Lines We Draw

Sumiko Adachi's life changes after Japan bombs Pearl Harbor. When an arbitrary dividing line is drawn through Phoenix, Sumiko finds herself forced into a confinement camp. Her best friend, Emi, is not. Can Sumiko and Emi maintain their friendship when one of them is imprisoned and the other remains free?

It's August 1941 when Sumiko Adachi starts at a new school in Phoenix, Arizona. In spite of her first-day jitters, she finds a friendly face in Emi Kuno. But everything changes after Japan bombs Pearl Harbor, and the United States enters World War II. Suddenly the girls are faced with anti-Japanese sentiment from classmates and neighbors. When an arbitrary dividing line is drawn through Phoenix, the girls find themselves on opposite sides. Can Sumiko and Emi maintain their friendship when one of them is forced into a confinement camp, and the other is allowed to remain free? It's the storytellers who preserve a nation's history. But what happens when some stories are silenced?

The I Am America series features fictional stories based on important historical events from people whose voices have been underrepresented, lost, or forgotten over time.

About the Illustrator

Eric Freeberg has illustrated over twenty-five books for children, and has created work for magazines and ad campaigns. He was a winner of the 2010 London Book Fair's Children's Illustration Competition; the 2010 Holbein Prize for Fantasy Art, International Illustration Competition, Japan Illustrators' Association; Runner-Up, 2013 SCBWI Magazine Merit Award; Honorable Mention, 2009 SCBWI Don Freeman Portfolio Competition; and 2nd Prize, 2009 Clymer Museum's Annual Illustration Invitational. He was also a winner of the Elizabeth Greenshields Foundation Award.