The Picture Bride

 The Picture Bride by Lee Geum-yi, translated from the Korean by An Seonjae 320 pages

I am familiar with mail-order brides but have never heard of “picture brides.”  That is what attracted me to this book.

At the beginning of the twentieth century, a large number of Korean men left for Hawaii, then a United States territory. They worked the sugar cane fields and became successful. Some even owned land, a dream of all Koreans. When it came time to take a wife, the men depended on matchmakers back home to help them find the perfect woman. The men would send a picture and a letter to the matchmaker. Basically, it’s 1918 Korea’s version of today’s dating apps.

“In 1918, three Korean picture brides sail to Hawaii, based only on photos of their husbands-to-be. Hongju, looking for real love, discovers her husband is 20 years older than his photo; Songhwa, escaping her home life, finds her husband is an old drunkard. Willow’s husband, Taewan, looks just like his photo. But the matchmaker lied when she said he was a landowner, and she could go to school.”

That is what hurt the most. Willow is intelligent and longs for an education. It was the only reason that she consented to the marriage. As the years go by, Willow dutifully cares for her husband, their children and his father.

As 1918 slides into 1919, Willow’s husband gets involved with the Korean Independence Movement. He is gone for years, leaving Willow to manage on her own. She does have her two friends, Songhwa and Hongiu, counsel as they struggle to survive.

I wish I had read the Author’s Notes and the Translator’s Notes first. It might have made a difference in reading this novel because I felt lost most of the time.

“The Picture Bride” receives 2 out of 5 stars in Julie’s world.

 

Radar Girls

Radar Girls by Sara Ackerman 368 pages

Daisy Wilder lives on the Hawaiian island of O’ahu (the spelling the author uses and is correct). She lives in an oceanfront shack with her mother, who is suffering a deep, deep depression. Daisy works on a nearby ranch to support them, and she loves working with the horses. Other than the people she works with, she has no other social life.

On the morning of December 7, 1941, Daisy has “borrowed” one of the ranch’s finest stallions, Moon, for a run on the beach. He is coal black with a gently fierce heart. As the Japanese planes roar overheard, headed to Pearl Harbor, Moon bolts and runs away.

Terrified for the animal, Daisy looks for him, but to no avail. She needs to get back to the shack to be with her mother. Her mother is oblivious, but Daisy is terrified. Will there be a land invasion? There have been rumors. What about Moon? What will the Japanese do to him if they find? What about her mom?

As the day progresses, Daisy’s anxieties dim, but never go away (and they will stay with her for the next four years). She tries, in vain, to find Moon. There is talk of relocating all civilians to the Mainland. She knows she has to get her mother to California to be with a relative, but Daisy plans on staying on the island.

After searching for Moon, who seems to have just disappeared, Daisy must tell the ranch’s owner what has happened. Hal Montgomery is beside himself, accusing Daisy of stealing and fires her. She is devastated.

Mr. Montgomery’s son, Walker, comes home before the bombs fall to heal from a severe concussion.. He is a navy pilot, but now it’s all hands on desk.  He is stationed aboard the USS Enterprise. And we all know what happens when boy meets girl.

Wanting to do her part for the war effort, and since she is out of a job, Daisy signs up for the Women’s Air Raid Defense. The military is looking for twenty intelligent women to help provide air defense for Hawaii. Daisy passes all the tests and is made part of the team. There she finds something she has never had before, female friendship. She must learn to navigate these are much as she learns to navigate the radar system.

Throughout the entire war, Daisy never loses hope of finding Moon and is always on the lookout.

The details about those early days in radar were fascinating and author Ackerman does a wonderful job balancing too much information and teaching me something new.

Thanks to Ackerman’s vivid descriptions of the Hawaiian Islands, the ocean, the fish, the salty air, reading “Radar Girls” is like taking a beach vacation without getting sand in your underwear. It’s also a boy-meets-girl-loses-boy-gets-girl story set against the beauty of Hawaii and the fears and the uncertainties of World War II. Therefore, “Radar Girls” receives 5 out of 5 stars in Julie’s world.

 

Red Sky Over Hawaii

Red Sky Over Hawaii by Sara Ackerman  352 pages

I have read a great many of the plethora of World War II novels that have been the centerpiece of historical fiction in the last few years. However, this is the first one that I have encountered that took place in Hawaii.

Lana Hitchcock has recently separated from her husband. She feel adrift that everything feel apart so quickly. She has a feeling that something bad was going to happen that’s even worse. A phone call from her estranged father, Jack, asking her to come to the Big Island to see him. She has had a feeling that something bad was going to happen. However, she doesn’t arrive in time, and she must figure out what he wanted.

After the Japanese bomb Pearl Harbor, Lana is stuck in Hilo, the town where Jack resided. She befriends the German family next door.  The parents, Ingrid and Fred Wagner, are arrested and taken away. Hawaii is still in total chaos after the bombing, and no one seems to know what will the Wagners, or when. Germans aren’t the only ones being rounded up; Japanese are also high on the list, which causes Lana concern about her father’s best friend, Moshi.

The Wagners have two adopted daughters, Marie and Coco, who are left behind. The man Fred  put in charge of the girls seems shady to Lana, and she feels they are in danger if left with him.  Lana takes charge of the girls and their pets: two geese, that once belonged to Jack, and a dog.

Desperate to leave Hilo in the uncertainty if a Japanese invasion is imminent, Lana pays a visit to the father’s close friend, Moshi. She is making plans to go to Jack’s cabin, hidden in the national park, near the Volcano.

Along with Lana are all the characters mentioned above plus  Moshi’s foster son, Benji. When they arrive at the cabin, Lana is distraught that it is only partially completed---in fact, one whole wall is missing. They do their best to make it a home, as they have no idea how long they will be there.

The book’s theme is making a family with the people you are with. It’s a story of survival.

While I wish author Ackerman had supplied a glossary of the flora that she describes, I still felt that I could see the island’s beauty.  The ending was blah, but I still enjoyed reading about this time in Hawaii’s history.  “Red Sky Over Hawaii”  receives 4 out of 5 stars in Julie’s world.

Different Days

Different Days by Vicki Berger Erwin, 270 pages

“Twelve-year-old Rosie is fiercely proud to be an American, and has a happy life with her family in their comfortable home in sunny Honolulu, Hawaii. Then, on the morning of December 7, 1941, Pearl Harbor is bombed and everything changes. Rosie's parents, both of German descent — but American citizens who have lived in Hawaii nearly all their lives — are immediately rounded up by the military. Though they've done nothing wrong, they are interrogated as German spies and imprisoned, and all the family's possessions are seized. Within days, Rosie and her brother are abandoned and homeless. A relative begrudgingly takes them in until their beloved aunt (who was also rounded up, but released) comes for them. Even then, the children's once-idyllic lives are filled with darkness and discrimination as they can only wait — and hope — for their parents' safe return. Based on true events, Different Days tells the story of a little-known aspect of World War II: the Internment of German Americans.” I had no idea that German Americans were also sent to internment camps during World War II.  This book felt a little unfinished and unpolished to me but I liked the story.  Kids who like historical fiction would like it.