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They Called Us Enemy Kindle & comiXology


George Takei has captured hearts and minds worldwide with his captivating stage presence and outspoken commitment to equal rights. But long before he braved new frontiers in Star Trek, he woke up as a four-year-old boy to find his own birth country at war with his father’s—and their entire family forced from their home into an uncertain future. In a stunning graphic memoir, Takei revisits his haunting childhood in American concentration camps, as one of over 100,000 Japanese Americans imprisoned by the U.S. government during World War II. Experience the forces that shaped an American icon—and America itself—in this gripping tale of courage, country, loyalty, and love.
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Total Price: $29.47

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Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

An Amazon Best Book of July 2019: Made famous via his role as Sulu in Star Trek, George Takei became a cultural phenomenon in the real world through his civil rights engagement and his support for democracy. Now, in his graphic memoir, They Called Us Enemy, Takei reveals the story of his family’s incarceration during the internment of Japanese Americans during World War II. A United States citizen—as was everyone in his family except his father, who had been living in the U.S. for decades—Takei was only 5 years old when the government forced his family to leave their home and possessions and move to a concentration camp along with hundreds of others. Takei pivots between showing through his child’s eyes the years in internment with expressing his later, more-adult understanding of how deeply his parents suffered during and after their imprisonment. Just as emotionally staggering is how Takei’s father maintained his faith in the democratic system while the larger government failed him. The straightforward illustrations make this graphic memoir a read comfortable for all ages, even as the memories depicted range from unsettling to infuriating. It would be easy to consider Takei’s story simply a colorful glimpse of the misbegotten past. But its power, like John Lewis’ March trilogy, burns in how it persuades the reader to consider how much we’ve really changed since Franklin D. Roosevelt and Earl Warren decided to imprison families based on unsupported fears. They Called Us Enemy also inspires readers to engage through democracy to insist that we treat fellow human beings with fairness and dignity. —Adrian Liang, Amazon Book Review

Review

Winner of the 2020 Asian/Pacific American Award for Young Adult Literature!

Winner of the 2020 Eisner Award for Best Reality-Based Work!


"
They Called Us Enemy is truly beautiful — moving, thoughtful, important, engaging, and stunningly rendered. I am so excited to see this book's impact on the world." — Jacqueline Woodson, National Ambassador for Young People’s Literature and National Book Award-winning author of Brown Girl Dreaming 
  
"George Takei’s story reveals the important lessons of the WWII Japanese American Incarceration that still need to be learned today. 
They Called Us Enemy is a compelling must-read for all ages.” — Karen Korematsu, Founder and Executive Director, Fred T. Korematsu Institute 
  
"Riveting... Takei has evolved into an increasingly powerful voice for oppressed communities, and 
Enemy finds him at peak moral clarity — an unflinching force in these divisive times." — The Washington Post

"A detailed, wrenching account... 
They Called Us Enemy should prove the most potent introduction for younger readers to this ignoble chapter in our history." — The New York Times

"Powerful, moving and relevant." 
— Los Angeles Times

"Moving and layered... Giving a personal view into difficult history, [
They Called Us Enemy] is a testament to hope and tenacity in the face of adversity." — Publishers Weekly (starred review)
 
"A compelling blend of nostalgia and outrage... this approachable, well-wrought graphic memoir is important reading, particularly in today's political climate." 
— Booklist (starred review)
 
"This evocative memoir shares stories of the nation’s past, draws heartbreaking parallels to the present, and serves as a cautionary tale for the future."
— School Library Journal (starred review)
 
"Emotionally staggering... 
They Called Us Enemy also inspires readers to engage through democracy to insist that we treat fellow human beings with fairness and dignity." — Amazon's "Best Books of the Month"

"A cogent reminder that liberty and justice is not always for all, 
They Called Us Enemy explores a dark episode of America’s past as it dives into the heart of a pop culture icon." — Foreword Reviews' "Indie Books That'll Blow You Away"
 
"The creators are gifted storytellers, and Takei has a great story to tell, full of unexpected twists. And as compelling as it is, it is also inspirational, a story of ordinary people and the choices they faced in an extraordinary time." 
ICv2

"A tale of triumph over adversity." BBC America

Product details

  • ASIN ‏ : ‎ B07P5GS3PT
  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Top Shelf Productions (July 17, 2019)
  • Publication date ‏ : ‎ July 17, 2019
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • File size ‏ : ‎ 622561 KB
  • Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Not enabled
  • Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Not Enabled
  • X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Not Enabled
  • Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Not Enabled
  • Sticky notes ‏ : ‎ Not Enabled
  • Print length ‏ : ‎ 212 pages
  • Customer Reviews:

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Customer reviews

4.8 out of 5 stars
5,549 global ratings

Customers say

Customers find the writing style well-written, simple, and elegant. They describe the content as enlightening, tough for young minds, and hopeful. Readers also find the emotional storyline heartwrenching and not pitiful or whiny. They say the book is an easy read and good for middle schoolers. Customers also mention the pace as great, fast, and timely. They find the book very moving.

AI-generated from the text of customer reviews

116 customers mention "Writing style"101 positive15 negative

Customers find the writing style well-written, with compassion. They also say the artwork brings his words to life. Readers mention the book is easy to read by teens and adults, and mention that the details are simple, honest, and elegant.

"I love that this book is in a comic format. It made it so easy for me to read and I loved the sketches...." Read more

"...This book is easily read by teens and adults...." Read more

"...The comic book format makes it an easy read but adds the visuals for added emotional understanding...." Read more

"...It was a bittersweet read, as the art is beautiful, the story is extremely well told, and it felt like a really good mix of personal and historical,..." Read more

74 customers mention "Content"74 positive0 negative

Customers find the content enlightening, touching, and important. They say the graphic novel illustrates the human story of neighbors victimized by fear, racism, and war. Readers also say it's a good introduction to America's bad history, relevant to the present, and honest about the reality of what happened long ago and what is happening now. They find the book personal, approachable, and riveting.

"...school students, but is good for older readers, too, and raises important questions about the meaning of America...." Read more

"...I wanted my kids to read it afterward. Very sad and eye-opening." Read more

"...While definitely written for a younger audience, the concepts were still complex and given their proper weight...." Read more

"...But it doesn’t have to be this way. This book has the power to educate its readers...." Read more

45 customers mention "Emotional storyline"45 positive0 negative

Customers find the storyline heartwrenching, sad, and eye-opening. They also say the memoir is personal and approachable. Readers also mention that the authors capture the pain, rage, humiliation, and understanding of what happened. They say the book is not pitiful or whiny, but frank, insightful, and demonstrates resilience, compassion, spirit, and heroism.

"...I wanted my kids to read it afterward. Very sad and eye-opening." Read more

"...The comic book format makes it an easy read but adds the visuals for added emotional understanding...." Read more

"...It was a bittersweet read, as the art is beautiful, the story is extremely well told, and it felt like a really good mix of personal and historical,..." Read more

"Interesting story that made it personal and approachable. This is probably something tailored to young readers." Read more

27 customers mention "Audience appeal"27 positive0 negative

Customers find the book easy to read and fascinating for both adults and 6-12 grade students. They also say the topics are difficult but age-appropriate. Customers also say it works beautifully in retelling the childhood and keeping their son engaged.

"...This book is aimed at middle school students, but is good for older readers, too, and raises important questions about the meaning of America...." Read more

"...This book is easily read by teens and adults. Probably appropriate for middle school students, though they may need someone to help them understand..." Read more

"...This is probably something tailored to young readers." Read more

"...about the graphic novel format, but I think it works beautifully in retelling his childhood and bringing the experience to life from a child's eye...." Read more

22 customers mention "Pace"22 positive0 negative

Customers find the book a fast read with a good narrative. They also say the message is timely and required reading in many high schools. Readers also appreciate the highly readable account, which contains many new facts and details.

"...Despite the shortness and quick pacing of the book, you will feel as though you’ve taken an entire US history course in one sitting...." Read more

"...If you are looking for a good, fast read, centered around a human being you already know something about, as a way to learn about the experiences..." Read more

"I thought I knew about the internment, but this highly readable account contains so many, new to me, facts and details." Read more

"...It's a quick read and very well done." Read more

16 customers mention "Emotional impact"16 positive0 negative

Customers find the emotional impact of the book very moving.

"Daring. Historically accurate and also warmly moving. Read this and share this with your friends...." Read more

"I really enjoyed this. Takei's story is fascinating and moving and a graphic novel is a great format for what he wants to tell us...." Read more

"...Having this story told by someone who was there is incredibly moving and the book is very well done...." Read more

"This graphic novel was incredibly moving in both words and pictures invoking the unjust internment of Japanese Am during WWII experienced by Star..." Read more

9 customers mention "Character"9 positive0 negative

Customers find the character in the book perseverant, loyal, and a true American hero. They also describe the details in a simple, honest, and elegant way.

"...But this book lays out the details in such a simple, honest and elegant way that it will stay with the reader for a long, long time...." Read more

"...a “Star Trek” fan, I think that anyone could appreciate it for its brutal honesty and “easy-on-the-eyes” storytelling...." Read more

"...also demonstrates the resilience, compassion, spirit and heroism of Japanese Americans who lived through the ordeal of the internment camps." Read more

"...of Japanese Americans, and he manages to do this with an incredible patriotism ... a sense that the internment contrasts with everything this..." Read more

8 customers mention "Emotional intensity"8 positive0 negative

Customers find the story inspiring and powerful.

"What a powerful and informative book by George Takei, the iconic actor of Star Trek fame...." Read more

"...So very powerful." Read more

"...His family story is a difficult history, but powerful and molded Takei into the activist he is today...." Read more

"It’s surprisingly powerful for such a little graphic book. I found it inspiring. George Takea’s life story is both inspiring and powerful...." Read more

Simple, stunning, and impactful
5 out of 5 stars
Simple, stunning, and impactful
George Takei's personal story brings to life a shameful period in American history. I was a little hesitant about the graphic novel format, but I think it works beautifully in retelling his childhood and bringing the experience to life from a child's eye. As the book continues, he weaves in and out of the "present day" and his recollections in a way that brings the reader along, connecting the dots between something that feels so long ago to the events of recent years.I highly recommend this for anyone who is a history buff, interested in American history and how separate events weave us all together, and for parents looking to gently introduce their children to Asian American history.
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Top reviews from the United States

Reviewed in the United States on July 11, 2024
I know little about the interment of Japanese Americans during WWII. I knew it had happened but virtually nothing else. I would hope this becomes required reading to at least bring this issue up as part of all U.S. history classes. It should remind us that hostility toward and group of humans based only on their ethnicity is wrong. This is lesson in history we should not forget.
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Reviewed in the United States on July 17, 2024
This graphic memoir tells the story of George Takei's family during the time of the Japanese internment during WWII, which spurred his civil rights activism, inspired by his father and Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., into his adulthood. In text by Takei, Justin Eisinger , and Steven Scott, with illustrations by Heather Becker, themes of community, democracy, justice, and the American ideal are shown and explored. This book is aimed at middle school students, but is good for older readers, too, and raises important questions about the meaning of America. Great for learning about this part of US history and for discussion.
Reviewed in the United States on March 22, 2024
Even though this appears to be a childlike comic book, it was fascinating for me to read as an adult. This is not my average book that I would read, but we ended up reading it because a friend and I went and saw the author speak in person at a university. I wanted my kids to read it afterward. Very sad and eye-opening.
2 people found this helpful
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Reviewed in the United States on March 22, 2024
I love that this book is in a comic format. It made it so easy for me to read and I loved the sketches. I found the story very interesting to say the least and it brought to light the history that I had not heard about in detail even though my mother was in Hawaii at the time and experienced some of the aftermath. She never spoke of it which peaked my curiosity and enticed me to purchase this book. I am a fan of George Takei as Star Trek is one of my favorite movie series. I would recommend this book to everyone of all ages. Thank you, George for writing it.
2 people found this helpful
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Reviewed in the United States on July 14, 2024
I really enjoyed this graphic memoir despite the style not being my typical choice for reading. While definitely written for a younger audience, the concepts were still complex and given their proper weight. It included more than just Takei’s experience but included the various perspectives of other Japanese internees as well. I would recommend this wholeheartedly to middle and high school students.
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Reviewed in the United States on February 19, 2020
In 1942, over 120,000 Japanese-Americans were taken away from their homes and placed into dingy prison camps all over the US. They did nothing wrong, but had none of the legal means to prove it to the racist authorities. They were paying for the sins of their home country after the Pearl Harbor bombing. Classic ignorant thinking at its worst: because a small minority of the group committed the crime, the entire group is guilty. George Takei spent most of his tender childhood living under this kind of oppression as he and his family were among the Japanese-American families locked up in internment camps. Reading about this shameful experience through his eyes makes everything that much more heartbreaking. His young mind couldn’t comprehend the ignorance of those in charge. He tried to make sense of the barbed wire enclosures, deplorable conditions, and abusive army guards. Fast forward into adulthood and George Takei does everything in his power as an equal rights activist and Hollywood actor to make sure this terrifying history doesn’t happen again.

This graphic novel is nothing short of a brutally honest look into the politics of fear. Powerful politicians will use their influence and charisma to rile up their supporters into believing that the less fortunate are what’s wrong with this country. We saw it with the Japanese internment in George Takei’s book and we’re seeing it today with the Muslim ban, the family separation policy at the Mexican border, and black people getting harsher treatment from law enforcement than whites. The one thing we learn from history is that we learn nothing from history. But it doesn’t have to be this way. This book has the power to educate its readers. When you familiarize yourself with your fellow world citizens, you’re less likely to judge them. That’s what “They Called Us Enemy” means to me and that’s one of the reasons it’s getting a perfect five out of five stars. The more educated we are, the better off we’ll be. That means leaving behind comfortable bigotry and thinking about what it’s like to be the other guy, which is often a horrifying reality.

But of course, there will always be those contrarians out there who say, “It wasn’t all that bad!” These same people say it about black slavery, they call Mexican border detention centers “Summer Camp”, and they’ll no doubt say it about Japanese internment camps. Having guaranteed living conditions doesn’t mean those conditions are necessarily good. Did I mention the barbed wire fencing around the camps? Did I mention the abusive treatment from the soldiers? What about the fact that George Takei’s family had to live in a horse stall that smelled like rancid feces? What about the infighting among Japanese prisoners who joined the military to prove their patriotism and the prisoners who stayed in the camps to protest? Had enough harsh reality? But wait, there’s one more juicy detail: institutionalization. Some prisoners were so familiar with the routine life of the camps that they couldn’t imagine getting back on their feet in a normal society. Now imagine a child as young as George Takei feeling that way upon leaving the camp. You get to see all of this through the author’s eyes whether you want to or not. It won’t be pleasant, but it’ll be a necessary kick in the butt for the apathetic and fearful.

Despite the shortness and quick pacing of the book, you will feel as though you’ve taken an entire US history course in one sitting. Let this be a message to you all. Treat your neighbors with kindness and respect. Treat your inferiors with the same level of understanding and love. If you see an injustice happening, don’t stay quiet. Be the activist you were meant to become. Be a passionate enough voice in this battle for equality that those in power will have no choice but to listen. Let your words haunt them like schizophrenic ghosts. Will this change anything? Let me put it this way: we don’t have a choice but to activate our activism. The world can’t survive without making progressive leaps and bounds. That is the nature of time. Any questions?
34 people found this helpful
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Reviewed in the United States on July 18, 2024
Similar to Barefoot Gen, this graphic memoir uses manga as a tool to quickly teach history. It shows the final years of World War 2 and the mass incarceration of Japanese Americans from the perspective of actor George Takei's family. The story includes what racist politicians said to justify sending Japanese Americans to internment camps, the lack of climate control and attention to illness in the camps, the security presence an barbed wire fence, a poor bathroom situation, and eventually fights breaking out among the citizens imprisoned with no just cause after the Takeis were moved from one camp to a higher security camp for refusing to swear loyalty and military service to a government that took away their civil rights and imprisoned them out of racist fear and no just cause.

I worry that South American immigrants are being treated similarly now without a specific war causing fear. We should remember the Japanese internment camps and vote against separating families or increasing suffering.
Reviewed in the United States on July 23, 2024
As a Japanese - American it was important for me to give these books to the youngest generation of our family so they know what the older generations had to endure.

Top reviews from other countries

Donatello
5.0 out of 5 stars Evergreen
Reviewed in India on January 21, 2024
The story remains evergreen with just a change of characters. It tells a story untold and fits perfectly of what is going on in the world even now.
JoyLuck
5.0 out of 5 stars Important history to share with young
Reviewed in Germany on March 24, 2022
Important history of racial injustice is important to share to young people and this form of literature makes it accessible and palatable. Based on the actor‘s own personal experience, it is an important eye witness account.
Ignacio S. R.
5.0 out of 5 stars Fascinante
Reviewed in Mexico on November 22, 2019
Una historia conmovedora que rescata un episodio poco conocido de la historia de Estados Unidos y cómo la memoria de los japo-americanos se concilia con su pasado reciente.
ardeear
5.0 out of 5 stars Going Boldly
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on December 28, 2020
George Takei is many things: as an actor he is most readily associated with being Mr Sulu on ‘Star Trek’ but his pan-Asian helmsman from the USS Enterprise is only a fraction of the story. A social rights campaigner for much of his adult life, Mr Sulu was an early sign of success for a young Takei, being a positive Asian character on American TV at a time when Japanese-Americans (and, pretty much anyone of non-Caucasian heritage) were not usually treated at all kindly by the ‘white majority’.
The role gave Takei recognition and the springboard to further LGBT+ rights as well as the opportunity to address injustices around the internment of Japanese-Americans during WWII.
While, as a UK reader of ‘They Called Us Enemy’, certain nuisances of the US constitution left me a little cold, the human story behind the treatment of a whole swathe of people - purely due to their racial heritage - is powerfully told and, as the book itself points out, the resonances in recent American history - given the actions of Trump - remain deeply concerning.
Takei’s an inspiring individual who draws greatly on the inspiration of his own parents and, in particular, his father. This book is also an inspiration, illuminating an aspect of American history about which I had little awareness. It is also about more than one moment in history and how one set of people were treated during it, it makes it clear that this one episode is part of a wider continuum about the choices individuals and states make in treating people and their communities with respect and fairness. It also serves as a warning that advances in civil rights are rarely uniform and enduring: they ebb and flow. Gains, once made, cannot be assumed to be forever - far from it - and states can take decades rectifying wrongs. Rights need fighting for day-by-day so that they are maintained, something Takei does not flinch from, whether here or in his daily life and, for that, I commend him, his work and this book.
2 people found this helpful
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Anita DiCastri
5.0 out of 5 stars Stunning
Reviewed in Canada on August 23, 2019
I bought this for my 12 year old son, who (like the rest of our family) is interested in the history of The Second World War. He read it in a few days and insisted I put my own book down and read it right after he finished. I found it a surprising mix of feel-good warmth and devastation. George Takei does a wonderful job of portraying how a strong and loving family can find joy in the most trying of circumstances. The descriptions of those trying circumstances brought tears to my eyes more than once. This mix of emotions is heightened by the very talented illustrations of Harmony Becker. Beautifully done, well worth the read.
One person found this helpful
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