In A Flash

What worked: Engaging historical set in WWII where two Italian sisters survive after being forced into a Japanese internment camp after Italy signs an armistice with Allie forces.

I didn't know that there were Italian citizens living in Japan during WWII that ended up being forced into internment camps. Caroline and Simona come to Japan with their father when he's offered a job as a cook for the Italian diplomat. Caroline and Simona end up going to a Japanese public school, learn Japanese, and love the country. Then Italy signs an armistice with Allie forces. Quickly they are sent to an internment camp and declared enemies of Japan. Their father is sent to a hidden prisoner camp. The girls learn to survive. First in the camps. Then with a woman who writes forbidden manga. Then they find themselves with a blind woman and help her. Throughout all of this they learn not only survival skills, but harvest the hope of reuniting with their father.

The scenes are vivid and haunting. Especially heartwrenching is the bombing of Hiroshima and the plight of thousands of orphan children. The author doesn't hold back on the horrors of war. Only the story is seen through the eyes of children.

Riveting story of two Italian sisters who survive an internment camp and the horrors of war in Japan during WWII. All the while they're guided by hope to reunite with their father by the power of their love. A total must-read for fans of historicals set during WWII.