The War Outside by Monica Hesse

The War Outside, by Monica Hesse, is a captivating book that shares the perspective of two young girls, Margot and Haruko. The book takes place in 1944 at the Crystal City internment camp in Texas. Haruko, a 17 year old Japanese girl thought it would be unlikely for her and her family to be imprisoned in an internment camp because her brother is in the army. It seems, however, that this does not matter and her father is still taken into custody. Haruko’s father works at a fancy hotel and often sends letters for people, which leads the U.S. government to suspect him of sending secret letters to Japan. Haruko seems suspicious as to whether or not her father is guilty of the accusations. She becomes angry at her father for not resisting when they took him, and now she has to join her mother and younger sister to go to the internment camp too. Now, Haruko has to make the move from Colorado to Texas.

The Crystal City internment camp is specifically made for more dangerous enemies, so it holds German people as well as Japanese people. Margot is a 16 year old girl in the internment camp because while she was living in Iowa, her dad was peer pressured into attending a meeting of Nazi supporters. Margot is a smart girl who is home schooled by her parents and loves them very much. She is an only child, mostly because all of her mother’s other pregnancies ended in miscarriage. Throughout the book it becomes apparent that her father’s violence may be a reason for all the miscarriages. Margot’s relationship with her father seems to change over the course of the book. At the beginning, readers love him because he seems very anti-Nazi and shows a lot of affection for his family.

Because many of the Japanese prisoners are not guilty of the accusations, they stay away from the German prisoners, because a lot of the Germans are vocal about their support for Nazi’s so much that they are requesting to be sent to Germany. Margot refuses to go to the German-specific school because they do not give credit that can get her into U.S. colleges, so Margot and Haruko meet at school. They do not really talk to each other at all, however Margot notices Haruko immediately. They first formally meet when a dust storm comes and Margot notices Haruko is walking alone and is unaware of the coming storm. The two immediately become close friends but have trouble staying friends with the judgement around them. They both have family problems that soon become entangled as both of their issues.

I think this book is pretty good. I like how it feels slow moving but I am somehow still interested and captivated by it. Monica Hesse has quickly become one of my favorite authors, I think I like her so much because of the amount of detail she puts into her books. Monica Hesse is a journalist for the Washington Post, which I think gives her good experience in digging up facts. She learns a lot of the information about the time and setting in this book and although the characters are fictional for the most part, many of the events that occur at the camp are based off of true events.

The main focus of the book is the relationship between Margot and Haruko, which is really interesting. The relationship takes a lot of different turns throughout the book, from being a close friendship to a possible romance. I think most readers would differ in their opinion on what exactly Margot and Haruko’s relationship is. Either way, I think their relationship is amazing because readers can tell how they change each other for the better, especially towards the end. I love the ending of the book. Even though the ending is unexpected and unsatisfying, I think it was the right way to end it.