One Book One Coast

One Book, One Coast connects West Coast libraries through a shared read. This year's selection, They Called Us Enemy, by George Takei, is a graphic memoir about family, identity, and resilience. Here are some more titles that are similar in theme.

Updated May 13, 2026
Drag items up and down to your preferred order then select the "Save Order" button.
They called us enemy
Takei, George
Paper Book
New York Times Bestseller! A stunning graphic memoir recounting actor/author/activist George Takei's childhood imprisoned within American concentration camps during World War II. Experience the forces that shaped an American icon -- and America itself -- in this gripping tale...
When the emperor was divine : a novel
Otsuka, Julie
Paper Book
Julie Otsuka’s commanding debut novel paints a portrait of the Japanese internment camps unlike any we have ever seen. With crystalline intensity and precision, Otsuka uses a single family to evoke the deracination—both physical and emotional—of a generation of Japanese Americans....
Displacement
Hughes, Kiku
Paper Book
A teenager is pulled back in time to witness her grandmother's experiences in World War II-era Japanese internment camps in Displacement, a historical graphic novel perfect for fans of They Called Us Enemy and The Devil's Arithmetic. Kiku is on vacation in San...
No no boy
Okada, John.
Paper Book
"No-No Boy has the honor of being among the first of what has become an entire literary canon of Asian American literature,? writes novelist Ruth Ozeki in her new foreword. First published in 1957, No-No Boy was virtually ignored by a public eager to put World War II and the...
They Called Us Enemy
Takei, George
Ebook
Nos llamaron enemigo
Takei, George
Paper Book
The award-winningNew York Times Bestseller, now in Spanish! En estas impactantes memorias en formato de novela grafica, el actor/autor/activista George Takei rememora sucesos imborrables de su infancia en los campos de concentraci n en America, como uno de los 120,000...
Only what we could carry : the Japanese American internment experience
Inada, Lawson Fusao.
Paper Book
The definitive anthology of Japanese American internment. "In these stories are lifted up our humanity, our indomitable spirit and dignity, an implacable quest for justice"--Janice Mirikitani Shortly after the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor, the United States...
Infamy : the shocking story of the Japanese American internment in World War II
Reeves, Richard
Paper Book
A LOS ANGELES TIMES BESTSELLER * A NEW YORK TIMES BOOK REVIEW EDITOR'S CHOICE * Bestselling author Richard Reeves provides an authoritative account of the internment of more than 120,000 Japanese-Americans and Japanese aliens during World War II Less than three...
Silver like dust : one family's story of America's Japanese internment
Grant, Kimi Cunningham.
Paper Book
Sipping tea by the fire, preparing sushi for the family, or indulgently listening to her husband tell the same story for the hundredth time, Kimi Grant's grandmother, Obaachan, was a missing link to Kimi's Japanese heritage, something she had had a mixed relationship with all her life. Growing up...
The grave on the wall
Shimoda, Brandon
Paper Book
Winner of the 2020 PEN Open Book Award Best of 2019: Nonfiction - Entropy Magazine A memoir and book of mourning, a grandson's attempt to reconcile his own uncontested citizenship with his grandfather's lifelong struggle. Award-winning poet Brandon Shimoda has crafted a...
Facing the mountain a true story of Japanese American heroes in World War II
Brown, Daniel James, 1951-
Paper Book
A NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER One of NPR's "Books We Love" of 2021 Longlisted for the PEN/Jacqueline Bograd Weld Award for Biography  Winner of the Christopher Award    "Masterly. An epic story of four Japanese-American families and their...
When can we go back to America? : voices of Japanese American incarceration during World War II
Kamei, Susan H.
Paper Book
In this dramatic and page-turning narrative history of Japanese Americans before, during, and after their World War II incarceration, Susan H. Kamei weaves the voices of over 130 individuals who lived through this tragic episode, most of them as young adults. It's difficult to...
Un-American : the incarceration of Japanese Americans during World War II
Cahan, Richard
Paper Book
The imprisonment of U.S. citizens: More relevant now than ever In the spring of 1942, the United States rounded up 120,000 residents of Japanese ancestry living along the West Coast and sent them to interment camps for the duration of World War II. Many abandoned their land. Many gave up...
We are not free
Chee, Traci
Paper Book
* NATIONAL BOOK AWARD FINALIST * PRINTZ HONOR BOOK * WALTER HONOR BOOK * ASIAN/PACIFIC AMERICAN AWARD FOR LITERATURE HONOR BOOK * From New York Times best-selling and acclaimed author Traci Chee comes We Are Not Free, the collective account of a tight-knit group of young Nisei, second...
Farewell to Manzanar a true story of Japanese American experience during and after the World War I
Houston, Jeanne Wakatsuki.
Paper Book
The powerful true story of life in a Japanese American internment camp. During World War II the community called Manzanar was hastily created in the high mountain desert country of California, east of the Sierras. Its purpose was to house thousands of Japanese American internees. ...
We are not strangers
Tuininga, Josh
Paper Book
Marco Calvo always knew his grandfather, affectionately called Papoo, was a good man. After all, he was named for him. A first-generation Jewish immigrant, Papoo was hardworking, smart, and caring. When Papoo peacefully passes away, Marco expected the funeral to be simple. However, he is caught...

Library staff! You can create and contribute to lists. Contact your catalog administrator or log in here.