What do you think?
Rate this book
Seen and Unseen: What Dorothea Lange, Toyo Miyatake, and Ansel Adams's Photographs Reveal About the Japanese American Incarceration
This important work of nonfiction features powerful images of the Japanese American incarceration captured by three photographers—Dorothea Lange, Toyo Miyatake, and Ansel Adams—along with firsthand accounts of this grave moment in history.
Three months after Japan attacked Pearl Harbor in 1941, US President Franklin D. Roosevelt ordered the incarceration of all Japanese and Japanese Americans living on the West Coast of the United States. Families, teachers, farm workers—all were ordered to leave behind their homes, their businesses, and everything they owned. Japanese and Japanese Americans were forced to live under hostile conditions in incarceration camps, their futures uncertain.
Three photographers set out to document life at Manzanar, an incarceration camp in the California desert:
Dorothea Lange was a photographer from San Francisco best known for her haunting Depression-era images. Dorothea was hired by the US government to record the conditions of the camps. Deeply critical of the policy, she wanted her photos to shed light on the harsh reality of incarceration.
Toyo Miyatake was a Japanese-born, Los Angeles–based photographer who lent his artistic eye to portraying dancers, athletes, and events in the Japanese community. Imprisoned at Manzanar, he devised a way to smuggle in photographic equipment, determined to show what was really going on inside the barbed-wire confines of the camp.
Ansel Adams was an acclaimed landscape photographer and environmentalist. Hired by the director of Manzanar, Ansel hoped his carefully curated pictures would demonstrate to the rest of the United States the resilience of those in the camps.
In Seen and Unseen, Elizabeth Partridge and Lauren Tamaki weave together these photographers' images, firsthand accounts, and original art to examine the history and injustice of the Japanese American incarceration.
Three months after Japan attacked Pearl Harbor in 1941, US President Franklin D. Roosevelt ordered the incarceration of all Japanese and Japanese Americans living on the West Coast of the United States. Families, teachers, farm workers—all were ordered to leave behind their homes, their businesses, and everything they owned. Japanese and Japanese Americans were forced to live under hostile conditions in incarceration camps, their futures uncertain.
Three photographers set out to document life at Manzanar, an incarceration camp in the California desert:
Dorothea Lange was a photographer from San Francisco best known for her haunting Depression-era images. Dorothea was hired by the US government to record the conditions of the camps. Deeply critical of the policy, she wanted her photos to shed light on the harsh reality of incarceration.
Toyo Miyatake was a Japanese-born, Los Angeles–based photographer who lent his artistic eye to portraying dancers, athletes, and events in the Japanese community. Imprisoned at Manzanar, he devised a way to smuggle in photographic equipment, determined to show what was really going on inside the barbed-wire confines of the camp.
Ansel Adams was an acclaimed landscape photographer and environmentalist. Hired by the director of Manzanar, Ansel hoped his carefully curated pictures would demonstrate to the rest of the United States the resilience of those in the camps.
In Seen and Unseen, Elizabeth Partridge and Lauren Tamaki weave together these photographers' images, firsthand accounts, and original art to examine the history and injustice of the Japanese American incarceration.
132 pages, Hardcover
Published October 25, 2022
40 people are currently reading
3077 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 357 reviews
March 23, 2023
This was excellent
April 24, 2022
I will be moderating a panel next month on nonfiction and this title is one of them and by golly, I'm in love. The approach to the story is innovative and unique, reminding me of Photographic: The Life of Graciela Iturbide that combines both the photography of real life photographers with the illustrative style of another artist, Lauren Tamaki to "fill in" where the photography and narrative left off. It completes a beautiful circle of a dark time in American history in which the Executive Order 9066 signed by Roosevelt allowed the forced removal of Japanese Nisei, born in the United States and therefore citizens as well as their Issei family who had immigrated to the United States but were denied citizenship.
The triumvirate of three photographers, Lange, Miyatake, and Adams all had their reasons for taking pictures in the camps. Lange's was commissioned by the government and subject to their approval, Miyatake was an incarcerated Japanese person who was skilled and "built" a full-blown camera to take pictures as an insider, and Adams, who was invited by a friend who ran Manzanar to manipulate the narrative of the incarceration as more Japanese were released from the camps and shifted back into society. There's a peek into their craft as well as some of their photography and how they felt about it. The book sets out to do what the title and subtitle say and contributes another thoughtful, respectful, and critical view on this hateful period in American history.
The triumvirate of three photographers, Lange, Miyatake, and Adams all had their reasons for taking pictures in the camps. Lange's was commissioned by the government and subject to their approval, Miyatake was an incarcerated Japanese person who was skilled and "built" a full-blown camera to take pictures as an insider, and Adams, who was invited by a friend who ran Manzanar to manipulate the narrative of the incarceration as more Japanese were released from the camps and shifted back into society. There's a peek into their craft as well as some of their photography and how they felt about it. The book sets out to do what the title and subtitle say and contributes another thoughtful, respectful, and critical view on this hateful period in American history.
November 30, 2022
What a remarkable book! It's a reminder to take a look back about what you learned in school and do a little digging. I remember learning about Pearl Harbor and the internment camps, but honestly it's mostly dates and vocab words. What Seen and Unseen does is take that horrific time and tell what happened. One of the best parts of this book is the discussion of language and how certain words are used to make a situation seem better than it was. Japanese Americans were unfairly arrested without cause and were sent to prison without a trial all because of their heritage.
The photographs are haunting and the illustrations do a fantastic job of telling parts of the story.
The photographs are haunting and the illustrations do a fantastic job of telling parts of the story.
October 8, 2022
Thank you Goodreads for the ARC in exchange for this honest review.
I was in my 40s before I heard about the Japanese incarceration camps. I was shocked. How had I never heard about them before? This new nonfiction book reminds us that it did happen, in an easy-to-read middle grade book that recounts their history at an age appropriate level of details. The style is beautiful, the quotes are powerful, and the numerous photographs and sketches enthralling. The photos are truly special, whether there are of a more honest depiction of occurrences or an idealized one. Both have a place.
This shameful time in our history steadily unfolds with how the camps were started, what life was like inside, and how they came to an end. I really appreciated the photographers’ bios, the photograph notes, and the author’s and illustrator’s notes which further deepen my understanding. The legal/governmental follow-up is equally interesting, providing insight into the why and how it all came about. I hope it’s enough to keep this from happening again.
While I can’t say that I “enjoyed” this book, I’m glad that I read it. Perhaps Seen and Unseen should be required reading.
I was in my 40s before I heard about the Japanese incarceration camps. I was shocked. How had I never heard about them before? This new nonfiction book reminds us that it did happen, in an easy-to-read middle grade book that recounts their history at an age appropriate level of details. The style is beautiful, the quotes are powerful, and the numerous photographs and sketches enthralling. The photos are truly special, whether there are of a more honest depiction of occurrences or an idealized one. Both have a place.
This shameful time in our history steadily unfolds with how the camps were started, what life was like inside, and how they came to an end. I really appreciated the photographers’ bios, the photograph notes, and the author’s and illustrator’s notes which further deepen my understanding. The legal/governmental follow-up is equally interesting, providing insight into the why and how it all came about. I hope it’s enough to keep this from happening again.
While I can’t say that I “enjoyed” this book, I’m glad that I read it. Perhaps Seen and Unseen should be required reading.
August 7, 2023
Interesting non-fiction book about the Japanese Concentration camps and different photographers that took pictures there. This is written for children, but I think it is great for all ages. I had never heard of Toyo Miyatake before and found the part about him to be fascinating.
February 28, 2023
Incredibly moving and tragically beautiful (artistically speaking). I loved the format of photos with illustrations, stories, and primary sources. A great book about another tough topic in US history that we don't talk or teach nearly enough about.
July 10, 2023
"The truth is powerful. We need to use honest, accurate language to tell the real story of our history."
"Even after careful investigations, no acts of sabotage or spying were ever found to have been committed by Japanese and Japanese Americans living in the United States during the war."
Yet, we are banning books or changing our history in educating our children. We are still prejudice against others because of demographics or sexual orientation.
This book is beautifully written and illustrated and includes authentic photographs and stories. What our ancestors did is heart wrenching and yet those imprisoned were loyal, strong and smiled in photographs.
"Even after careful investigations, no acts of sabotage or spying were ever found to have been committed by Japanese and Japanese Americans living in the United States during the war."
Yet, we are banning books or changing our history in educating our children. We are still prejudice against others because of demographics or sexual orientation.
This book is beautifully written and illustrated and includes authentic photographs and stories. What our ancestors did is heart wrenching and yet those imprisoned were loyal, strong and smiled in photographs.
February 1, 2023
Robert F. Sibert Medal
Thank you to Chronicle Books.
Though Seen and Unseen is a relatively short book, the author and illustrator have presented a fairly thorough history of the internment from beginning to end. Like many people have already commented, I would've loved more photographs but only because they are so compelling. In my opinion, the balance of photograph to text, history to personal account, is just right – no one element distracts from the other. What I found particularly effective was the authors use of three different photographers. In addition to prompting further discussions about the Japanese Internment, parents and teachers will have a good launch pad to ask about each photographer's differing perspective and whether or not they expressed their activism or perpetuated the US government's narrative.
Another excellent telling of hard topics for kids.
Thank you to Chronicle Books.
Though Seen and Unseen is a relatively short book, the author and illustrator have presented a fairly thorough history of the internment from beginning to end. Like many people have already commented, I would've loved more photographs but only because they are so compelling. In my opinion, the balance of photograph to text, history to personal account, is just right – no one element distracts from the other. What I found particularly effective was the authors use of three different photographers. In addition to prompting further discussions about the Japanese Internment, parents and teachers will have a good launch pad to ask about each photographer's differing perspective and whether or not they expressed their activism or perpetuated the US government's narrative.
Another excellent telling of hard topics for kids.
February 13, 2023
The art and photography in this is amazing!!
August 17, 2022
My son is very into asking hard questions these days. He’s eight and has discovered the beauty of putting adults on the spot with a hard-hitting query. “What’s your greatest regret?” he might ask one day. Or “What was the best day of your life?” Very into superlatives my son. It isn’t all personal, though. We might be discussing politics at the dinner table when he’ll suddenly interject with, “Who was the greatest president of all time?” And we all have our favorites but most of the time FDR rises to the top. Now here’s where it becomes a little more difficult to be a parent in the early part of the 21st century. You can’t just say FDR was the greatest president, full stop. Sometimes (often) a little nuance is in order. So you could list all the good things that FDR did and then couch that with some complexity. “He was great, but he wasn’t perfect. He did some awful things.” And when the child asks for clarification (which they will) that’s when you get into the subject of the incarceration of the Japanese and Japanese Americans living on the West Coast of the U.S. If you want to really take a deep dive into the subject there are a lot of different children’s books you can use. Want middle grade fiction? Try Weedflower by Cynthia Kadohata. A graphic novel more your speed? Stealing Home by J. Torres works well. For the younger end of the scale, as in a picture book form, you could do Love in the Library by Maggie Tokuda-Hall. But I think that for a long time from now, the book I’m going to keep coming back to will be Elizabeth Partridge and Lauren Tamaki’s Seen and Unseen. Not only does it show the incarceration camps for what they were but it also offers a clever lesson on how the media is able to frame, crop, and generally direct the images we see in our news and that manipulates our opinions. By taking three photographers that shot the camps in three different ways, we get a well-rounded portrait of a government desperate to sell a bad idea to the American public under the guise of openness.
On December 7, 1941 the Japanese bombed a U.S. Navy Base at Pearl Harbor in Hawai’i. On February 19, 1942 President Franklin D. Roosevelt issued the removal of 120,000 people of Japanese ancestry from the West Coast. It took that little time. In Seen and Unseen we follow three photographers that captured images of the detention centers where American citizens were interred. The first of these was Dorothea Lange, who was horrified by the government’s plan and decided to take photos that would show what was happening to the people. When she turned in her images, Major Beasley at the army’s Western Defense Command disliked any shot that truthfully showed the harsh conditions suffered by the imprisoned. As a result, many images were impounded until long after the war. The second photographer was Toyo Miyatake, imprisoned himself from 1942-1945, who was able to smuggle in film and other supplies. To this day the most accurate images from inside the camps are attributed to him. Finally, the last photographer was Ansel Adams, a man uninterested in showing things as bleak. Whenever possible he showed things as happy, people in the camps working hard, living their best lives. While his intentions were to show to white Americans that Japanese Americans were trustworthy and patriotic, his photos told a lie of the lives they were forced to lead. Copious backmatter shows the aftermath of the camps, sections on civil liberties and the constitution, further info on the photographers and creators of this book, and a keen two-page breakdown of “the model minority myth” by artist Lauren Tamaki.
I was a photography major in college and I never quite lost my love of the format. My ache for it comes and goes over the years, but this book really reminded me why I love this art more than so many others. Elizabeth Partridge is, herself, the goddaughter of Dorothea Lange, which lends a certain personal aspect to the book. Though many children’s books utilize photography in some capacity, few of them give such a clear cut understanding of why photos can be an important tool when fighting injustice. Not that Partridge is drumming that message into anybody’s head. “Show don’t tell” is the name of the game here. She lets the facts and photos bear the bulk of the burden. And as the premise of the book is to show why they were so dire, not simply to us today but to the government and the people then, you can’t walk away from this and not be aware of the impact of how you (literally) frame the truth.
Partridge’s choice to focus on the three photographers in particular is keen, and it’s interesting to work out her process. She structures the book with Lange first, Miyatake second, and Adams third. I think she went with chronology as her guide. Certainly, if that wasn’t a factor, you might want to switch it up a bit. Place the put-on-a-happy-face Adams first, Lange with her gimlet eye second, and the pure truth of Miyatake third. But the way it currently stands works too. With Lange first you start with how these camps came to be, and Lange’s fury with them right from the start. Then you cut to what it’s like inside the camps and Miyatake’s work there. Ending with Ansel Adams feels like backtracking but has everything to do with not simply how the government was trying to sell this situation to the American public, but also how history was in danger of doing the same. Without Lange and Miyatake, the Adams photographs could remain dangerously unchallenged.
Which makes it all the more impressive that Lauren Tamaki was brought on to this project. Partridge has produced photo-centric books before, all to the good. But to the best of my knowledge this kind of illustrated, photographic mash-up is new to her. At an initial glance I figured the illustrations would simply fill in the gaps where photographs could not go. The bulk of Toyo Miyatake’s incarceration, for example, would be a prime time to do so. But the art is much cleverer than that. It fills the book, giving it a graphic novel feel. More to the point, it incorporates actual photographs into the images. A drawing of Toyo Miyatake photographs a photo of a man and woman in his studio. A horrific racist drawing of a “Jap” hangs on a street, the watercolors of Japanese-Americans averting their eyes. Ms. Tamaki’s use of color is also particularly interesting. In the sequence where film is smuggled into the camps to Miyatake, the sole source of color is a man’s coat. When the supplies are removed from the coat and Miyatake gazes at them in his hands, there’s just the faintest echo of the reddish-peach color there. Turn the page and now that color has been amplified into a gorgeous sky, as Miyatake takes a few photographs in the early morning light. There is such care and attention paid to when and where Tamaki punctuates a page with her art. Every last leaf of this book has been strategically designed by Tamaki and Lydia Ortiz, and the sheer amount of work results in something folks sometimes forget about when they review books for kids: A kid would actually want to read this. I’m serious! Any kid into graphic novels and comics is going to fall naturally into reading this factual history. The transition is almost seamless.
All of this reminds me of an interesting debate that surrounds illustrated nonfiction for children. Some of us (guilty party here) spend a lot of time speculating about truth in works of biography. For example, to include fake dialogue within quotation marks implies that someone actually said those words, so that’s no good. Likewise merging real people together or mucking with the facts is frowned upon. But what about illustrations? We cannot for certain say that this man stood at this angle and leaned his body in this particular way at this point in history, can we? All this means that Ms. Tamaki must often walk a fine line between fact and fiction. We cannot say that this particular woman passed a racist sign and then wiped her eyes with the back of her hand, but since the book does not precisely say who this woman was, we can extrapolate that she represents the many women who did exactly that. The people waiting in line, huddled under umbrellas, or lying in the shade of a building on a hot day, they existed. Maybe not at that exact moment but the truth lies in the representation if not the exactitude of the moment. As such, I’d say that this book is wholly factual, from its art to its photography, to its writing.
This year, some of my colleagues and I came to a new realization about backmatter in children’s books. Simply put, if the backmatter is better than the main text, more interesting or more nuanced or simply contains the facts you wish you’d seen in the story itself, that’s a problem. Here? Not a problem. That said, the backmatter is absolutely fascinating. We’ve come a long way from the days when nonfiction for kids could just throw a bunch of suppositions together and call it a day. Here, Partridge and Tamaki have split the backmatter into eleven different sections. There’s “After the War”, “Why Words Matter”, “Citizenship Violated”, “Civil Liberties and the Constitution,” “Keeping Our Democracy Strong,” bios of the three photographers, an Author’s Note (accompanied by a photo that I suspect is of Partridge as a kid with Lange), an Illustrator’s Note, “The Damage of the Model Minority Myth”, Notes, and Photo Credits. Each one highlights a different aspect of the book itself. I was particularly taken with “Why Words Matter” which explains how the U.S. government used language to downplay what it did to the incarcerated Japanese and Japanese-Americans. The book mentions that the words used in this book (“forced removal”, “detention centers”, “inmates”, “prisoners”, and “concentration camps”) are more accurate than many of the terms you usually hear about this time. It explains as well why “concentration camps”, though it may initially sound overly harsh, is the more accurate phrase here.
I am writing this review at a time in our country where any books that present American history through anything less than rose-colored glasses are, by some people, considered supremely suspect. I have no doubt at all in my mind that there are book banners around the U.S. that would very much like to keep this book out of the hands of children. In spite of that fact, have you considered at all how lucky our kids are right now? We live at a time when writers and illustrators for children are, by and large, inclined to tell children the truth about history. About mistakes made and how we need to learn from them when going into the future. As books about this moment in history go, Seen and Unseen has gotta be one of the most enjoyable I’ve ever encountered. Not that the subject matter is dappled in sunlight or anything, but it’s just a pleasure to read. The mix of illustration and photography is expertly done, the text never thick and dull. You are sucked into Partridge’s telling and Tamaki’s art from the get go. And if a couple kids become interested in how visual images are used by governments to sway or by citizens to reveal, all to the good. History, photography, comic art, and a distinctly contemporary take on telling kids the truth about the past. What could be better?
On December 7, 1941 the Japanese bombed a U.S. Navy Base at Pearl Harbor in Hawai’i. On February 19, 1942 President Franklin D. Roosevelt issued the removal of 120,000 people of Japanese ancestry from the West Coast. It took that little time. In Seen and Unseen we follow three photographers that captured images of the detention centers where American citizens were interred. The first of these was Dorothea Lange, who was horrified by the government’s plan and decided to take photos that would show what was happening to the people. When she turned in her images, Major Beasley at the army’s Western Defense Command disliked any shot that truthfully showed the harsh conditions suffered by the imprisoned. As a result, many images were impounded until long after the war. The second photographer was Toyo Miyatake, imprisoned himself from 1942-1945, who was able to smuggle in film and other supplies. To this day the most accurate images from inside the camps are attributed to him. Finally, the last photographer was Ansel Adams, a man uninterested in showing things as bleak. Whenever possible he showed things as happy, people in the camps working hard, living their best lives. While his intentions were to show to white Americans that Japanese Americans were trustworthy and patriotic, his photos told a lie of the lives they were forced to lead. Copious backmatter shows the aftermath of the camps, sections on civil liberties and the constitution, further info on the photographers and creators of this book, and a keen two-page breakdown of “the model minority myth” by artist Lauren Tamaki.
I was a photography major in college and I never quite lost my love of the format. My ache for it comes and goes over the years, but this book really reminded me why I love this art more than so many others. Elizabeth Partridge is, herself, the goddaughter of Dorothea Lange, which lends a certain personal aspect to the book. Though many children’s books utilize photography in some capacity, few of them give such a clear cut understanding of why photos can be an important tool when fighting injustice. Not that Partridge is drumming that message into anybody’s head. “Show don’t tell” is the name of the game here. She lets the facts and photos bear the bulk of the burden. And as the premise of the book is to show why they were so dire, not simply to us today but to the government and the people then, you can’t walk away from this and not be aware of the impact of how you (literally) frame the truth.
Partridge’s choice to focus on the three photographers in particular is keen, and it’s interesting to work out her process. She structures the book with Lange first, Miyatake second, and Adams third. I think she went with chronology as her guide. Certainly, if that wasn’t a factor, you might want to switch it up a bit. Place the put-on-a-happy-face Adams first, Lange with her gimlet eye second, and the pure truth of Miyatake third. But the way it currently stands works too. With Lange first you start with how these camps came to be, and Lange’s fury with them right from the start. Then you cut to what it’s like inside the camps and Miyatake’s work there. Ending with Ansel Adams feels like backtracking but has everything to do with not simply how the government was trying to sell this situation to the American public, but also how history was in danger of doing the same. Without Lange and Miyatake, the Adams photographs could remain dangerously unchallenged.
Which makes it all the more impressive that Lauren Tamaki was brought on to this project. Partridge has produced photo-centric books before, all to the good. But to the best of my knowledge this kind of illustrated, photographic mash-up is new to her. At an initial glance I figured the illustrations would simply fill in the gaps where photographs could not go. The bulk of Toyo Miyatake’s incarceration, for example, would be a prime time to do so. But the art is much cleverer than that. It fills the book, giving it a graphic novel feel. More to the point, it incorporates actual photographs into the images. A drawing of Toyo Miyatake photographs a photo of a man and woman in his studio. A horrific racist drawing of a “Jap” hangs on a street, the watercolors of Japanese-Americans averting their eyes. Ms. Tamaki’s use of color is also particularly interesting. In the sequence where film is smuggled into the camps to Miyatake, the sole source of color is a man’s coat. When the supplies are removed from the coat and Miyatake gazes at them in his hands, there’s just the faintest echo of the reddish-peach color there. Turn the page and now that color has been amplified into a gorgeous sky, as Miyatake takes a few photographs in the early morning light. There is such care and attention paid to when and where Tamaki punctuates a page with her art. Every last leaf of this book has been strategically designed by Tamaki and Lydia Ortiz, and the sheer amount of work results in something folks sometimes forget about when they review books for kids: A kid would actually want to read this. I’m serious! Any kid into graphic novels and comics is going to fall naturally into reading this factual history. The transition is almost seamless.
All of this reminds me of an interesting debate that surrounds illustrated nonfiction for children. Some of us (guilty party here) spend a lot of time speculating about truth in works of biography. For example, to include fake dialogue within quotation marks implies that someone actually said those words, so that’s no good. Likewise merging real people together or mucking with the facts is frowned upon. But what about illustrations? We cannot for certain say that this man stood at this angle and leaned his body in this particular way at this point in history, can we? All this means that Ms. Tamaki must often walk a fine line between fact and fiction. We cannot say that this particular woman passed a racist sign and then wiped her eyes with the back of her hand, but since the book does not precisely say who this woman was, we can extrapolate that she represents the many women who did exactly that. The people waiting in line, huddled under umbrellas, or lying in the shade of a building on a hot day, they existed. Maybe not at that exact moment but the truth lies in the representation if not the exactitude of the moment. As such, I’d say that this book is wholly factual, from its art to its photography, to its writing.
This year, some of my colleagues and I came to a new realization about backmatter in children’s books. Simply put, if the backmatter is better than the main text, more interesting or more nuanced or simply contains the facts you wish you’d seen in the story itself, that’s a problem. Here? Not a problem. That said, the backmatter is absolutely fascinating. We’ve come a long way from the days when nonfiction for kids could just throw a bunch of suppositions together and call it a day. Here, Partridge and Tamaki have split the backmatter into eleven different sections. There’s “After the War”, “Why Words Matter”, “Citizenship Violated”, “Civil Liberties and the Constitution,” “Keeping Our Democracy Strong,” bios of the three photographers, an Author’s Note (accompanied by a photo that I suspect is of Partridge as a kid with Lange), an Illustrator’s Note, “The Damage of the Model Minority Myth”, Notes, and Photo Credits. Each one highlights a different aspect of the book itself. I was particularly taken with “Why Words Matter” which explains how the U.S. government used language to downplay what it did to the incarcerated Japanese and Japanese-Americans. The book mentions that the words used in this book (“forced removal”, “detention centers”, “inmates”, “prisoners”, and “concentration camps”) are more accurate than many of the terms you usually hear about this time. It explains as well why “concentration camps”, though it may initially sound overly harsh, is the more accurate phrase here.
I am writing this review at a time in our country where any books that present American history through anything less than rose-colored glasses are, by some people, considered supremely suspect. I have no doubt at all in my mind that there are book banners around the U.S. that would very much like to keep this book out of the hands of children. In spite of that fact, have you considered at all how lucky our kids are right now? We live at a time when writers and illustrators for children are, by and large, inclined to tell children the truth about history. About mistakes made and how we need to learn from them when going into the future. As books about this moment in history go, Seen and Unseen has gotta be one of the most enjoyable I’ve ever encountered. Not that the subject matter is dappled in sunlight or anything, but it’s just a pleasure to read. The mix of illustration and photography is expertly done, the text never thick and dull. You are sucked into Partridge’s telling and Tamaki’s art from the get go. And if a couple kids become interested in how visual images are used by governments to sway or by citizens to reveal, all to the good. History, photography, comic art, and a distinctly contemporary take on telling kids the truth about the past. What could be better?
January 14, 2024
This was an excellent and engaging read! The illustrations and handwritten text in most of the book detailing the timeline of the Japanese American incarceration made me want to soak in every inch of the page and the images. I was infuriated with the history, I can’t say I knew much about this point in time outside of what I learned in high school. I thoroughly enjoyed learning how each of the photographers used their skill to document such a tumultuous time. This is a reminder that words matter (thinking about the language the government used to hide their prejudice hysterics). It is also a reminder that a photograph is still only a piece of the story. There is as much said as there is unsaid or UNSEEN outside the literal frame of an image and the context in which it’s made and distributed. I’m so fortunate to have been encouraged to read this book.
February 10, 2023
A beautiful mix of illustrations and photographs that tell an important story.
June 4, 2022
It's hard to express how much a book like this one means to me, a third-generation Japanese American, who has always felt 100% American, but knows our dark history during the war.
I grew up in Hawaii, where a large part of the population is Japanese. Many people, including my own grandparents, immigrated from Japan to Hawaii in the early 1900s in order to work on the plantations. They moved here for the opportunity. My grandfather, as a fourth son, had no opportunities or land in Japan. So he moved to Hawaii and raised his ten children there.
But the Japanese in Hawaii, despite Pearl Harbor, were not detained like those in the West Coast. My great-aunt on the other side of my family, who lived in San Francisco's Japantown for many decades, often told stories of how San Francisco was heavily impacted during the early 1940s when those of Japanese descent, including American born citizens, were sent away to the relocation camps.
This book is different than others. First off, it centers around photographs from the camps. It also includes quotes and other factual artifacts such as newspaper clippings, the detainee signs, and other artifacts. The photos speak for themselves.
The book itself is laid out very clearly, and is set up like a museum display would. It captures the historical moments, and well as the personal parts, so well. I consumed the information and learned a lot, but it also moved me to tears.
I will for sure be buying a copy of this book for my home library, and also my childrens' school library. I appreciate the chance to preview it and am grateful to the authors and publisher for the opportunity.
I grew up in Hawaii, where a large part of the population is Japanese. Many people, including my own grandparents, immigrated from Japan to Hawaii in the early 1900s in order to work on the plantations. They moved here for the opportunity. My grandfather, as a fourth son, had no opportunities or land in Japan. So he moved to Hawaii and raised his ten children there.
But the Japanese in Hawaii, despite Pearl Harbor, were not detained like those in the West Coast. My great-aunt on the other side of my family, who lived in San Francisco's Japantown for many decades, often told stories of how San Francisco was heavily impacted during the early 1940s when those of Japanese descent, including American born citizens, were sent away to the relocation camps.
This book is different than others. First off, it centers around photographs from the camps. It also includes quotes and other factual artifacts such as newspaper clippings, the detainee signs, and other artifacts. The photos speak for themselves.
The book itself is laid out very clearly, and is set up like a museum display would. It captures the historical moments, and well as the personal parts, so well. I consumed the information and learned a lot, but it also moved me to tears.
I will for sure be buying a copy of this book for my home library, and also my childrens' school library. I appreciate the chance to preview it and am grateful to the authors and publisher for the opportunity.
January 10, 2023
An important historically accurate depiction of the Japanese-American incarceration after the bombing of Pearl Harbor & war declared on Japan. Although this is a beautifully designed books with lovely illustrations & color choices, more photographs would have been better as this is s as book about 3 photographers who photographed the experience of the incarcerated.
November 2, 2022
This is fantastic! I am going to buy it for the library. A well articulated book about the Japanese concentration camps. I listened to the audiobook and would like to see the photos. A quick, succinct nonfiction story.
April 21, 2024
This book actually sucked. Didn't really give much information about the photographers, despite the author knowing them personally. It is really a biased criticism of US policy in removing possibly disloyal persons from the west coast when we as a nation were anticipating an attack on that coast. This is in the six months after Pearl harbor but before we crippled the Japanese carrier fleet at Midway in June 0f 42. It was a sensible wartime move. it was not racist as it was done on the basis of enemy nationality, not race. As far as the horrors of forcing American citizens to relocate for the good of the national security, let's remember that millions of American citizens were drafted into the army, many of them forced to live on crappy little islands in the Pacific while being shot at. Civil rights are often curtailed during war.
Anyway, the book was just frustrating, having to read the whining of the author and illustrator while they show pictures of people having weddings, birthday parties, fishing, and playing volleyball. A little balance would be nice.
Technically, the writing was not good, the organization disjointed and cartoonish. Don't bother.
Anyway, the book was just frustrating, having to read the whining of the author and illustrator while they show pictures of people having weddings, birthday parties, fishing, and playing volleyball. A little balance would be nice.
Technically, the writing was not good, the organization disjointed and cartoonish. Don't bother.
June 12, 2024
Explores how three different photographers documented Japanese concentration camps in three different ways. Dorothea Lange was forbidden from photographing watchtowers and barbed wire, but still tried to use her photos to show the tough conditions and unjust acts taking place. Toyo Miyatake, a prisoner himself, was determined to document what was taking place in the camps, and later was allowed to take pictures for fellow prisoners to highlight important events in their lives. Ansel Adams wanted to show the prisoners as good, hardworking people who needn’t be feared, and kept a positive spin to his photos, masking the harsher realities at the camps.
Interesting to think about what they all photographed and why, and what you would try to photograph and share in their position. Really well done, with plenty of photos, illustrations, and documentation (including the instruction sheet prisoners got for their departure, weirdly wishing them well at the end).
Decent backmatter but the very small type on colored paper made it hard to read.
Interesting to think about what they all photographed and why, and what you would try to photograph and share in their position. Really well done, with plenty of photos, illustrations, and documentation (including the instruction sheet prisoners got for their departure, weirdly wishing them well at the end).
Decent backmatter but the very small type on colored paper made it hard to read.
January 25, 2025
This book was phenomenal! I picked it up thinking it was simply a graphic novel for teens but I realized very quickly that this beautiful and haunting pice of nonfiction is equally as poignant for adult readers. By highlighting the photographs and stories of three different photographers who captured pictures of Japanese internment, the book captured the complex often competing narratives about the concentration camp and the government’s handling of them. The drawings by Lauren Tamaki perfectly full in the gaps of scenes that photographers weren’t able to capture. I appreciated that the book went beyond the stories of the photographers to include the words of Issei and Nisei and had a set of consistent characters that I could develop a connection with. There were so many moments that triggered thinking and reflection and emotions for me. I really hope that you give this book a chance!
December 6, 2022
This fascinating book addresses the Japanese-American internment camps from a unique perspective, telling the story with simple text, vivid ink drawings, and photographs. The book focuses on the photographers who recorded images from the camps, what their work was like, and what the pictures showed or didn't show. The author wove in lots of contextual information throughout, and this will read well regardless of someone's prior knowledge.
I would recommend this unique book to school-age kids, teens, and adults. It tackles its heavy topics in a unique and memorable way, and it also includes more information in different notes at the end. The notes from the author and illustrator are also excellent, as they explain their personal proximity to this history.
I would recommend this unique book to school-age kids, teens, and adults. It tackles its heavy topics in a unique and memorable way, and it also includes more information in different notes at the end. The notes from the author and illustrator are also excellent, as they explain their personal proximity to this history.
April 7, 2024
RIMSBA 2025 nominee #2:
This is a thorough look at the Japanese American concentration camps that were built in the 1940s. This nonfiction text is a slice of shameful American history that is not talked about often, or seen in many history textbooks. A much needed addition to my classroom’s WW2 bookshelf, because not only does it explore what happened 80 years ago, but it also connects to social justice and social activism today. From page 115, “In the 1940s taking photographs was complicated. Cameras could be cumbersome, film expensive, and developing and printing photographs a complex process. Today, we can use our cell phone cameras to capture injustice when we see it, and quickly let others know. These images cannot be marked “impounded” and left hidden in a filing cabinet. We each have in our pocket a tool for social justice that earlier generations never could have dreamed of.” In addition to shining a light on this dark time, the work of photographers Dorothea Lange, Ansel Adams and Toyo Miyatake is shown in the book which makes this a great cross-curricular piece, tying in Art and Social Studies.
This is a thorough look at the Japanese American concentration camps that were built in the 1940s. This nonfiction text is a slice of shameful American history that is not talked about often, or seen in many history textbooks. A much needed addition to my classroom’s WW2 bookshelf, because not only does it explore what happened 80 years ago, but it also connects to social justice and social activism today. From page 115, “In the 1940s taking photographs was complicated. Cameras could be cumbersome, film expensive, and developing and printing photographs a complex process. Today, we can use our cell phone cameras to capture injustice when we see it, and quickly let others know. These images cannot be marked “impounded” and left hidden in a filing cabinet. We each have in our pocket a tool for social justice that earlier generations never could have dreamed of.” In addition to shining a light on this dark time, the work of photographers Dorothea Lange, Ansel Adams and Toyo Miyatake is shown in the book which makes this a great cross-curricular piece, tying in Art and Social Studies.
January 17, 2023
What did I think I was getting when I ordered this book? A trio of biographies about how three photographers saw a shameful episode in American history, along with appropriate examples. But when it arrived, I flipped through it and thought, “It’s a children’s book,” and I set it aside.
I shouldn’t have.
It’s not a children’s book, even if it’s not quite what I expected. The prose is spare and often simple, but it packs a powerful punch, carried along by masterful graphics. It’s haunting and beautiful, and I have a much deeper respect for what was lost and what’s still at stake.
Recommended for teens and adults.
I shouldn’t have.
It’s not a children’s book, even if it’s not quite what I expected. The prose is spare and often simple, but it packs a powerful punch, carried along by masterful graphics. It’s haunting and beautiful, and I have a much deeper respect for what was lost and what’s still at stake.
Recommended for teens and adults.
April 12, 2023
Seen and Unseen tells the history of the Japanese American Incarceration through the works of three photographers, each with a different perspective: one who opposed the camps, one who lived in a camp, and one who was for the camps. It specifically focuses on Manzanar. I think this is great book for teaching about the camps but also for teaching how words and photography can be used or manipulated to shape public opinion and how important it is to focus on the truth. Sometimes the narrative felt over-editorialized, when the awful facts speak for themselves. Overall I would highly recommend this book for middle readers and up.
June 8, 2023
I read this yesterday waiting for my son’s baseball game to start. I think if I hadn’t read so much about the Japanese Internment a few years ago this would have gotten more stars. It’s a good introduction to the topic and I love that it includes so many photos and information about the photographers but overall I felt like the book was TOO factual if that makes sense. Cut and dry. Very simple sentences. Very short statements. Very little storytelling. It didn’t draw me in the way some other (admittedly much longer) books did. Again, it’s a good introduction but it’s not one I feel the need to add to our personal library.
November 21, 2023
This book gives uses 3 different photographers' photos of the internment camps to show what was shown and what was purposefully hidden from the public eye. Dorothea Lange was sent by the government but opposed the camps. Toyo Miyatake was a prisoner and part of the Japanese American community who snuck in a camera. Ansel Adams wasn't against the camps and took mostly posed pictures that told a certain story. I put this book off because I thought it would be a slow read with a lot of text, but the photos and illustrations tell most of the story with some accompanying text to give more context, especially the difference between what each photographer focused on. I read it in an afternoon. Pair with Displacement, They Called Us Enemy, and We Are Not Free. Those who really like Refugee may also enjoy this terribly true story.
February 22, 2025
After the Japan attacked Pearl Harbor, President Roosevelt ordered all Japanese and Japanese-Americans to leave their homes, livelihood, and neighbors and report to a holding area. A dark stain on our history, these concentration camps were a place for brutal living conditions.
Three photographers captured some of the day-to-day life in these incarceration sites: Toyo Miyatake (a detainee himself), Ansel Adams (who agreed with the relocation), and Dorothea Lange (vehemently opposed). The photos are telling and the sparce paragraphs tell of resilience among those who were detained. A truly haunting perspective that should make readers horrified.
Photo Credits, Maps, Author Notes, Illustrator Notes, Footnotes, and Photographers' Biographies are included.
Three photographers captured some of the day-to-day life in these incarceration sites: Toyo Miyatake (a detainee himself), Ansel Adams (who agreed with the relocation), and Dorothea Lange (vehemently opposed). The photos are telling and the sparce paragraphs tell of resilience among those who were detained. A truly haunting perspective that should make readers horrified.
Photo Credits, Maps, Author Notes, Illustrator Notes, Footnotes, and Photographers' Biographies are included.
February 26, 2023
I thought this was a super interesting way to discuss source material of the Japanese Internment camps.
My only complaint is that it was too short because of its narrow focus. The end material was just so dense in comparison to the photography and illustrations in the book. I wish more had been done with that information to make it as engaging and accessible as the rest of the content in this book. It’s important stuff. Wish it could have been portrayed in a way that felt more like the rest of the book instead of the chosen textbook format.
My only complaint is that it was too short because of its narrow focus. The end material was just so dense in comparison to the photography and illustrations in the book. I wish more had been done with that information to make it as engaging and accessible as the rest of the content in this book. It’s important stuff. Wish it could have been portrayed in a way that felt more like the rest of the book instead of the chosen textbook format.
March 26, 2023
A stunning nonfiction book about the tragic and unjust treatment of the Japanese American incarceration during World War 2. Written in mixed media format, the authors explore the work of three photographers, Dorothea Lange, Toyo Miyatake, and Ansel Adams, who documented the removal of Japanese Americans from their homes and their inhumane conditions experienced at the camps. The text is written in a form that middle schoolers will understand and grasp. There is no question why it was one of 2023 Sibert Informational Book Award recipient.
April 11, 2023
Checked this out from the library after attending the Dorothea Lange exhibit at the Eiteljorg in Indianapolis. Great exhibit where teachers get in free btw. Several photos in the exhibit I did not realize were attributed to Lange. This book is meant for middle/high school but was a quick and informative read. 5 stars definitely for that age group. Lange took many photos in Japanese internment camps along with Ansel Adams and a Japanese man interned in a camp who built his own camera. Very interesting comparison of the three groups of photos.
July 25, 2024
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5. I am not a huge nonfiction reader, but this is an accessible and interesting look at the Japanese-American incarceration during WWII. It is split into three sections, each highlighting the work of a photographer in Manzanar. It includes more back matter giving context to the events during and after the war, as well as today. Very thorough. Nonfiction readers will enjoy and possibly graphic novel kids as well, thanks to how it is set up. It would pair well with They Called Us Enemy. Recommended for grades 6+.
January 10, 2023
Three photographers capture the haunting results of the questionably illegal round-ups of Japanese Americans and those of Japanese descent into internment camps after the bombing of Pearl Harbor in 1941. The power of the camera cannot be denied in this volume; some of which were suppressed until recently. The author is the god-daughter of photography titan Dorothea Lange.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 357 reviews