Between Two Freedoms

A Story About Love and the Incarceration of Japanese in America During WW2

De: Elaine Koyama

Narrado por: Kat Hamamura

In the quiet farm town of Guadalupe, California, Emmy Kubo's life revolves around family, friends, and the small, close-knit Japanese-American community. But when World War II erupts, everything changes. As an American-born citizen, Emmy and her Issei parents—immigrants who are denied citizenship—lose their freedom, while she and her Nisei (American born) friends, including the charming Tom, struggle to navigate a nation that now views them with suspicion.

As the government orders the imprisonment of the Japanese, Emmy, Tom, and their friends are forced into prison camps, their futures uncertain. Through it all, the bonds of friendship sustain them. Tom’s quiet strength and Emmy’s resilience draw them closer, even as they confront the devastating realities of war, prejudice, and the loss of everything they once knew.

Between Two Freedoms is a moving story about the power of community, the endurance of love, and the meaning of true freedom in a time of oppression. Faced with unimaginable challenges, Emmy learns that friendship, hope, and the strength of both the Issei and Nisei generations are what hold them together in the darkest of times.

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©2025 ELAINE KOYAMA (P)2026 Elaine Koyama

Beautiful story amidst an ugly racist backdrop

The author manages to create beauty amidst this hideous chapter of US history. The book begins shortly before the attack on Pearl Harbor where we meet Japanese American families living on the west coast. Shortly after the attack American citizens of Japanese descent along with noncitizens who emigrated to the US from Japan are rounded up and forced into concentration camps.
Although the book describes the difficulties and humiliation endured by the people incarcerated, the focus is on a couple who find love and create a family amid the nightmare. The narration is very well done!

I enjoyed the story very much and recommend the book. I also recommend, for those unfamiliar with the internment of Japanese Americans, reading nonfiction accounts of the injustice committed by the US government and the full extent of the horror and deprivation suffered in these camps. Especially in light of the horrific stories emerging from the current concentration camps called detention centers.