Enemy Child

A biography of Secretary of Transportation and Congressman Norman Mineta that focuses on his childhood when he was placed in the Heart Mountain internment camp during World War II and also touches upon his many accomplishments as an adult.It's 1941 and ten-year-old Norman Mineta is a carefree fourth grader in San Jose, California, who loves baseball, hot dogs, and Cub Scouts. But when Japanese forces attack Pearl Harbor, Norm's world is turned upside down as, one by one, things that he and his Japanese American family took for granted are taken away. In a matter of months, they, along with everyone else of Japanese ancestry living on the West Coast, are forced by the government to move to internment camps, leaving everything they have known behind. Norm and his family are sent to Heart Mountain internment camp in Wyoming, where they live in one room in a tar paper barracks with no running water. There are lines for the communal bathroom, lines for the mess hall, and they live behind barbed wire and under the scrutiny of armed guards in watchtowers. Interweaving meticulous historical research and extensive interviews with Norman Mineta, Andrea Warren takes readers from sunny California to an isolated wartime prison camp and finally to the halls of Congress to tell the true story of a boy who rose from "enemy child" to a distinguished American statesman.

“"In Enemy Child , Andrea Warren shares with the world what Norman Mineta's many friends have known for years: He is a national treasure. Her luminous book tells the story of the Japanese American incarceration with depth and grace and shows how Norm's life is truly an American journey." --Shirley Ann Higuchi, Chair of the Heart Mountain Wyoming Foundation "This is absolutely one of the most important stories for all Americans to know. Andrea Warren's skillful research and writing, and Norman Mineta's irrepressible spirit and patriotism, make Enemy Child a truly special book." --Steve Sheinkin, three-time National Book Award Finalist and author of Bomb, The Port Chicago 50 and Undefeated "An encompassing look at Norman Mineta, the first Asian-American to serve as mayor of a major American city, a Congressman, and Secretary of Commerce and Transportation under George W. Bush. . . . Writing efficiently with concise descriptors, Warren narrates in the third person, focusing primarily on the family and social environment of Mineta's school-age years. . . . Their lives are quickly disrupted by World World II. Mineta now 11, his parents, and most of his much-older siblings are sent to an internment camp in Santa Anita, California. Eventually they end up in Heart Mountain Camp, Wyoming. The experience drives Mineta to later pursue politics and to introduce the Civil Liberties Act of 1988, offering camp survivors restitution and a formal apology from the government. Warren includes anecdotes of white allies, including a chapter about Alan Simpson, a childhood acquaintance and later a political ally of Mineta in Congress. Pronunciation guides to Japanese are provided in the text. Archival photographs provide visuals, and primary-source quotes--including racial slurs-- contribute historical context. . . . an invaluable record of an incredible life."-- Kirkus Reviews”

"By connecting Mineta’s story to the larger events of World War II and its impact on Japanese Americans, the author helps readers learn about a frightening historical injustice. . . . an inspiring story of character and endurance despite hardships. An important, well-told story. An excellent choice for social studies classes, literature circles, and libraries. Extensive back matter enriches understanding of this historical narrative.—School Library Journal, Starred Review

"With so many individual stories, only one absolute emerges from this historical period: a large segment of our population, whether U.S. citizens or first-generation Japanese people deprived of citizenship, were denied their constitutional and civil rights. Warren leaves much to ponder about our nation’s past and present, about 'this beautiful tapestry that is America.'"—The Horn Book, Starred Review

"This is absolutely one of the most important stories for all Americans to know. Andrea Warren’s skillful research and writing, and Norman Mineta's irrepressible spirit and patriotism, make Enemy Child a truly special book."—Steve Sheinkin, three-time National Book Award Finalist and author of Bomb, The Port Chicago 50 and Undefeated

"Writing efficiently with concise descriptors, Warren narrates in the third person, focusing primarily on the family and social environment of Mineta's school-age years. . . . an invaluable record of an incredible life."—Kirkus Reviews


"Warren’s biography adroitly covers Mineta’s subsequent education and distinguished career. Extremely well researched and boasting Mineta’s cooperation, the book is generously illustrated with period black-and-white photos. It’s a fascinating record of an eventful and significant life."  —Booklist

"In Enemy Child, Andrea Warren shares with the world what Norman Mineta's many friends have known for years: He is a national treasure. Her luminous book tells the story of the Japanese American incarceration with depth and grace and shows how Norm's life is truly an American journey."—Shirley Ann Higuchi, Chair of the Heart Mountain Wyoming Foundation

"There are still too few books for youth about U.S. Japanese-American internment, and this affecting volume offers an essential view." —Publishers Weekly

"Warren bases her narrative on interviews as well as other primary and secondary resources, and although readers who have read other work on the internment camps will find much that is familiar, the Mineta family story offers particulars that do not emerge with such clarity in other accounts."  —Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books

Andrea Warren is a writer and journalist who has written many award-winning nonfiction books for children, including Orphan Train Rider- One Boy's True Story, winner of the Boston Globe-Horn Book Award; Surviving Hitler- A Boy in the Nazi Death Camps, a Robert F. Sibert Honor Book; and Escape from Saigon- How a Vietnam War Orphan Became an American Boy. Ms. Warren lives in Kansas.

This item is eligible for free returns within 30 days of delivery. See our returns policy for further details.