On Sunday I had the pleasure of meeting Beverly Patt the author of Best Friends Forever: A WWII Scrapbook. Her book follows the lives of two little girls, Dottie and Louise, whose lives change drastically after Dottie and her family are taken away to a Japanese Internment Camp after the bombing of Pearl Harbor. The book is a record of letters and pictures from both Dottie and Louise as their friendship remained intact while Dottie and her family were away. As a scrapbook it gives the reader an opportunity to read and visualize at the same time.
Although the book is based on fictional characters it is inspired by real events, places, people, and artifacts. As a young girl Beverly's mother spoke of a family that just up and disappeared from the neighborhood and it wasn't until she was in her adult years that Beverly realized that the family had in fact been transported to an internment camp. Having little knowledge of what this actually involved she began her research and eventually it evolved into this book.
Beverly put a lot of time into researching not only books and the internet but individuals who had been in internment camps or the families of these people. She was determined to make sure that the artifacts used were as true to the real thing as possible so that this book would not only be educational and light hearted for readers of all ages but a true testament to the past.
The book and author are truly amazing. I throughly enjoyed reading it because it gives you just enough background and history as well as the perfect amount of visual to keep you turning for more. If your looking for a book that gives you a mild peek into the experiences of internees in these camps this book is a wonderful introduction.
http://www.beverlypatt.com/read_me.html
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