  | Book Details Title: This Light Between Us: A Novel of World War II |
Book DescriptionReview “Fukuda (The Trap, 2013, etc.) artfully conveys Alex’s inner turmoil and paints visceral combat scenes. …An intriguing premise and fascinating tale.” ―Kirkus Reviews Read more About the Author Born in Manhattan and raised in Hong Kong, ANDREW FUKUDA earned a bachelor’s degree in history from Cornell University and worked as a criminal prosecutor for seven years before becoming a full-time writer. Fukuda’s experience volunteering with the immigrant teen community in Manhattan’s Chinatown led to the writing of Crossing, his debut novel that was selected by ALA Booklist as an Editor’s Choice, Top Ten First Novel, and Top Ten Crime Novel. He currently resides on Long Island, New York, with his family. Read more Customers Review: Excellent.For those who love reading historical fiction especially from the WWII era, I highly recommend this book. Fukuda approaches this genre very differently. This story begins with two young children. One in Bainbridge Island, Washington and the other in Paris, France. As a school assignment, these two become pen pals. Alex Maki is disheartened to learn that his pen pal, Charlie Levy, is actually a girl. But for some reason, he decides to stick to his correspondence years later, even after his school assignment no longer requires that they write.Alex is a bit of a loner and doesn’t have any friends. Charlie, in essence, becomes his only friend.What makes this story unique is that Alex is a Japanese American. Charlie is a French Jew. They become friends right before the war. So this correspondence makes this story even more special since we know what happens when the war begins.Alex and Charlie continue to write after the Japanese are sent to internment camps. A friend of the family delivers the letters to Charlie in Paris. Charlie’s family remains in Paris longer than they should have.When Alex’s letters are returned, he still continues to write, even though there are no more letters from Charlie.This story is about a friendship between two people that have never met but are bound to each other through these letters. It is like the quote from Jane Eyre: “I have a strange feeling with regard to you. As if I had a string somewhere under my left ribs, tightly knotted to a similar string in you. And if you were to leave I’m afraid the cord of communion would snap.”There is a light between them that binds them, and Alex will do what he can to find Charlie.I can’t tell you how much my heart hurt for these two. The story is told through Alex’s eyes. We see the despair around him while they are in the Japanese internment camps. We watch as members of the 442nd are killed around him as they storm Suicide Hill to save the Lost Battalion. And then we see glimpses of Auschwitz and Dachau when the American troops arrive.Alex never gave up looking for her.I cried at the end. I really cried. This was just wonderfully done. I really liked that he chose to link this string under the ribs of a Japanese American boy and a French Jewish girl, a symbol of two groups that were victimized by the war. That is what made this story even more special. | |
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