Winning Novel

Beneath the Wide Silk Sky
By Emily Inouye Huey
Published by Scholastic Press

Emily Inouye Huey’s debut novel Beneath the Wide Silk Sky is the story of Sam Sakamoto who dreams of being a photographer, even though dreaming was “against the rules” and “dangerous” for the daughter of a poor Japanese farmer living in Washington State on the eve of the United States entry into the Second World War. Sam has a tentative relationship with her dream, the pursuit of which she initially justifies as financial support for the family. The Sakamoto family is struggling to adjust to the recent death of Sam’s mother – her father is trying to preserve the farm, her brother’s hopes of attending college have been deferred, her sister is trying to fit in. On Linley Island, the family and their Japanese American neighbors are subjected to segregation and prejudice. On December 7, 1941, when Japanese airplanes attack the US naval base at Pearl Harbor, the white residents of Linley Island begin to openly express their rage and act on their racist attitudes, some turning to violence. Realizing that she can use her camera as a witness to the discrimination, Sam’s creative impulse is strengthened, and a resolve to achieve her dream is further shaped into being by a newly discovered social purpose. To achieve her goal, Sam must reconcile the risk of documenting the racism with the power of the emotional truth of her pictures.

I swallowed as I lowered the Leica. I hated something about the scene, but I needed this photo – both its sadness and its bravery. As we drove away, I knew that if I hadn’t gotten the photo, the scene would have haunted me.  Maybe it still would.

In this beautifully crafted story, Huey expands our awareness of the tragic history of the forcible internment of American citizens by depicting attitudes toward Japanese Americans before Pearl Harbor. Huey sensitively illustrates for the reader how fear can be an obstacle to the pursuit of one’s dreams, the value of connecting passion with service to others, and the strength needed to make a record of one’s reality. Huey notes that the photographs created by Japanese Americans during incarceration, “are a record of the lives individuals continued to build, even when stripped of their rights.”  Huey’s story champions personal dignity and perseverance and is ultimately one of hope and resilience.  – Kristin Eshelman

Winning Picture Book

The Tower of Life: How Yaffa Eliach Rebuilt Her Town in Stories and Photographs
By Chana Stiefel, illustrated by Susan Gall
Published by Scholastic Press

Yaffa's happy childhood in a small Polish town ended abruptly when Nazi soldiers invaded the town, killing nearly all of its Jewish residents. Although Yaffa and her family managed to escape, they spent the rest of the war in hiding, finding shelter wherever they could, even in pigsties and potato sheds.

Before they fled, Yaffa had tucked a few precious photographs into her shoes. Those photographs helped sustain her throughout their ordeal, reminders of the love and laughter that once filled her town.

When Yaffa grew up and moved to the United States, she began a world-wide quest to find photographs of all her relatives, friends, and neighbors who were killed by the Nazis. Using thousands of those photos, she created the Tower of Life, a permanent exhibit in the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum.

This stunning picture book biography blends words, illustrations and photos into an uplifting tribute to both Yaffa Eliach and the spirit of her beloved town. – Michele Palmer