JANM Book Club: Evergreen with Naomi Hirahara

On September 9, 2023, Edgar Award winning author, Naomi Hirahara, dove into the history of Little Tokyo through her newest book, “Evergreen.” “Evergreen,” the follow-up to the Mary Higgins Clark Award-winning “Clark and Division,” is the story of a Japanese American nurse’s aide who navigates the dangers of post-World War II and post-Manzanar life as she attempts to find justice for a broken family. Hirahara’s presentation included photographs from 1946 Little Tokyo, Boyle Heights, and Burbank trailer parks.
ABOUT THE BOOK:
It’s been two years since Aki Ito and her family were released from Manzanar detention center and resettled in Chicago with other Japanese Americans. Now the Itos have finally been allowed to return home to California-but nothing is as they left it. The entire Japanese American community is starting from scratch, with thousands of people living in dismal refugee camps while they struggle to find new houses and jobs in over-crowded Los Angeles.
Aki is working as a nurse’s aide at the Japanese Hospital in Boyle Heights when an elderly Issei man is admitted with suspicious injuries. When she seeks out his son, she is shocked to recognize her husband’s best friend, Babe Watanabe. Could Babe be guilty of elder abuse?
Only a few days later, Little Tokyo is rocked by a murder at the low-income hotel where the Watanabes have been staying. When the cops start sniffing around Aki’s home, she begins to worry that the violence tearing through her community might threaten her family. What secrets have the Watanabes been hiding, and can Aki protect her husband from getting tangled up in a murder investigation?
Available at the JANM Store: janmstore.com/products/evergreen
This program was presented as part of the JANM Book Club series that highlight new publications by Japanese Americans or related to Japanese American history and culture.
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