Title: Obaasan’s Boots
Author: Lara Jean Okihiro & Janis Bridger
Publisher: Second Story Press
ISBN: 978-1-77260-348-4
Publication Date: October 2023
“They had everything taken from them because they were Japanese.”
Cousins Lou and Charlotte don’t know a lot about their grandmother’s life. When their Obaasan invites them to spend the day in her garden, she also invites them into their family’s secrets. Grandma shares her experience as a Japanese Canadian during WWII, revealing the painful story of Japanese internment. Her family was forced apart. Whole communities were uprooted, moved into camps, their belongings stolen. Lou and Charlotte struggle with the injustice, even as they marvel at their grandmother’s strength. They begin to understand how their identities have been shaped by racism, and that history is not only about the past.
This is a beautiful, intergenerational story complimented by line drawings. It is told in alternating timelines. In the contemporary timeline, two cousins spend the day in the garden with their grandmother. The point of view alternates during this timeline. Twelve-year-old Charlotte from Vancouver and ten-year-old Lou from Toronto take turns narrating chapters in first person. The other timeline is introduced in the middle of chapter three when Obaasan begins sharing memories from her childhood and beyond. These sections are marked by time stamps, spanning from spring 1928 to March 1966. Obaasan also uses first person, which can be a bit confusing, especially since most chapters go back and forth from contemporary to historical several times. Her description of growing up as a Japanese Canadian is powerful, though, as is Charlotte and Lou’s reaction to it.
The title is symbolic of the cousins’ new appreciation for their history and heritage. They understand what it was like to walk in their grandmother’s shoes and how their family is still influenced by the past. The end includes an author’s note where the cousins and co-writers describe their personal connection to the story. There is also a timeline of Japanese immigration, internment and the War Measures Act. The glossary helps ground readers in Japanese culture, expressions and my favorite: food! Highly recommended for classrooms.