Review: Displacement

Displacement by Kiku Hughes
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Kiku is on a trip to San Francisco with her mother to visit the neighborhood her grandmother grew up in.  When they finally find the area, they discover that the houses had been torn down and a mall was put up in its place.  Kiku’s mom takes the opportunity to visit the mall and Kiku waits outside.  What she doesn’t expect is to be “displaced” back in time to when her grandmother was a child.  That displacement didn’t last long, but a second and third displacement soon follows.  During these trips back in time, Kiku discovers that her knowledge about what happened to people of Japanese descent in America during World War II is very incomplete. 

Displacement is a graphic novel that is partly based on Kiku’s family during World War II and other times.  Hughes knows that we can’t know everything that was happening during these turbulent times, so she created a storyline that allows for gaps in the narrator’s knowledge also.  I read this graphic novel in two sessions, so even the most reluctant reader can enjoy the story and the history that is included.  I feel this book would even be enjoyed by those who normally don’t read graphic novels, but enjoy unique historical tales.

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