Kiku Hughes

Kiku is on vacation in San Francisco when suddenly she finds herself displaced to the 1940s Japanese-American internment camp that her late grandmother, Ernestina, was forcibly relocated to during World War II. These displacements keep occurring until Kiku finds herself "stuck" back in time. Living alongside her young grandmother and other Japanese-American citizens in internment camps, Kiku gets the education she never received in history class. She witnesses the lives of Japanese-Americans who were denied their civil liberties and suffered greatly, but managed to cultivate community and commit acts of resistance in order to survive. Kiku Hughes weaves a riveting, bittersweet tale that highlights the intergenerational impact and power of memory.

Displacement

Sarah Sammis

As Kiku is from the present day, and from a family where the events of Japanese internment weren't discussed, and the language wasn't spoken at home, she has a lot to learn on the fly. She is thus the eyes and ears for any readers who haven't learned about the internment.

The artwork throughout is detailed and realistic. The architecture in San Francisco, and other cities, is recognizable. There are numerous top down views of the various camp locations that are also architecturally complex.

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Ryan 

if "no hxstory, no self" is a book, a thought-provoking one

Julie Burszan 

Joycelyn Ghansah

Phenomenal, loved how Hughes weaves the past and present. Kiku's connection by the end of the book was beautiful to see. Love the mixture of fact and fiction and the importance of memory, especially during incarceration when they weren't allowed to document everything. It's horrible how fear and othering traumatized an entire generation and continues to do so.

Ashley Wendt

I like the art style and the colors used. I’m always interested in learning about history….this was very similar content though to They Called Us Enemies by George Takei so it felt a repetitive.

Mahogany Skillings

A beautifully illustrated version of what may have happened in the Japanese internment camps. Centered around Kiku, the granddaughter of Ernestina, who was at camp Topaz in Utah. Kiku, suddenly travels back in time to be interred in the same place as her grandmother. The frustrations and unfairness of the camps is evident. At the same time the resilience of the people affected is on display as well. This title also warns against letting history repeat itself. We are living in difficult times where old rhetoric is becoming popular again. We have to fight back against it.

Michelle Xu

4 stars

Very relevant today... I learned a lot about Japanese American history that I don’t think I’ve discussed or learned since elementary school. While I knew the internment camps existed, it is crazy to me how much of that history has been erased and forgotten. The last part with Kiku and her mom was so telling in describing how anti immigrant sentiment often repeats over and over and it seems like lessons are never learned. I also thought it was so interesting how she discussed how white people created the model minority myth to put Asians against other POC. 

This was a good reminder that each generation has a new interment camp but just called something different. It made me also realize I need to do more research and stay up to date on what’s happening at the border. Even if Trump is no longer president, I feel like I can’t get complacent.

Jane The Bookaholic

⭐️ 3 Stars ⭐️

I actually was really confused at first because I was sure it’s based on a real story, and it was part reality part imagination. But I liked how the book tried to represent something in this way. I wish I saw more books with those messages, and I think trying to tell this story in a graphic novel was an amazing way.

Belle Ellrich

*I WAS PROVIDED A DIGITAL GALLEY BY THE PUBLISHER. THIS DOES NOT AFFECT MY OPINION*

After reading this graphic novel, something became very apparent to me quickly. This book isn't just wanted, it's needed.

Kiku Hughes created a novel that is a mix of memoir and fiction, with a twist of time travel added. She highlights the importance of knowing the truth about a historical time event that is definitely glossed over and under-explained in our US History classes.

Displacement refers to a phenomenon happening, but also refers to an important part of history that's been halfway hidden. The US, like quite a few other countries, doesn't like to talk about its mistakes all that much; and while we might know of them, we aren't taught the exact truth of them like we should be.

This graphic novel focuses on the time during WWII, just after the bombing of Pearl Harbor happened. Japanese immigrants and even Japanese-Americans were forced into internment camps out of unnecessary fear of betrayals or attacks from within. Something I found important about this novel was that it highlighted the truths and pitted them against the lies or falsehoods. Kiku Hughes did not, for a second, allow us to fall back into the traps that are our history books hold.

This book, as I stated before, is a mix of memoir and fiction. The author directly pulled from facts about her own family and put a small twist on them to grab our attention and force us to listen. She drove us to understand the losses due to the internment camps. An example of this was how her grandmother Ernestina did not pass along important traditions or teach her children the Japanese language out of fear of the treatment they'd receive because of it and her own experiences.

I especially loved how the author kept her sexuality the same in the book while making sure to keep romance a background focus. I felt that, had the romance been a main focus, this novel would've turned out very differently.

For this, I rate Displacement 5 stars. I loved this novel, and I'll definitely be preordering it when I can afford to. I highly suggest y'all pick this one up. (P.S. Make sure to keep an eye out on Turn the Page tours's page! We have some exciting news coming soon, regarding this book.)

Displacement

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