Joanne Oppenheim has worn a lot of hats during her long career in the classroom, on national TV, and writing for and about children.  As president of the Oppenheim Toy Portfolio, she has been a regular contributor on NBC's Today Show talking about good toys, books and literacy. For more than a decade, she was a senior editor of the Bank Street College of Education's Publication Department and for the decade before that, she taught hundreds of children to read and write-as a first grade teacher in Montebello, New York. She is the author of more than sixty books for children, including her Have You Seen series and Dear Miss Breed: True Stories of the Japanese American Incarceration and a Librarian Who Made a Difference for Scholastic.

Dear Miss Breed is Ms. Oppenheim's first book for young adults. Her presentation with slides and dramatic excerpts, introduces young people to the history of racism during World War II that led to one of the darkest chapters in our country's history when American citizens — mostly junior and senior high school students and their immigrant parents — up and down the West Coast, were imprisoned by their government, although they had committed no crime other than looking like the enemy.  As the young people of San Diego were sent away, their devoted librarian, Clara Breed gave them all post cards asking them to write to her. Clara Breed became their lifeline to the outside world and their letters chronicle the war and are the heart of this book.

This is a subject with new relevance that speaks to issues of civil liberties and war time hysteria.
A teachers guide is available and accessible online. For more background on the book, the guide and the author please visit http://www.dearmissbreed.com/

Please note that this presentation should be scheduled in conjunction with coursework involving World War II and the Incarceration.

You may contact the author directly:

Joanne Oppenheim
55 East 9th Street #3C
New York, NY 10003
212/673-5887

Author's Home: New York City
Suggested Audience: Grades 7-12, adults
Maximum number of presentations: 2
Honorarium: $1200 per day plus expenses