Overview
On a late March morning in the spring of 1942, Elaine Yoneda awoke to a series of terrible choices: between her family and freedom, her country and conscience, and her son and daughter.
She was the child of Russian Jewish immigrants and the wife of a Japanese American man. On this war-torn morning, she was also a mother desperate to keep her young mixed-race son from being sent to a US concentration camp. Manzanar, near Death Valley, was one of ten detention centers where our government would eventually imprison every person of Japanese descent along the West Coast—alien and citizen, old and young, healthy and sick—or, in the words of one official, anyone with even “one drop” of Japanese blood.
Elaine’s husband Karl was already in Manzanar, but he planned to enlist as soon as the US Army would take him. The Yonedas were prominent labor and antifascist activists, and Karl was committed to fighting for what they had long cherished: equality, freedom, and democracy.
Yet when Karl went to war, their son Tommy, three years old and chronically ill, would be left alone in Manzanar—unless Elaine convinced the US government to imprison her as well.
The consequences of Elaine’s choice did not end there: if she somehow found a way to force herself behind barbed wire with her husband and son, she would leave behind her white daughter from a previous marriage.
Together in Manzanar tells the story of these painful choices and conflicting loyalties, the upheaval and violence that followed, and the Yonedas’ quest to survive with their children’s lives intact and their family safe and whole.
Reviews
"A World War II homefront action that many Americans would like to forget." —
Kirkus Reviews“Tracy Slater has done her homework and is uniquely positioned to tell the story of Elaine Yoneda, an eyewitness to one of the most explosive parts of the wartime Japanese American experience.
With dramatic flair, Slater captures the untold story of a high-profile mixed-race couple inside an American concentration camp at a pivotal moment in history.” —
Frank Abe, coeditor of
The Literature of Japanese American Incarceration“As society evolves and new issues and debates come to the forefront,
previously neglected but newly relevant lessons and stories continue to be drawn from the exclusion and incarceration of Japanese Americans during World War II. Drawing on her own experience, Tracy Slater has found such a story, one that promises to expand our knowledge of the general incarceration and that will have specific relevance for many modern American families. . . . Both
fastidiously researched and a page-turner, this book will appeal to both those new to the story and those who know it well.” —
Brian Niiya, director of content for Densho and former curator of the Japanese American National Museum
“
Together in Manzanar is the true story of an American mother fighting for her family, her conscience, her country—and eventually her life.
Slater’s fast-paced historical narrative is a fascinating look at a hidden chapter of our nation’s past, particularly of mixed-race America, as well as an intimate look at one family during wartime, the terrible choices they confronted, and a mother’s determination to protect her children without sacrificing her soul.” —
Kim Cross,
New York Times bestselling author of
What Stands in a Storm“
Together in Manzanar is a riveting, intimate account of one family that illuminates broader, little-known aspects of the WWII Japanese American incarceration. Exploring questions of patriotism, activism, and political ideology,
Tracy Slater reveals intersections of oppression across peoples and nations, and brings to life the agonizing choices individuals must make when their leaders fail them. This is a story of the past that is essential today.” —
Akemi Johnson, author of
Night in the American Village“
Together in Manzanar is an essential, deeply personal, and powerfully told story that speaks directly to the heart of what it means to navigate mixed identity in America. As a Jewish Japanese American whose own family experienced the trauma of incarceration, I am profoundly moved by Tracy Slater’s meticulous research and storytelling, which illuminate the resilience, activism, and moral courage of the Yoneda family. This book fills a long-overdue gap in the historical narrative, giving voice to a mixed-race experience often overlooked in discussions of World War II and Japanese American incarceration.
Together in Manzanar is not just a history lesson—it is a testament to the power of love, resistance, and the fight for justice, echoing the ongoing struggles of mixed-race and marginalized communities today. As the founder of Mixed Asian Media, I believe this book is an indispensable addition to the conversation about identity, belonging, and the intersections of race and history in America.” —
Alex Chester-Iwata, founder of Mixed Asian Media
“A gripping, well-written depiction of one of the most fascinating couples in American history. Not only does Slater recount the biographies of two important labor activists, but she also presents
a beautiful story about a family that endured prejudice, separation, and hardship while remaining true to their principles.” —
Jonathan van Harmelen, historian, University of California, Santa Cruz
Author Biography
Tracy Slater is a Jewish American writer from Boston, based in her husband’s country of Japan. Her first book, the mixed-marriage memoir
The Good Shufu: Finding Love, Self, and Home on the Far Side of the World, was named a Barnes & Noble Discover Great New Writers selection and one of PopSugar’s best books of 2015. Slater has published work in the
New York Times, the
Wall Street Journal, the
Washington Post,
Time magazine’s Made by History, and more. She taught writing for over ten years in Boston-area universities and in men’s and women’s prisons throughout Massachusetts. She is the recipient of PEN New England’s Friend to Writers Award and holds a PhD in English and American literature from Brandeis University.
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