Disclaimer: I received an e-arc of this book from the publisher. Thanks! All opinions are my own.

Book: We Are Not Free

Author: Traci Cee

Book Series: Standalone

Rating: 5/5

Diversity: Japanese MCs and side characters

Recommended For...: history buffs

Publication Date: September 1, 2020

Genre: YA Historical Fiction

Recommended Age: 14+ (war mention, racism, calling out an author for being racist (Dr. Suess), POWs, romance, and slight sexual content, violence)

Publisher: HMH Books for Young Readers

Pages: 400

Synopsis: From New York Times best-selling and acclaimed author Traci Chee comes We Are Not Free, the collective account of a tight-knit group of young Nisei, second-generation Japanese American citizens, whose lives are irrevocably changed by the mass U.S. incarcerations of World War II.

Fourteen teens who have grown up together in Japantown, San Francisco.

Fourteen teens who form a community and a family, as interconnected as they are conflicted.

Fourteen teens whose lives are turned upside down when over 100,000 people of Japanese ancestry are removed from their homes and forced into desolate incarceration camps.

In a world that seems determined to hate them, these young Nisei must rally together as racism and injustice threaten to pull them apart.

Review: For the most part I thought this was an excellent book! I loved the multiple (14) povs and the story of these kids. The book did well to convey the horror of the real life situation Japanese people went through. The book also gave me information that I didn't have due to the poor American education system. I highly urge people to read this. We should know about the horrors we inflicted on our own people.

The only issue I had with the book is that the POV switches can be weird. You start really liking a character then have to go to a new one.

Verdict: Highly recommend and required reading!