About This Book

With this sweeping tale of life on the World War II homefront, Newbery Honor author Kirby Larson brings her incredible talent to the Dear America series.

When Pearl Harbor is attacked, America is finally unable to ignore the wars raging in Europe and Asia any longer. And one girl's entire life is about to change when everything she knows is turned on its head. After the devastating attack on Pearl Harbor, where her brother, a navy sailor, is stationed, Piper Davis begins chronicling her compelling journey through one of history's most tragic and unforgettable eras.

Piper's father is the pastor for a Japanese Baptist church, and when its members are taken away to Minidoka, Idaho, to be interned, Pastor Davis moves his family from Seattle to Idaho to be with his congregation. Piper is jealous of her older sister, who gets to remain at home and go off to work. Her brother, who survived the Pearl Harbor strike, is stationed in the Pacific, while her brother-in-law is shipped off to Europe to fight.

Piper, meanwhile, hates her new life, but soon, through her budding friendship with Betty, a Japanese-American girl who is interned in the camp, Piper learns how it important it is to bear witness to the events that were bound to change America.

Praise for The Fences Between Us

"Scholastic has reinvigorated its venerable Dear America series of diary-format historical novels with an interactive Web site and newly designed titles by award-winning writers, including this first release from Larson, author of the Newbery Honor Book Hattie Big Sky (2006). A fictional epilogue, extensive historical notes, photos and maps, a glossary, and an author’s note complete this moving title with obvious curricular ties that will draw readers beyond the classroom, too." — Booklist

"This auspicious relaunch of the Dear America series includes an historical note, archival images, web resources, a recipe, Roosevelt's "day that will live in infamy" speech — and the author's name on the cover." — Kirkus