Tracy Chee has written a really beautiful and powerful book. Following several Japanese-American teenagers, forcibly uprooted from their homes in San Fransisco and sent to the Topaz incarceration camp in Utah. Each chapter is a different narrator (a dozen or so in total), providing a really nuanced and many-faceted view of the unjustices and harsh conditions of the forced internment camps in the US. Yet these are still teenagers, and as such, they're still concerned with the things all teens face (identity, romance, complicated family dynamics, tryouts for baseball, etc) while also struggling with the extreme racism and harsh treatment by the government and neighbors. There is a blend of narrative styles (some even told in letters home from the front, as some of the older boys sign up to fight in WWII, including the complicated feelings around such choices). These are terrible conditions for coming-of-age, and everyone has varied responses to everything. By seeing so many different perspectives and responses, it paints a really full picture, showing some of the best things YA can do. The Awards nominations were well earned.