Description
After being outcast to a small community, 10-year-old Michiko’s life gets better when a former baseball star becomes her teacher. Second book in the Cherry Blossom Books series.
Ten-year-old Michiko wants to be proud of her Japanese heritage but can’t be. After the bombing of Pearl Harbor, her family’s possessions are confiscated and they are forced into deprivation in a small, insular community. The men are sent to work on the railway, so the women and children are left to make the trip on their own.
After a former Asahi baseball star becomes her new teacher, life gets better. Baseball fever hits town, and when Michiko challenges the adults to a game with her class, the whole town turns out.
Then the government announces that they must move once again. But they can’t think of relocating with a new baby coming, even with the offer of free passage to Japan. Michiko pretends to be her mother and writes to get a job for her father on a farm in Ontario. When he is accepted, they again pack their belongings and head to a new life in Ontario.
Contributor Notes
Jennifer Maruno is a long-time educator and writer of award-winning educational materials. Her debut novel, When the Cherry Blossoms Fell, was shortlisted for the 2011 Hackmatack Award and the 2012 Pacific Northwest Young Readers Choice Award. Her second historical novel, Warbird, followed in 2010. She lives in Burlington, Ontario.
Recommended Age, Grade, and Reading Levels
- Age:
- 9 to 12
- Grade:
- 4 to 7
- Reading age:
- 9 to 12
Awards
- Commended, Top Grade: CanLit for the Classroom selection
Editorial Reviews
Maruno has created a gentle novel that adds to our Canadian story.
— Resource Links
Cherry Blossom Winter is a book about the deep roots of traditions, core family values, and successful relationships, as much as it is about a government’s betrayal of a people who helped to build a province, and Michiko is a likeable character readers will be happy to follow, wherever she goes. A satisfying read.
— Canadian Materials
Employing a cast of charming characters and highlighting positive elements such as baseball, community gardens, fundraising bazaars, and family weddings, Maruno brings to life this tragic part of Canadian history while showing that, among the poverty and loss experienced by the internees, strong communities were still able to grow.
— Quill & Quire
