Obasan

Joy Kogawa

Sept 2016 · Sold by Penguin

About this eBook

Winner of the American Book Award

Based on the author's own experiences, this award-winning novel was the first to tell the story of the evacuation, relocation, and dispersal of Canadian citizens of Japanese ancestry during the Second World War.

Ratings and reviews

The book was a very interesting one to say the least. It was recommended to me for a book report project. I enjoyed reading the book and it enlightened me on some of the horrendous things Japanese Canadians faced during the 1940s. I would recommend everyone to read this book as it is very inspiring and gets you very hooked onto reading more into it. Some chapters may feel longer than others but by the time you finish the last page you will be glad that you read it all. Overall 9.99/10

Amazing prose, and simply fantastic imagery. Such a wonderful read!!

Very well written

About the author

JOY KOGAWA is best known as the author of Obasan (1981), which is based on Joy and her family’s forced relocation from Vancouver during the Second World War when she was six years old. Joy’s other novels for adults include Itsuka (1992, republished as Emily Kato in 2005) and The Rain Ascends (1995). Her works for children are Naomi’s Road and Naomi’s Tree (2009). Since 1967, Joy has also published several poetry collections, including A Choice of Dreams (1974) and Jericho Road (1977). Among her many honours, Joy has received an Order of Canada (1986), an Order of British Columbia (2006) and, from the Japanese Government, an Order of the Rising Sun (2010) for "her contribution to the understanding and preservation of Japanese Canadian history."