Conkling, Winifred. SYLVIA AND AKI

Conkling, Winifred. SYLVIA & AKI 
New York : Tricycle Press, 2011 
IL 3-6, RL 4.7 
ISBN 1582463972 
This is based on the true story of two girls who lived in 1942. The United States was at war with Japan. In an attempt to keep the west coast safe, the government rounded up all Japanese Americans in California and send them to live in internment camps in Arizona. Aki and her family are one of those families and this is partly her story. The homes and businesses that were left behind by the Japanese Americans were rented out to others. Sylvia Mendez is Mexican American and her father is excited about being able to lease the farm that Aki's family had to leave behind. But things don't go well for Sylvia either. When she tries to go to school, she is turned away. She is told that Mexicans are not welcome at the neighborhood school. If she wants to go to school, she will have to attend one of the second rate Mexican schools. Her father decides to take legal action against the school district for discrimation. Learn about two girls facing different hardships during a difficult time in history.