After three years in a Japanese internment camp during WWII, Yasu Sakamoto's life takes an unexpected turn when she meets Martha Annala, a university professor, on a train headed to Minneapolis, Minnesota.
In June of 1944, as World War II rages on overseas, a feeling of defeat looms over eighteen-year-old Yasu Sakamoto. Three years of her young life have wasted away in a Japanese internment camp in eastern California. Imprisoned by barbwire and military guards, she yearns for freedom and lifelong dreams waiting for her beyond the fence. In this skillfully woven coming-of-age story, Yasu’s journey began in Diane Dettmann’s book, Courageous Footsteps: A WWII Novel, and carries readers into the next phase of Yasu Sakamoto’s life. Bombarded with barriers of discrimination and prejudice, Yasu realizes— like the barbwire fences—there will always be obstacles in her life that take courage, determination and sometimes the support of others to overcome. Deftly woven with backstory from Courageous Footsteps: A WWII Novel, Yasu's Quest can be read as a stand-alone novel or as a sequel and appeals to both teenagers and adults.
First Place Winner in historical fiction in the Purple Dragonfly Awards for excellence in children's literature, and named a U.P. Notable Classic.
Feel like you are in the moment nearly 100 years ago with a young girl, daughter of Finnish immigr
