Kirkus Reviews

A graphic biography that paints a captivating portrait of a Japanese American artist's road to success against the odds.The book opens with scenes of a teenage Ruth Asawa (1926-2013) working alongside her family-her Japanese immigrant parents and several brothers and sisters-on their California farm, where she daydreams of becoming an artist. But her reverie is abruptly cut short by news of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. Asawa's father was arrested by the FBI, while her mother and six of the seven Asawa siblings (one was living in Japan) ended up in an incarceration camp in Arkansas. A supportive white teacher helped Asawa get into a teachers' college in Milwaukee, but when she was denied the chance to graduate because of her ethnicity, Asawa pursued her first love, art, transferring to the experimental Black Mountain College in rural North Carolina. There, she became embedded in a world of contemporary artists who were pushing boundaries, launching her own career as a celebrated sculptor. Nakahira's lively black-and-white illustrations blend ink drawing with digital coloring. They convey her characters' emotions as well as the wire sculptures for which Asawa is known. The spare text, which combines invented dialogue with reflections from Asawa's first-person perspective, highlights with subtlety and touches of humor the obstacles women and Japanese Americans faced in mid-20th-century America.An inspiring, beautifully rendered book about an artistic dream that came true. (biography of Asawa, suggested reading, photos, image credits) (Graphic biography. 13-18)

Publishers Weekly (Fri Oct 06 00:00:00 CDT 2023)

Nakahira chronicles the young adult years of acclaimed Japanese American artist Ruth Asawa (1926–2013) in this illuminating graphic novel debut. Asawa works on her family farm in Norwalk, Calif., but dreams of accomplishing more. These dreams are put on hold when Japan attacks Pearl Harbor, resulting in the discrimination of people of Japanese descent across the U.S. To protect themselves, the Asawa family destroy any artifact of their ancestry. Still, like many of the Japanese people they know, the Asawas are sent to an incarceration camp, where they are forced to live in deplorable conditions. Though life is bleak during her imprisonment, Asawa’s interest in art takes flight. Across Nakahira’s intimate b&w pen-drawn and digitally colored illustrations, Asawa makes her way to Black Mountain College in North Carolina, where she receives instruction from artist Josef Albers (1888–1976), who escaped Nazi Germany. Later, during a trip to Mexico, Asawa finds inspiration for her career-defining wire sculptures. This comprehensive look at the formative years and lasting legacy of a renowned artist showcases how, with great determination and an unwavering mindset of life and creativity being “one and the same,” Asawa never let anything interfere with her art or her family. Ages 13–up. (Mar.)

School Library Journal (Fri Mar 01 00:00:00 CST 2024)

Gr 7 Up— A graphic biography that follows the life of Ruth Asawa (1926–2013), a Japanese American artist renowned for her innovative wire sculptures. Asawa grew up on a farm with her family in Southern California. She was a teen when Japan bombed Pearl Harbor, and her family was forced to abandon their farm. Her father was incarcerated, and she and the rest of her family were sent to a concentration camp in Arkansas. It was there, while imprisoned, that Asawa cultivated her dreams of becoming an artist. Nakahira chronicles Asawa's life with great detail, continuing with Asawa graduating high school in the camp and obtaining a scholarship to attend Milwaukee State Teacher College to become an art teacher, where she was unable to finish her degree due to anti-Japanese discrimination. Encouraged by her friends, Asawa entered the experimental Black Mountain College in North Carolina to study art. The book also includes coverage of other historical figures, like Asawa's great instructors Bauhaus-trained artists Anni and Josef Albers, inventor R. Buckminister Fuller, and choreographer Merce Cunningham, all who lent themselves to the transformation of her art making. VERDICT A first purchase; this detailed visual biography illustrates the story of an important Japanese American artist emerging from one of the most atrocious violations of American civil rights in the 20th century—the incarceration of Japanese Americans.— Anna Ching-Yu Wong