Obasan

• The great Canadian reading list: 150 books to read for Canada 150

A powerful and passionate novel,Obasantells, through the eyes of a child, the moving story of Japanese Canadians during the Second World War. Naomi is a sheltered and beloved five-year-old when Pearl Harbor changes her life. Separated from her mother, she watches bewildered as she and her family become enemy aliens, persecuted and despised in their own land. Surrounded by hardship and pain, Naomi is protected by the resolute endurance of her aunt Obasan and the silence of those around her. Only after Naomi grows up does she return to question the haunting silence. (From Penguin Books)

• Authors Joy Kogawa and Mark Sakamoto on forgiveness and Japanese-Canadian internment

Obasanwon the Books in Canada First Novel Award (now known as the Amazon.ca First Novel Award) in 1982.

Read an excerpt | Author interviews

From the book

Author interviews

Joy Kogawa recalls her internment experience in 1999

25 years ago

Duration 7:44

One woman remembers the positives and negatives of living in an internment camp. Aired on CBC's Midday on Nov. 11, 1999.