All We Left Behind by Danielle R. Graham

Hayden Pierce lives with his parents, and his older sister Rosalyn on Mayne Island, in British Columbia. It is August, 1941, and Hayden has volunteered to help his ma help set up the craft fair rather than work with his dad, fishing. That's because Hayden is smitten with Chidori Setoguchi and plans to ask her on a date. So instead of healing his father and Chidori's uncle Massey who are out fishing on Massey's seine boat,  Hayden has volunteered to help his ma set up the craft tables at the Mayne Island Fall Fair just so he can meet up with Chidori.

Chidori and her brothers, Tosh and Kenji are setting up their vegetable at their permanent wood stand on the fairgrounds. Mr. Setoguchi grows cucumbers and tomatoes in his greenhouses. After watching Hayden talk to Chidori, Rory Bauer and his cousin Fitz taunt him over his attraction to Chidori who is Japanese-Canadian. With tensions rising between Japan and Canada, Canadians of Japanese heritage are increasingly being targeted.

At the fair, Hayden and his friend Joey talk about the ongoing war. Hayden has no interest in signing up on his birthday. But Joey reminds him , "...the Nazis are killing innocent people and stealing power from entire countries..." In the meantime, Hayden goes down to Miner Bay to help his father and Chidori's uncle Massey unload and sell their catch of chinook salmon. Afterwards, Hayden meets Chidori at her house and they row to Georgeson Island in her rowboat. She tells Hayden that she's been accepted to study at the University of British Columbia but that she's not going. She doesn't want to waste her father's money or her time when she's uncertain about what to study, and she believes the war will also change many things. At this time Hayden asks Chidori to go steady with him. She initially accepts but on their way home, another confrontation with the Bauers causes her to withdraw her acceptance, devastating Hayden.

At church on Sunday, Hayden confronts Chidori, but she doesn't know what to do. There are reports that an MP wants all Japanese stripped of their Canadian citizenship and returned to Japan. Days later, Hayden's sister, Rose leaves Mayne Island to start her nursing job in Vancouver. Rose is engaged to Earl who is a pilot stationed over in England. Chidori, and her brothers Tosh and Kenji are also at the pier, delivering a shipment of tomatoes to the Princess Mary steamship. Chidori hugs Rose but her and Hayden do not talk. 

The next time Hayden sees Chidori is at a fundraiser for the Red Cross at the Agricultural Hall. Hayden once again confronts Chidori, giving her a gift and begging her to reconsider. She agrees. At their next meeting, Chidori reveals that the dean at the University of British Columbia has written her, asking her to reconsider her decision not to attend and offering her a full scholarship for every year of her degree. However, Chidori tells Hayden that she is going to wait and see what happens with the war.

On the Thursday before Halloween, 1941, Hayden is invited to tea at the Setoguchi home. He and Chidori plan to attend the Halloween dance as Raggedy Ann and Andy. At tea, Tosh jokingly asks Hayden what his intentions are towards Chidori. Hayden tells Mr. Setoguchi that he plans to date her and hopes eventually to court and marry Chidori. But Mr. Setoguchi refuses to give Hayden permission or his blessing. Later that night, Chidori goes missing. Hayden, his father and Chidori's family go looking for her, but it is Hayden who finds her on stranded on Georgeson Island.

With the bombing of Pearl Harbor in December, 1941, things turn ugly fast. Uncle Massey is arrested along with Kenji's girlfriend Michiko and her family.Eight days later, Massey's boat along with the boats of the entire Japanese-Canadians are impounded.Chidori tells Hayden that it is likely her family along with all the other Japanese-Canadians will be forced into work camps in the interior of the province.By February, 1942, the Canadian government orders all Japanese Canadians to leave the coastal areas on April 21.

In an attempt to protect Chidori, Hayden asks her to marry him, which she accepts. However on April 21, Chidori, along with her family are evacuated inland. The day only gets worse when a letter from Rose reveals that her fiance, Earl was shot fleeing into the woods after parachuting out of his airplane. With the war now on their doorstep, Hayden wonders if he will ever see Chidori again. But maybe enlisting and working towards ending that war will help shorten their painful separation and bring all those they love home.

Discussion

All We Left Behind is a poignant, heart-breaking novel about war, racism and forbidden love. The story is told from the point of view of Hayden Pierce, as he struggles to deal with the unraveling of his life, his hopes and dreams, as war overtakes ordinary life. Chidori's point of view is expressed in her journal entries as she too tries to process what is happening to her family, and watches as her dreams of attending school and her marrying Hayden are all disrupted. 

Graham was inspired to write the novel while working on a "psychology master's paper on the intergenerational impact of the internment on Japanese Canadians."  The novel effectively portrays the racism already rampant in Canada against Japanese-Canadians and their parents and grandparents, while also capturing the horrors of war.  

Graham demonstrates how racist attitudes and fear of those who look different were very prevalent in  early 20th century Canada. The racist attitudes of ordinary people are exemplified by Hayden's mother who believes Chidori is not a suitable woman for her son Hayden to marry simply because she is Japanese. She has no answer to Hayden's challenges and brushes off his arguments as him not understanding the world. 

Graham also shows how these attitudes informed Canadian government actions and policies, which were often illegal.Government officials assumed that anyone of Japanese heritage was a potential traitor, even those who had been born in Canada. This fear often led to irrational policies such confiscating radios and cameras. Chidori, writing in her journal, notes that her research has shown her that "...the Canadian government can't intern Canadian citizens who have been convicted of no crime. It violates the Geneva Convention and is illegal for a country's government to do so. But then I noticed that the newspaper articles have carefully not used the word internment. They call it an evacuation or detainment, presumably to skirt the Geneva Convention." As the war progresses, government actions grow more extreme and harmful. The land and possessions of those families in internment camps is sold off by the government, often at very reduced rates. In the end, the Setoguchi's like most other Japanese Canadians lose almost all their possessions. Many never returned to the East Coast.

Hayden's solution to solving the situation with Chidori is to enlist and help bring an end to the war, thus facilitating Chidori and her family's return to Mayne Island. However, when he becomes a prisoner of war, he has to cope with the most horrific conditions and it is only his faith in a future with Chidori that helps him to survive. After three long years in prison as well as the loss of his beloved sister Rose, leaves Hayden with little hope. Ironically, it is a young Jewish orphan, Marguerite, now living in Chidori's old home, who tells Hayden, "I know your kind of sad. The one that haunts you." that ultimately helps him, encouraging him to find Chidori.

Despite its intensity, All We Left Behind leaves readers with the happy ending they yearn for. This is a novel that is suitable for older teens due to the more mature content. Well-written, All We Left Behind leaves readers with a sense of the immense injustice done to Canadians of Japanese heritage during the Second World War as well as the realities of war.

Book Details:

All We Left Behind by Danielle R. Graham
London, UK: One More Chapter       202
352 pp.