This is a story about a young girl named
Naomi. Naomi's background is Japanese but she is a Canadian. One
day her father bought a doll for her and when they went home, her
mother told the family that she would be leaving them for a while
to take care of her grandmother in Japan. It was sad news for the
family but she gave Naomi a necklace with a cherry seed inside
the locket to remind her that her mother was always there. With
a sad farewell, she left.
Suddenly,
her father announced they were going on a holiday with their aunt,
everyone was excited until Naomi's father announced that he wouldn't
be joining them. He said he was going to be somewhere else. They
could only pack two suitcases so they had to decide what they wanted
to bring wisely. They were going to leave later that day. When her
brother (Steven) came home, he was frustrated because someone called
him a Jap. Steven said they were Canadians and not Japs. Naomi didn't
know what a Jap was. A while later, they rushed outside to the train
and they were ready to leave Vancouver.
It
was a long trip until Steven was a sign that said it was a camp
for Japs and he realized that this was no holiday. He soon understood
and realized that there was a war. When they arrived, they realized
there were many other people there as well. They had to live in
cabins. In each cabin there was only one room. Steven and Naomi
decided to go outside and play. Steven was playing his keyboard
whan alll of a sudden, a boy and a girl approached them. The young
boy was a bully and broke his keyboard. Soon after they left, Naomi
noticed that the girl had left her doll behind. Later, a man comes
and tells Naomi to give something like a recorder to her brother
since his keyboard was broken. After that, the girl comes back looking
for her doll and Naomi stopped her from leaving and handed her the
doll. Because of that, they started talking to each other and eventually
became friends.
Months passed and
it was Naomi's birthday. The girl gave Naomi her very own doll so
she could remember her by it when she was gone and Naomi loved it.
Later in the story, Steven announced that the war was over and Canada
had won. Naomi and Steven were both excited to go home with their
aunt to Vancouver, Their aunt had bad news. They weren't going back
home to Vancouver. The government had sold their home and they would
have to live in a farm in Alberta. Naomi and Steven were depressed
but it was a beginning of a new life.
-
Janine Yeung
