Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet

     The second book I’ve read this summer is Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet by Jamie Ford. This book takes place in the years of World War II, in the city of Seattle. Henry, the main character, was a Chinese boy, but went to an all-white school. Henry absolutely hated it; he had to earn his tuition by working in the cafeteria and all the kids made fun of him because he wasn’t like them.  He had absolutely no friends, until Keiko came along. Keiko also had to work in the cafeteria during lunch, so she became instant friends with Henry. The only problem is that Keiko was Japanese. Soon after the Japanese bombing of Pearl Harbor, Keiko’s family along with many other Japanese families on the Pacific Coast were taken to internment camps to make sure they weren’t spies for Japan or of any danger to America. This book is all about Henry’s life during the war and trying to stay in touch with the girl he loved when she had been taken away from him.

     While reading this book I considered how I would feel if I were a person of Japanese origin, and was taken from my home to an internment camp. Overall, I think I would feel very betrayed, because many of the Japanese sent to these camps were American citizens! Also, lots of people immigrate to America for the sense of freedom, but we gave people no choice in this! We ordered all Japanese people considered a threat to leave their house, friends, and most of their belongings behind to move to internment camps where many people even got split up from their family! To me, it seems completely unfair to make anyone do this, especially considering most of the Japanese sent to the camps were either citizens or children.  Then, when people returned to their homes after the war, many found their Japanese cities and neighborhoods to be totally changed! This book made me feel very sympathetic for Japanese-Americans living during World War II

         Another thing I thought about while reading this book is how I would feel about the Japanese during this time period if I were a Caucasian American. Many people resented all Japanese people, and some wouldn’t even allow Japanese people to eat in their restaurants or shop in their stores. I always have sympathy for people who are considered outcasts like the Japanese were, so I think I would be accepting of them. In the book, Henry writes to Keiko while she’s away but never gets a response, because his dad disapproves of his friendship with a Japanese person and makes sure the post office never delivers Keiko’s letters to him. To me it sounds crazy that Henry’s dad would keep him from getting letters from his best friend just because she’s Japanese! I think that everyone should be treated equal, and that the Japanese should not have had to be punished for the actions of a country they no longer lived in.

      While this book had a bit of a slow beginning, I ended up really enjoying it! The author does a great job of showing how what happens to Henry as a boy effects him when he grows older, through an epilogue sort of ending.  The next book I will be reading will be my choice book, and I think I’m going to choose The Fault in Our Stars by John Green. I can’t wait to read it!

  

    ~Savannah Kingery