So Far From the Bamboo Grove by Yoko Kawashima Watkins

This is a story about a Japanese girl named Yoko who lives in North Korea. At the time it was becoming dangerous for Japanese people to be living there so Yoko and her family decided to move back to Japan. Yoko’s brother Hideyo gets separated from the family and forced to work in an ammunition factory. The Journey from Seoul to Japan is a dangerous one, when Yoko, her mother, and sister reach Japan their mother leaves to find Yoko’s grandparent, who they discover are dead. Shortly after Yoko’s mother dies. Yoko and her sister Ko wait for their brother who, through a turn of events, eventually finds them
This story tugged at my heart because these girls lost pretty much their entire family. They had a great life to begin with and then it was ruined when they had to return to Japan. This personal account depicts how war tears families up. It can so easily destroy all someone hold dear. Yoko and her brother and sister were innocent children how did nothing to deserve the events they had to experience. Their lives and the lives of people around them were affected by the decisions of others. Once I thought about it this way it made war and conflict such as this especially unfair.
This book provokes an emotional response for me and it did for me, a 20 year college student, then it definitely would affect a 4th – 6th grader. This is a good book to teach to a class but I would not recommend it as a read aloud. To introduce the book I would give them some background knowledge so they can have this information as they begin the book. I would have the students read the book individually because it would be more powerful if the students were able to see the text and in their own mind formulate responses to what they read. Then I would have them discuss the content, but since this is such an emotional book be prepared to address the emotions the students might be feeling.