Paper Wishes

Content Warning: This section of the guide includes discussion of racism.

Manami is the protagonist and narrator of Paper Wishes. When the story begins, she is a 10-year-old Japanese American schoolgirl living in Bainbridge Island, Washington. Manami loves her family and her dog, Yujiin, deeply. She walks on the beach with her grandfather most mornings and enjoys talking to him, and she is a considerate and respectful daughter towards her parents. The depth of her love for Yujiin shows when Manami takes the extraordinary step of trying to smuggle Yujiin in her coat on the day her family is removed from Bainbridge Island. This love is also evident in Manami’s extended mourning for the loss of Yujiin during her first few months in the camp: She thinks about the little dog constantly, and sometimes even imagines that she sees or hears him.

Manami is an honest narrator, but her age makes her somewhat unreliable because it limits her understanding of her situation. Her wishful belief that she can write to Yujiin and persuade him to somehow find his way to Manzanar—a two-day train ride away from Bainbridge Island—reflects The Emotional and Psychological Effects of Imprisonment on Children.