Paper Wishes

Paper Wishes (2016) is a middle-grade historical novel by Lois Sepahban. The novel follows 10-year-old Japanese-American Manami as she and her family are incarcerated at the Manzanar concentration camp during World War II. Manami has to leave behind her beloved dog, and is so traumatized that she loses her ability to speak. Over time, Manami and her family learn how to find hope and resilience even in their difficult circumstances.  

Sepahban grew up near Manzanar, and was always interested in the concentration camp’s history. She has written several novels for young readers, including Mulberry Trees, winner of the 2023 PEN/Phyllis Naylor Grant for Children’s and Young Adult Novelists. 

This guide is based on the Farrar Strass Giroux 2016 hardcover edition.

Content Warning: The source material and this guide feature depictions of racism.

Plot Summary

Manami Tanaka is a 10-year-old Japanese American who lives on Bainbridge Island in Washington with her grandfather, mother, father, and little dog Yujiin. She has two older siblings, Ron and Keiko, who are away at college in Indiana. One day in 1942, her teacher tells the Japanese American students that it is their last day. Manami soon learns the United States is now at war with Japan and people with Japanese ancestry are being removed from America’s West Coast. She and her family have to leave almost everything behind—including Yujiin. Manami is devastated. When soldiers come to take her family away, she tries to sneak Yujiin along, but she is ultimately discovered. As Yujiin is taken away, Manami screams with anger and pain.

During the two-day train ride that follows, Manami does not speak. The Japanese Americans are brought to Manzanar, a concentration camp in the California desert. The camp is ugly and frightening, and the families are crowded together in uncomfortable barracks. Manami’s grandfather refuses to eat, and Manami still does not speak. 

Manami’s best friend, Kimmi, is also imprisoned at the camp with her family. Kimmi tries to cheer Manami up and defends her from others’ criticisms about her continued silence. Manami’s mother and father begin working hard to create the best life they can in their new circumstances. Mother organizes the family’s barracks room and plants a small garden. She gives Manami paper to write letters to her two older siblings, who are still at college. Manami is unable to mail the letters, however, as the men in the administration building frighten her and she does not know how to tell them what she wants without speaking. Father works with the other men, clearing brush and building new barracks. Manami keeps thinking that she hears Yujiin barking in the distance, and one day, she even thinks she sees him drinking at the camp’s water pump—but when she gets there, Yujiin is nowhere to be seen.

By May, the family has settled into camp life, although Manami still feels unable to speak. As more barracks are erected, many new families arrive. Mother takes a job as a camp cook. Kimmi visits Manami and tells her that a school will be opening soon. Manami is intrigued by the idea, but she worries about leaving Grandfather alone, as he is very depressed. 

Late one night, Manami’s older brother arrives unexpectedly. Ron explains that he left college to be with the family and help them. He and Keiko agreed that Keiko would stay in Indiana so that at least one member of the family was outside the camp in case their help was needed. At first, Manami is overjoyed to see Ron, thinking he will liberate them from the camp. Quickly, however, she understands that Ron is now a prisoner as well. Believing that somehow her letter to Ron made it to Indiana and is the cause of his arrival, Manami is overcome with guilt. 

Manami begins school in Miss Rosalie’s classroom. Ron has taken a job at the school, teaching in the room next to Miss Rosalie’s. Miss Rosalie is understanding about Manami not speaking; she lets Manami write on a slate instead of answering aloud, and gives Manami paper and pencils to draw with at home. Manami draws a picture of her father’s boat for Miss Rosalie to thank her for the paper; when Miss Rosalie tells her it is beautiful, she is motivated to keep drawing pictures for her. One day, the camp’s warden requires the children to say the Pledge of Allegiance. He is angry that Manami does not speak, but Miss Rosalie defends her. When Ron thanks Rosalie, she blushes at his praise.

Keiko writes to suggest that Ron take advantage of a new program that will allow young men to leave Manzanar if they enlist in the army, but Ron objects to serving in an army that keeps his family prisoner. During the camp’s mandatory 4th of July celebration, Manami nervously notes that many of the adults in the crowd do not salute the flag or say the Pledge of Allegiance when the warden tells them to. When Ron walks her home afterward, Ron pauses to tell some boys from his class to get away from a group of men who appear to be having a covert meeting.

Manami begins creating drawings and releasing them into the wind as messages to Yujiin, begging him to join her. She soon despairs of Yujiin ever getting her messages. Her Grandfather comforts her. Later that evening, he joins the family for dinner for the first time since their arrival. Mother performs a special tea ceremony in celebration, and for the first time, Manami thinks she may be able to speak. However, that very evening, Father brings home a stray dog for the family. Manami is overwhelmed with sadness and runs outside, feeling her throat close tighter than ever. Father gives the dog to Kimmi’s family instead.

August is very hot, and Manami suffers from the weather. There is a school break, and Ron takes a job working on the building crew. He also starts coaching his students in baseball. When it is time for the community’s annual lantern festival, Manami makes a lantern for Yujiin. She hopes that the candle will act as a beacon to bring Yujiin to the camp—but almost as soon as she sets the lantern down, the wind blows out Yujiin’s candle.

Just before school begins in September, Manami accidentally sees Ron and Miss Rosalie in a romantic embrace. She feels torn between keeping the secret for Ron and telling her parents. She falls ill and does not start school with the other children. Her throat feels tighter, and she begins to struggle to even eat. Finally, Miss Rosalie comes to visit Manami at home. Ron confesses they are in a relationship, and Manami’s parents are shocked. Miss Rosalie tells Manami how much she misses her and begs her to return to school. Manami agrees, and is happy when she does go back the next day. Still, she cannot stop thinking about how her parents’ disapprove of Ron’s relationship. 

The warden learns that a group of boys in Ron’s class have been passing messages for the men of the camp who are trying to foment resistance. Ron is arrested and taken in for questioning. Some people defend Ron, saying he did everything he could to keep the boys out of trouble. Others are angry at Ron, thinking that he will give up the names of the agitators. Manami, her family, and Miss Rosalie are devastated.

After a few days, the camp police offer to release Ron, but they caution the family that he might no longer be safe at Manzanar. Ron agrees to be transferred to a camp in Idaho. Rosalie and the family are very sad. Grandfather suggests that it might finally be time to get Manami a new dog. He believes that giving her something to care for might help her cope with Ron being gone and help her find her voice again. Father brings home a little white dog that looks like Yujiin, naming it Seal. Manami is comforted by having Seal’s small warm body to cuddle with, especially as winter comes. Gradually, as she takes care of Seal, she grows fond of him. 

Dissent within the camp grows. In December, a man is beaten by a group of masked men, and shortly afterward a riot breaks out. When Manami’s family gets a letter from Ron describing better conditions in the Idaho camp, Manami’s father talks to the warden about transferring the Bainbridge Islanders. The warden agrees. When it is time for Manami’s family to board the bus to the Idaho camp, the soldiers try to separate her from Seal. For the first time in months, Manami speaks: She tells them no, over and over, and begins to cry. The soldiers relent, and Manami is allowed to board with Seal. Her family is overjoyed that she has finally spoken. Although her voice is still scratchy and hard to use, Manami says Seal’s name aloud and then tells her family that she loves them.