HISTORICAL YA FICTION
WE ARE NOT FREE
Clarion Books/HarperCollins (prev. HMH), September 1, 2020
Clarion Books/HarperCollins (prev. HMH), September 1, 2020
“All around me, my friends are talking, joking, laughing. Outside is the camp, the barbed wire, the guard towers, the city, the country that hates us.
We are not free.
But we are not alone.”
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.
We are not free.
But we are not alone.”
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.
ACCOLADES
2020 National Book Award Finalist for Young People's Literature
2021 Printz Honor Book
2021 WNDB Walter Award Honoree
2022 APALA Honor Book
2022 Amelia Elizabeth Walden Award Finalist
TIME 100 Best YA Books of All Time
Cosmopolitan 100 Best YA Novels Everyone Should Read
TIME 10 Best YA and Children's Books of 2020
Apple Books Best Books of the Year 2020
Parents Magazine 10 Best Books for Teens of 2020
Book Riot Best Books of 2020
Forbes The Best YA Books of 2020
Publishers Weekly Best Books 2020
School Library Journal Best YA Books of 2020
Kirkus Reviews Best YA Books of 2020
Amazon Best Young Adult Books of 2020
New York Public Library Top 10 Books for Teens
YALSA 2021 Best Fiction for Young Adults
YALSA 2021 Top Ten Amazing Audiobooks for Young Adults
2021 Printz Honor Book
2021 WNDB Walter Award Honoree
2022 APALA Honor Book
2022 Amelia Elizabeth Walden Award Finalist
TIME 100 Best YA Books of All Time
Cosmopolitan 100 Best YA Novels Everyone Should Read
TIME 10 Best YA and Children's Books of 2020
Apple Books Best Books of the Year 2020
Parents Magazine 10 Best Books for Teens of 2020
Book Riot Best Books of 2020
Forbes The Best YA Books of 2020
Publishers Weekly Best Books 2020
School Library Journal Best YA Books of 2020
Kirkus Reviews Best YA Books of 2020
Amazon Best Young Adult Books of 2020
New York Public Library Top 10 Books for Teens
YALSA 2021 Best Fiction for Young Adults
YALSA 2021 Top Ten Amazing Audiobooks for Young Adults
PRAISE
"An ensemble cast comprising only teens opens a new window on a familiar story, and characters are individuated with sharply distinct voices... Romantic pairings; Jack Daniel’s stashed under floorboards; family backstories fraught with concealed tensions and shame; and life choices, made under pressure, that bear irreversible consequences all paint a literary scene that speaks with immediacy to YA readers."--Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books
★ "Ambitious in scope and complexity, this is an essential contribution to the understanding of the wide-ranging experiences impacting people of Japanese ancestry in the U.S. during WWII."--Publishers Weekly, STARRED review
★ "This is a compelling and transformative story of a tragic period in American history... Each voice is powerful, evoking raw emotions of fear, anger, resentment, uncertainty, grief, pride, and love... An unforgettable must-read."--Kirkus, STARRED review
★ "Chee's words are a lot to take in, but necessary and beautiful all the same. This remarkable book deserves to be in any library collection."--School Library Journal, STARRED review
★ "Chee is a master storyteller…. Here, she uses her own San Francisco–based Japanese American family's history to inform a blazing and timely indictment of the incarceration of Japanese Americans during WWII. Her passion and personal involvement combine with her storytelling talents to create a remarkable and deeply moving account of the incarceration…. [We Are Not Free] should become required curriculum reading on a shameful and relevant chapter in U.S. history." --Booklist, STARRED review
"With a cast of fully developed and beautifully written characters you love and root for, WE ARE NOT FREE reminds us of a shameful episode in American history and asks us not to forget. WE ARE NOT FREE is not only a brave story, it's a necessary one."
–STACEY LEE, award-winning author of OUTRUN THE MOON and THE DOWNSTAIRS GIRL
“This novel is nothing short of a masterpiece. Each individual voice, each individual story is a gem; taken as a whole, they are an unforgettable wonder that you will want to return to again and again.”
–MISA SUGIURA, author of THIS TIME WILL BE DIFFERENT and IT’S NOT LIKE IT’S A SECRET, winner of the 2018 APALA Award for YA Literature
“A powerful and heartbreaking look into history. In a time when it’s integral to remember the failings of our past so that we can ensure we preserve our humanity in the present, Chee brings us a relevant and poignant tale of a group of Japanese-American teens who were forced to feel unwelcome in a country they’ve always called home… I dare you to read this book with dry-eyes. A must-read book."–KAT CHO, author of WICKED FOX
“WE ARE NOT FREE is a human and nuanced examination of our country's contradictions that crackles with anger, confusion, love, humor, and everything in between. Like the best of its genre, it reclaims a slice of history to demand we look at the past--and the present--with new eyes.”–RANDY RIBAY, author of National Book Award Finalist PATRON SAINTS OF NOTHING
"A powerful and starkly honest story of identity and home, fear and hope, WE ARE NOT FREE is like an emotional punch to the gut."–LORI M. LEE, author of FOREST OF SOULS
"WE ARE NOT FREE is a brilliant and intimate portrayal of several San Francisco teenagers during the mass incarceration of Japanese-Americans in World War II. Chee's nuanced and unforgettable characters will serve to enlighten readers about this devastating and shameful piece of America's past. A beautiful, painful, and necessary work of historical fiction."--Veera Hiranandani, Newberry Honor winning author of THE NIGHT DIARY
"These powerful interconnected stories of incarceration during WWII told by Nisei youth will wrap around your heart like barbed wire. With deft touches of humor, heart, pathos, and anger, WE ARE NOT FREE by the talented Traci Chee is the best Japanese American incarceration novel I've read. I loved this book that epitomized gaman and will be buying a copy for everyone in my family." --DEBBI MICHIKO FLORENCE, author of KEEP IT TOGETHER, KEIKO CARTER
"Powerful and illuminating, and as hopeful as it is heartbreaking–one of the best YA books I’ve read in years.”–ELSIE CHAPMAN, author of CASTER
“Devastating, vital and deeply human, WE ARE NOT FREE is a tour de force and should be required reading—for this moment in time and for every future generation.” --KELLY LOY GILBERT, Morris Award Finalist and author of CONVICTION and PICTURE US IN THE LIGHT
“Traci Chee masterfully weaves together harrowing truths about the mass incarceration of Japanese and Japanese-Americans during WWII, and features a cast of friends whose honesty, strength, and love for one another will break your heart. With characters who need to have their stories told, and a history that should never be forgotten, WE ARE NOT FREE is powerful, moving, and so incredibly necessary.” --AKEMI DAWN BOWMAN, Morris Award Finalist and author of STARFISH