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Reviewed by: Lisa Rice, Middle School Librarian Title: Seen and Unseen: What Dorothea Lange, Toyo Miyatake, and Ansel Adams's Photographs Reveal About the Japanese American Incarceration Author: Elizabeth Partridge and Lauren Tamaki Illustrator: Lauren Tamaki
Publisher: Chronicle Books LLC
Year: 2022 Good for Grades: 5-10 Genre/Type of Book: Nonfiction
Content Warnings, or things that other School Librarians should be aware of: Description of life in the relocation camps.
Recommended for a school library: Yes Reason(s) for choosing the book: I love history books, especially ones with primary sources that I can pour over and study myself, and this book has some great primary sources and did not disappoint. It has a shiny gold seal on the cover indicating that it had won an award, so it checked a second favorite box of mine. Plus, what does Ansel Adams, photographer of mountains in shades of gray, have to do with relocation camps? If you were tasked by the publisher with writing a short quote for the back cover of this book, what would it be: "What does it mean to be an American?"
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Review:
I highly recommend this book. Don't let the fact that it seems like a solid middle school book deter you from getting it for your high schoolers or reading it as an adult. It has won many awards: the Robert F. Sibert Informational Book medal, the Bologna Ragazzi Award for Photography, the Best Book of the Year for Booklist, Kirkus reviews, School Library Journal, the New York Public Library, and more. Most of the pages are in black and white and shades of red, with some text, ink drawings, and photographs that combined tell the history that we don't tell in history class: the time the US used violated the rights of its Japanese American citizens and put them in camps. If I were a US history teacher, I would purchase this book for my classroom library; as it is, I will just have to recommend it to my American history teachers. We need an awareness of all of American history., and you can't deny the power of a photograph.
The book consists of photographs of the Japanese American incarceration taken by three photographers: Lange, Miyatake, and Adams. Each photographer, while photographing the same subject, portrays the experience uniquely. It shows the "power of perspectives" for sure, and the fact that American history is not always something to be proud of. It was interesting to read about the prisoner's, I mean Americans of Japanese ancestry, reactions to Ansel Adams, who was a stranger to them, so they smiled for the pictures he took. Everyone looked so happy in the camps! The shacks they lived in looked like quaint apartments in the photos. What a great discussion to have with a history class. Or any class.
The themes I like the best are put in forms of questions in various spots in the book: What makes us American? How do you make a prison feel like home? Why do words matter (think: concentration camp vs. relocation camp)? Does the US government have a right to violate the rights of its citizens? Which citizens? Also worthy of discussion is the US Constitution and civil liberties, as well the damage that the Model Minority Myth does. This book is rich in discussion starters for sure. It is also great for studying, examining the photos and drawing your own conclusions about this piece of history that gets ignored. I think students will pick up this book. The cover may lead you to believe you are picking up a book on Nazi concentration camps. There is "just the right amount" of text, supported by pictures, drawing, and photos that I think will appeal to students. I hope I see this book circulate often.
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Find resources for Seen and Unseen at Teachingbooks.net
For more information about this book, see the Publishers Website
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