The Girl with Hair like the Sun by Claire Mix
Obtained: Review copy from author
Release Date: July 6, 2012
Publisher: Class Books (Class Productions)
Pages: 174
Buy it: Book Website & Kindle
Claire Mix: The Girl With Hair Like The Sun Website
Amazon Summary of The Girl with Hair like the Sun
In June of 1943, most young teenagers were hanging out in soda shops, enjoying their summer vacation. However, fifteen-year-old Ruth Mix was volunteering in a Japanese American Internment Camp in the barren heat of the Arizona desert. The daughter of an activist mother, giving help to the needy was common in her life, but nothing would prepare her for the injustices she witnessed working as the only Caucasian nurse’s aide in the Gila River camp hospital.
Despite the strict rules of segregation, Ruth made many secret friendships, and even found love. She watched as the families of her new friends were forced to live in primitive conditions and denied everyday items that she had taken for granted. Eventually, she began smuggling in basic necessities for the internees: fresh food, baby diapers, soap and powder. This simple act of kindness was considered a crime, but Ruth was willing to risk getting caught and arrested.
The tall, red-headed teenager became known among the Japanese American internees as Taiyo mitaina kaminoke: The Girl with Hair like the Sun.
Review
I really liked this book. When Claire first introduced herself to me via email and said she had a book in progress that she would like for me to review, I didn’t know. All I had to go off of was Claire’s passion for this story as well as my love for World War II era history. That time period was such a dark one, that it’s always a pleasure to find stories that shine a light on the good. Ruth’s story is one of those.
Now, there isn’t anything too climactic in this book. There are times when Ruth gets in trouble with her mother for nearly getting caught. I think that’s real life though. We have some climactic moments, but to say, “This is the one moment that defined my life.” I don’t know if I could say that about mine.
Overall, this is a well written book. I sincerely enjoyed this story. It didn’t feel fabricated or sensationalized or anything of that sort. It felt real and wonderful.
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{ 1 comment… read it below or add one }
Visiting this museum was well-worth it for me. I’m not Japanese, so I wondered how a visit to the JANM would resonate with me. I was not expecting the experience to feel so relatable or touching or emotional. But I was wrong.It was a moving experience, reading old letters exchanged between husband and wife…one in an Internment Camp while the other fights in the frontlines of WWII. Fighting prejudice at home and Nazis in Europe. It was frustrating and infuriating to read internal government documents attempting to justify its blatantly wrong actions. The group photos of whole neighborhoods, where no men are present because they’ve all been rounded up to Camps or volunteered to serve in the military, were powerful images of how entire communities were impacted in those years. Shots of little children, holding on to their stuffed toys, crying and clinging to their mothers…that was just plain sad. The museum covers much more than the Internment experience. It gives a very revealing glimpse into Immigration and the draw that America has had (and still has) on immigrants seeking a better life. It also shows the challenges, both for the immigrant and the native. As a child of immigrants, the museum helped me to enter into my parents shoes a bit. The fear, mixing with the hope, seasoned by the uncertainty. The JANM sheds light on an aspect of our country’s history that is woefully underexposed. Its enduring message, however, isn’t one of militancy or disgruntlement or anger or despair. It’s one of perseverance, optimism, and strength through community. That’s perhaps its most important contribution. Check it out when you’re in town.