Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet

#31! It's April 16, and I've read more books than I read last year!

This was a good one. This story provides a glimpse into Henry Lee's life during two distinct time periods.

During the first, 1942-1945, Henry is 12-15 year old Chinese American boy growing up in Seattle. He is caught in a cultural divide between his traditional Chinese parents and the American society into which he was born. His father is extremely anti-Japanese due to extensive war and conflict between China and Japan. Meanwhile, Henry slowly falls in love with a Japanese classmate named Keiko. She and her family are removed from Seattle and forced to live in internment camps. Miraculously, Henry manages to visit Keiko and maintain some contact with her until Henry's father stops their correspondence. Toward the end of this time period, Henry met Ethel, a Chinese American girl, falls for her, and proposes because he is afraid that he will never be able to find Keiko again.

The second time period is 1986, although some elements that the author mentions (e.g., online support groups) are not consistent with 1986. In this portion of the story Ethel has been dead for six months. Henry has a strained relationship with his 21 year old son Marty, which is improved during this story after the introduction of his White fiancee Samantha. In 1986 the belongings of numerous Japanese American families that were removed to internment camps were found in an old hotel in Japantown. Henry, Marty, and Samantha go sleuthing through these items and find some items of Keiko's. Marty and Samantha use the internet (which was not so well developed in 1986) to find Keiko, and Henry visits her in New York City.

During the book, these stories are interspersed, so each is unfolding simultaneously. The story itself is both bitter and sweet. It is truly disturbing that the US government locked up US citizens in the 1940's due to their ethnic heritage. The story reminds me a little bit of The Boy in the Striped Pajamas in its illustration of how children are not born with discriminatory beliefs but these have to be taught. Clearly then, we can teach children otherwise.

I recommend this sweet, sad book. It's a quick read and will touch your heart.