Shell Song

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.

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

Sharon Fujimoto-Johnson is a Japanese American author-illustrator who grew up in both America and Japan. She now lives in California in a house filled with three generations of family, two languages, and countless books and art supplies. She's the author-illustrator of The Mochi Makers and Shell Song. Visit her at SharonFJ.com. Sharon Fujimoto-Johnson is a Japanese American author-illustrator who grew up in both America and Japan. She now lives in California in a house filled with three generations of family, two languages, and countless books and art supplies. She's the author-illustrator of The Mochi Makers and Shell Song. Visit her at SharonFJ.com.

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