America's Game

As World War II rages across the world, Kannon’s life is torn apart at home. With baseball as his only outlet, he’s left to wonder whether his family will ever be reunited–and whether his world will ever be the same.

Kannon has lived his whole life in Hawaii, part of a tight-knit Japanese community. He cherishes his family, his traditions, and most of all, baseball, which has always served a bond between him and his father. But after Japan attacks Pearl Harbor at the height of World War II, Kannon’s whole life is upended: His father is taken away by the government, and no one will tell his family where they’ve taken him.

So when, after months of searching, Kannon and his mother and sister are told that they can find him at the Tule Lake internment camp, they willingly go, hopeful to be reunited. But things are not as they seem, and when they get to the camp, Kannon’s father is nowhere to be found. Not only that, but conditions at the camp are rough, with strict rules and gangs that control anything that’s really important. And also, there is baseball, and Kannon has the opportunity to play once again.

Together with his new friends Naomi and Tomo, he works to make baseball into an outlet for everyone trapped in the terrible camp–and to demonstrate how it can be something more, something that can show the country what it really means to be a part of America.

In this powerful historical novel based on real events, America’s pastime is so much more than a simple game. Perfect for fans of The Bletchley Riddle and Max in the House of Spies.