So Far from the Bamboo Grove

So Far from the Bamboo Grove by Yoko Kawashima Watkins is an excellent World War II novel. Sometimes learning about history from a text book can be a bit boring; however, I truly enjoyed learning about history through this novel because we were emotionally involved in a families story. I was captivated by Yoko because though she was stuck in the middle of a war, praying for her life everyday, we still saw the youthful innocence in her. We saw how Yoko would fight with her sister Ko, and would worry about the girls at her new school in Japan. One of the main reasons I enjoyed this book so much as well was because how important it framed family. For example, the mom did not want Hideyo to go fight in the war because she rather the family stay together, and Hideyo eventually agreed. He purposely failed his intelligence test to stay with his family. Also, Ko did such a wonderful job supporting and taking care of Yoko. The sister's relationship reminds me of the relationship I have with my sister Beth. We are so similar to these sisters because it seems like they had a strong relationship even before the war. I feel my sister and I have a great relationship, and it only gets stronger in times of need. I have obviously never experienced living through a war like the Kawashima sisters have, but I feel like we tend to become even closer when we have experienced difficult times in our lives. The first time we found out about our grandpa passing away, we were at college and could not come home till the next day. My sister Beth picked me up that night and took me to dinner. We reminisced about all the times we had with our grandpa. Though it was a very sad time in our life, I felt like me and my sister bonded and were brought closer together. As I have gotten older I have realized how important family is, and I am so glad that this book portrays that same message.