties they share, but also their struggle to find a way out of this vicious circle. Within this vicious circle there are significant characters like Ichiro (the protogoinst) and Kenji. Kenji served America during WWII. He lost one of his leg in the war, but also he lost his masculinity. However, what bothers him most is the feeling of being deceived by his country. Of course, what is behind of this is the idea of racism, and Okada carefully marks this point. However, things are not same for Ichiro. He refused to fight not only for US. ,but also on behalf of Japan. So he not only rejects both of the countries, but also their cultures. Not knowing where to belong he suffers throughout the book. He suffers complete alienation and psychological confusion because he is the victim of history. Thats where the essence of the situation begins for Ichiro. I bet you are going to love this character and you are going to be Ichiro, you will feel the agony, the logical and emotional torture he's been going through. I loved Ichiro and I felt sorry for Kenji. Kenji knew his end and he is a good friend, because he is the only character which directs Ichiro to the right path. To conclude, in this book you'll also find other concepts like language, religion, culture and customs which play a great role in the book. I strongly recommend this book to everybody.

A must-read if you're interested in U.S. society and history, 27 Jul 1999
I think the historical signifigance of this novel is enormous. It's a 'first-'hand' account of being Japanese-American during WWII. As an Asian-American and avid student of American history and politics, I found Okada's description of the time to be invaluable. Deconstructing his novel from a modern perspective, however, I do have one big gripe. The tone of the novel is restrained. I can sense the anger and somtimes read allusions into the rage, resentment, and sadness the protaganist Ichiro feels about the situation he is in. He also seems to give a lot of excuses and almost apologize for his unhappiness at times. Considering the time and racial climate in which Okada wrote, it's understandable that he tailored his work to be acceptable to a wide audience. And I'm also not surprised that Okada was reluctant to fully vent his anger at a country that still held so much power over, and animosity towards, him. However, those are not the only reasons. I think this is a real problem in Asian-American literature even today. Instead of self-censoring, mitigating, prettifying, or even apologizing for very natural and necessary feelings and sentiments (like Okada does in 'No-No Boy'), minority authors should fully unleash their voices. Otherwise the integrity of the work suffers and the work is does not completely realize its potential. There is a critical element missing. Having said that, I would still strongly recommend 'No-No Boy' to anyone who is interested in America: it's history, it's government, and it's people.

A novel that should be taught in schools more often!, 27 May 1999
In my AP English Literature class, I had a choice of reading any novel of "literary merit" I wanted, and to complete a 25 page analysis of the novel. Of the four books I analyzed in this way this year, No-No Boy was by far my favorite. I am caucasian, yet have always been interested in the dark side of America's role in World War II - the Japanese internment camps. This book is a vivid portrayal of one young man's suffering due to his decision not to swear loyalty to a country that had foresaken his rights as a citizen, and the consequences that result from this decision. Okada deals with a very touchy subject in this novel, for both the white and Japanese-American communities. Ichiro's self-inflicted punishment helps the reader to realize just how awful this experience was for the real No-no boys. This realistic portrayal is rather ironic, since Okada himself chose to serve the United States loyally in the army during World War II. Perhaps this novel was written from the side of him that related more to his Japanese roots than to his newfound American identity, and the guilt he himself must have carried when serving in the Pacific, telling Japanese to surrender in their own language. Okada also deals with a seemingly untouchable issue - that of the discrimination the Japanese-Americans themselves practiced toward other U.S. citizens, although they faced discrimination themselves. This adds to the truthfulness of the novel. Perhaps the only disappointing aspect to the novel is the all-American, happy ending that seems a little too contrived, although it must have been necessary for Okada to write the novel this way in order to gain any readers, because the novel's subject was so controversial at the time it was written. This novel should be taught in high schools and universities across the country, in American literature courses, and not just Asian-American literature courses. Now, multicultural education movements have succeeded in gaining the teaching of more women and African-American writers' novel, but Asian-American literature has still been neglected. The tolerance and understanding that students will gain from reading this novel should be evident immediately after one has read No-No Boy, even though the novel is enjoyable and is hardly preachy-sounding.

Touched my heart deeply, 16 Apr 1999
I have never been so affected by a book before. It amazes me that all the issues brought up in the book still pertains to today's Asian Americans. I found the writing to be honest and refreshing. It shows what happened to the Japanese Americans after the camps and how each were affected differently. I wish Mr. Okada would have received more recognition for his work. Maybe we can change that now.

This Book Is the BOMB! WHY? WEll,You Got To Read it to know, 26 Mar 1999
The No No Boy could have been one of the most asianized novel I have ever read. The fact that it's similar to the article in the reader, " READER ACROSS AMERICA CULTURES." He (Ichiro) was a character who felt like a coward because he didn't believe in himself. He did not know weather he was Americanized or Asianized because he did not join the War and felt like he wasn't a part of any culture. His mother was proud of him because he didn't jion the war, but he felt like he could do something about it, for his country and for himself. SO the novle is based on an indivisual guy with his own opinion about the things that happens around him and why he didn;t joint the war. I give this novel four stars and I highly recommend it.

It was delightful and entertaining!, 06 Aug 1999
This book was very enjoyable. I bought the book to give to my great neice. There is poem titled "God, Why am I brown?" My family has married a lot of anglo's so most of all our neices/nephews and the great neices/nephews are all very light coloring. But this one great neice came out dark with black hair. I feel pure joy and pride when I see her. But, she gets teased about being dark and has asked the question "why am I dark and the others are not". So when I read the poem, I knew I had to give it to her. It has given her pure joy. She is now OUR Aztec princess. She now has a good come back when asked why she is so dark. Thank you for the book. I hope you will publish more like it.

Very Good, but one Complaint, 25 Jun 1999
I loved this book so much, next to Walk Two Moons by Sharon Creech, and the sequel to it, Chasing Redbird, Children of the River was my favorite book. I had to read it for school and usually I hate to be forced to read. I hate having a deadline, but I just could not put this book Down!!! I got burried so deep into it, I felt like I was there! I felt for the characters. The only complaint I had was that I wish that the author had given me a better ending! She left me hanging! I wanted to know more about what happened to her parents and sisters and brothers! I was left unfufilled and curious, and I was disappointed. In all other aspects though, I loved it!!!

Very Good When Read More Than Once, 20 Jun 1999
I will tell you the truth. I did not like the book at first. I was assigned it for a summer reading course in preparation for the 8th grade. But two years later i have actually sat down in my spare time to really read the book. I thouroghly enjoyed it this time. So give this book a chance. You may not put it down.

A VERY excellent book, 09 Mar 1999
I liked this book very much. It was very sad and romantic at the same time. I am also Cambodian but I did not know of the culture (because I was born in America) until I read this book. Anyway, I liked this book very much!

A suspensful must-read romance novel, 31 Jan 1999
Children of the River was a wonderful, romantic novel. I couldn't put it down. In school, a group and i read this book. We got a further understanding of it by engaging in a deep discussion. So i say that this book RULES!!! YA!!

Welcome to a new culture!, 09 Dec 1998
This book is a well-writen romance that really makes you aware of cultural differences. It shows the difficulty in moving into another culture; being torn between old traditions and having a new beginning. Children of the River puts you in the heart and soul of the characters, letting you feel the way they do and experience what they are experiencing. All young readers can identify themselves through this romantic story dealing with cross-cultures.