Hello Picture Book Builders!
Today, I am so honored to be able to share a truly special book with you all: UNBREAKABLE: A Japanese American Family in an American Incarceration Camp, written by Minoru Tonai and Jolene Gutiérrez, illustrated by Chris Sasaki.
Here’s my review:
Wow. This masterfully written and beautifully illustrated book tells the true heart-breaking story of Minoru Tonai and how, during World War II, his father was arrested by FBI agents and imprisoned while the young boy and his other family members were uprooted and made to live in an incarceration camp – all because they were Japanese. As a Jewish person, I found the descriptions of Min’s experience chillingly similar to the horrors experienced by millions of Jewish families in Europe during WWII – good and loyal citizens suddenly torn from their lives, caged and forced to live in inhumane conditions, labeled as dangerous (literally, having to wear a visible marker to identify them), and stripped of all dignity simply because those in power needed someone to blame. The Authors handle the heavy topic here with such grace. The language is kid-friendly, yet deeply honest. Readers will empathize and connect with Min’s feelings of confusion and fear. I appreciate that the Authors never sugar-coat what happened or the horrible things people and governments are capable of when they feel threatened, and yet somehow in the end, the Authors still manage to deliver a message about the power of resilience and offer us hope for humanity. Back matter, including Author and Illustrator notes, a timeline, and questions for discussion are included to help inspire important conversations. An incredible book that is deserving of all the awards I’m sure will be coming its way.
Jolene and I are agent-sisters, so I was lucky enough to see an early copy of the book. Obviously now, the word is out and, not surprisingly, it has already received FOUR starred reviews and is getting its well-deserved book buzz.
I’m so grateful that Jolene is here to talk about this absolutely gorgeous and important book. Welcome, Jolene!
RGL: How did you come to be friends with Minoru and learn about his story? When did you know you needed to write a book together about it?
JG: When I was 12, I first heard about Amache Incarceration Camp from my grandparents one summer and I was so frustrated that I hadn’t learned about Japanese American incarceration camps during my Colorado history classes. When I became a teacher librarian 30 years ago, I started teaching lessons that included the history of Amache. Each year that I taught about Amache, there were a number of students and teachers who would say things like, “Before your lesson, I’d never heard about this,” so in 2016, I decided to work on a nonfiction middle grade book about Amache. I was researching and interviewing people when a friend, Dan Yoshii, introduced me to Minoru Tonai. Min had been incarcerated at Amache with his family and his story was so powerful that after I spoke to him, I asked Min if we could focus the book on his family’s story. We worked together from 2017 to 2023, when we sold the manuscript to Abrams Books. Min passed away soon after, but I’m so grateful he knew his story would live on.
RGL: I’m so sorry for your loss. I know he would’ve been so proud to see all the praise you are getting for this book. I thought your choice to write Min’s narrative in the present tense was so smart. I think all too often when kids read about “history,” they think of it as “something that happened a million years ago and has nothing to do with what I’m going through now.” But by writing in the present tense, you bring immediacy to the story and a here-and-now reason for readers to connect and empathize with what Min “is” going through. Tell us more about why you made this craft choice? I’m also curious if you played at all with POV and why you landed on close 3rd person vs. 1st person (especially since Min himself co-authored the book).
JG: As a teacher, it’s very important to me that my students practice putting themselves in others’ shoes. By writing our story in present tense, hopefully readers feel like they’re there with Min. And speaking of Min, my co-author struggled with the fictional element we added to the story—the rock that Papa gave Min before the FBI took Papa away. Since Papa didn’t actually give Min a rock and because Min knew the picture book character would likely be illustrated as younger than Min was during the incarceration (he was 13 at the start of the war), close 3rd person felt better to him. Everything else that happens in the story is real and true, though.
RGL: In addition to being an author, I know you are also a librarian at an 2nd-12th grade school in Denver. Have you shared the book with your students? What feedback have you received from them? Has anything surprised you about their reactions to Min’s story?
JG: Very early on in the writing process—maybe in 2018—I read an early draft of a picture book version to one of my classes. They were polite, but I could definitely tell where we’d overwritten and the fact that we didn’t have illustrations made it difficult for my students to connect to the story. I showed them photos, but it just wasn’t the same. Recently, I shared the finished product with some of my 6th grade and high school students and wow, what a difference. This time around, my students were IN the story with Min. They experienced the losses and pains Min experienced and they were with me the entire time through. And this didn’t really surprise me, but I was grateful for their reactions: many of them expressed how upset they were. They understood how unfair it was that this happened to Min’s family and 120,000+ other people, and they made connections to other times in the past and in present day when people were treated unjustly and families were separated.
RGL: Your students’ connectedness to Min and their outrage about his treatment is a testiment to your beautiful empathetic wrting. So well done. What was the most challenging part of the writing process for this one?
JG: Finding the right format. Min was a businessman, so his writing voice was more factual and included lots of details. We first wrote the story as a middle grade nonfiction book, but it didn’t have the heart I wanted it to. Then we tried it as a picture book, and that felt better, but there was still something missing. I tried scripting the story as a graphic novel script, with no luck, and then in 2020, I was watching a virtual pilgrimage and Min spoke, telling a story about his father bring released from prison after over 3 years and coming to join Min and his family at Amache. When Min tried to lift his Papa’s suitcase, he learned it was filled with rocks from each of the prisons Papa had been held in. They used the rocks to create a rock garden outside their barracks. I knew that Min and his Papa created rock gardens both before and after being incarcerated, so hearing that rocks were also important during their family’s incarceration felt like an important throughline. We started revising our picture book manuscript with that thought in mind and the rest is history.
RGL: Amazing that this went through so many iterations before finally finding the perfect format and theme for this story! What do you hope children most take away from your book after reading it?
JG: I hope they read this story, open their hearts, and feel the losses that the Tonai family experienced. I hope they get angry, just like I did all those years ago, that thousands of people were imprisoned unjustly and held for years without due process. And I hope that readers will learn from the past so that we don’t keep making the same mistakes.
RGL: I truly, truly hope that too. And now, my favorite question to ask my guests: What is one question no one has yet to ask you about the making of this book that you would love to answer? (And what’s the answer?!)
JG: Here’s a question I haven’t been asked yet: “Is this the original title?” The answer is no. We went through a few different titles over the years including the following:
- Speaking Out
- Standing Strong
- Don’t Call Me #12803c
- Imprisoned Innocents
RGL: Oh, how interesting! I think you ended up landing on the perfect title, though. Thank you again for sharing the story behind the story for this wonderful book, Jolene.
And now, dear readers, I have a giveaway for you! Jolene and her publisher, Abrams, has agreed to send a copy of the book to one lucky reader (Continental U.S./non-P.O. box addresses only, please). To enter, simply comment on this post! I will announce the winner on my next post, scheduled for 6/30/26!
Jolene’s Bio:
Jolene Gutiérrez grew up on a farm in northeastern Colorado, surrounded by animals, plants, and history. Now, she lives with her family and a variety of animals near Denver, where she is an award-winning neurodivergent teacher librarian who has been working with neurodivergent learners since 1995. Jolene writes for young readers and hopes her books will help some readers feel seen and will help others learn and grow in compassion. Her books have been printed in nine countries and eight languages and include the recipient of four starred reviews, Unbreakable: A Japanese American Family in an American Incarceration Camp (co-authored with Minoru Tonai); Mamiachi and Me: My Mami’s Mariachi Band (co-authored with her son Dakota); winner of the 2025 Crystal Kite Award for the Southwest Region, The Ofrenda That We Built (co-authored with her daughter Shaian); and Too Much! An Overwhelming Day. Jolene is represented by agent Kaitlyn Sanchez. Find her online at www.jolenegutierrez.com or on Facebook, Bluesky, Instagram, or Threads @writerjolene.
