This Light Between US: a Novel of World War II by Andrew Fukuda

This Light Between US: a Novel of World War II

Andrew Fukuda

Tor/Forge · Paperback · March 9, 2021

Winner of the American Library Association's Asian/Pacific American Award for Literature For readers of The Librarian Of Auschwitz, This Light Between Us is a powerfully affecting story of World War II about the unlikeliest of pen pals—a Japanese American boy and a French Jewish girl—as they fight to maintain hope in a time of war. “I remember visiting Manzanar and standing in the windswept plains where over ten thousand internees were once imprisoned, their voices cut off.

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Who it’s for
An epistolary friendship offers a close, affecting way into World War II’s human costs.
Genres
Holocaust Stories for Teens, War & Military YA, Prejudice & Racism for Teens
Published
Tor/Forge, March 9, 2021

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About this book

Winner of the American Library Association's Asian/Pacific American Award for Literature For readers of The Librarian Of Auschwitz, This Light Between Us is a powerfully affecting story of World War II about the unlikeliest of pen pals—a Japanese American boy and a French Jewish girl—as they fight to maintain hope in a time of war. “I remember visiting Manzanar and standing in the windswept plains where over ten thousand internees were once imprisoned, their voices cut off.

Continue reading

I remember how much I wanted to write a story that did right by them. Hopefully this book delivers.”—Andrew Fukuda In 1935, ten-year-old Alex Maki from Bainbridge Island, Washington is disgusted when he’s forced to become pen pals with Charlie Lévy of Paris, France—a girl. He thought she was a boy. In spite of Alex’s reluctance, their letters continue to fly across the Atlantic—and along with them, the shared hopes and dreams of friendship. Until the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor and the growing Nazi persecution of Jews force them to confront the darkest aspects of human nature. From the desolation of an internment camp on the plains of Manzanar to the horrors of Auschwitz and the devastation of European battlefields, the only thing they can hold onto are the memories of their letters. But nothing can dispel the light between them.

Across the Distance

An epistolary friendship offers a close, affecting way into World War II’s human costs.

Come here for

  • Letters that carry friendship across wartime distance
  • A young-adult World War II story shaped by persecution and hope

Expect

  • Emotional stakes grounded in Japanese American incarceration and Nazi persecution
  • A sustained story of connection under pressure

Where it sits

Holocaust Stories for Teens81%
War & Military YA73%
Prejudice & Racism for Teens40%

Percentages are BookFrontier’s reading of the book.

Publisher categories

  • Holocaust Stories for Teens
  • War & Military YA
  • Prejudice & Racism for Teens
Authors
Andrew Fukuda
Publisher
Tor/Forge
Published
March 9, 2021
Format
Paperback
Reading lane
Holocaust Stories for Teens