Peachy Reads

George Takei is largely famous for his role in the cult classic Star Trek.  In this graphic novel he retells the story of his childhood, and his imprisonment with his family in two subsequent Japanese internment camps after the bombing of Pearl Harbor.  It’s a story that unfortunately resonates today with the xenophobia that seems to be more and more evident in many corners of our country and our world.

This graphic novel is like a scrap book gradually exposing the history of author Nora Krug’s family.  A child who grew up in Germany decades after the end of World War II, she attempts to understand German guilt and responsibility for Hitler's rise, the war, and the fate of European Jews.  Were her family members innocent and unknowing bystanders, or is there more to their experience in Nazi Germany than they reveal? Interesting fact for German speakers-- the title in the German is Heimat.

This historical thriller set during World War II in “neutral” Sweden, shows that Sweden was not so blameless in its dealings with the Nazis.  But it isn’t so much the Nazis who are the villains in this story, as much as certain Swedish white supremacists.   There are a lot of characters and a lot of threads to follow here.  It is at times a little confusing and the translation felt a little rough, but the narrative crescendos into an exciting conclusion with more than one surprise in store.

This is an issues novel that is a great read in the era of Black Lives Matter.  Emira is an African-American babysitter for a white family in Philadelphia.  When she takes her young charge to a local grocery store, the store security guard questions her guardianship.  It turns into an ugly incident that is filmed by a bystander with a cellphone.  This is only the start.  Other issues of race crop up—fetishization, Blacks as accessories, manipulative relationships, the white savior…. There is a lot of food for thought here.