Paper Wishes

Different people in the story react to imprisonment at Manzanar in different ways. How do various characters learn to cope with their circumstances? What do these experiences suggest about the nature of trauma and resilience?

Water, in both its absence and its presence, plays an important role in the novel. What are the different ways water appears in the text? What is the larger symbolic meaning of water in this story?

Closely analyze one of the secondary characters in the text, such as Ron, Miss Rosalie, or Grandfather. How is this person characterized? What is their role and wider significance in the text?

The action in Paper Wishes often centers around the family’s dynamics. How does the novel explore the nature of family relationships? What key ideas does it convey about the meaning of family?

What does the title of the novel refer to? How does this meaning relate to the novel’s larger themes?

The novel is told from Manami’s first-person perspective. How does this narrative decision affect the story? What other narrative and literary techniques are used in Paper Wishes, and what is their impact?

Compare and contrast Paper Wishes with another novel about the imprisonment of Japanese Americans, such as Florence Crannell Means’s The Moved-Outers or Cynthia Kadohata’s A Place to Belong. How are the two novels different or similar in their treatment of this subject matter? What key themes and ideas do they share?

Do some research about life in the World War II concentration camps where Japanese Americans were held prisoner. How accurate is Paper Wishes in its depiction of these camps? What elements, if any, have been fictionalized for narrative purposes?