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No-No Boy
NoNo Boy
Author: John Okada
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 forsaken 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-inflict...  more »
ISBN-13: 9780295955254
ISBN-10: 0295955252
Publication Date: 2/1978
Pages: 260
Rating:
  • Currently 3.1/5 Stars.
 17

3.1 stars, based on 17 ratings
Publisher: University of Washington Press
Book Type: Paperback
Members Wishing: 3
Reviews: Member | Amazon | Write a Review
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reviewed No-No Boy on + 155 more book reviews
At the end of WWII, the Japanese-Americans interned during the war were released to return to their former homes and pick up their shattered lives. Veterans returned to their families. And those who refused to be drafted into the armed forces while their families were incarcerated for the "crime" of having Japanese ancestry were also released from the prisons they'd occupied during the war years. These "no-no boys" faced ongoing internal--as well as familial and community--conflicts. This is the first Asian American novel published in the U.S., and the first to examine the tensions and pressures within the Issei and Nisei during the war and afterwards. Its author died shortly after its publication.
paigu avatar reviewed No-No Boy on + 120 more book reviews
This book should be mandatory reading for Asian-American studies majors. Very sad, written with such emotion. You can really sense the anger and despair of the protagonist.
CocoCee avatar reviewed No-No Boy on + 404 more book reviews
Ichiro is out from two years in internment camp, then two years prison for not enlisting in the war. It's a sad story. John Okada's description of San Francisco during the time is realistic. An early Asian American classic.


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