“We Are Not Strangers” Author Josh Tuininga at Eagle Harbor Books

Join author Josh Tuininga at Eagle Harbor Books on January 11th at 6:30 p.m. for an evening of discussion about his new graphic novel, We Are Not Strangers.

Marco Calvo always knew his grandfather, affectionately called Papoo, was a good man. A first-generation Jewish immigrant, Papoo was hardworking, smart, and caring. When Papoo peacefully passes away, Marco is caught off guard by something unusual. Among his close family and friends are mourners he doesn’t recognize—Japanese American families—and no one is quite sure who they are or why they are at the service. How did these strangers know his grandfather so well?

Set in the multicultural Central District of Seattle during World War II and inspired by author Josh Tuininga’s family experiences, We Are Not Strangers explores a unique situation of Japanese and Jewish Americans living side by side in a country at war. Following Marco’s grandfather’s perspective, we learn of his life as a Sephardic Jewish immigrant living in America and his struggles as he settles into an America gearing up its war efforts. Despite the war raging just outside US borders, Papoo befriends Sam Akiyama, a Japanese man who finds his world upended from President Roosevelt’s Executive Order 9066. Determined to keep Sam’s business afloat while he and his family are unjustly imprisoned, he and Papoo create a plan that will change the Akiyama’s lives forever.

An evocative and beautifully illustrated historical fiction graphic novel, We Are Not Strangers converges two perspectives into a single portrait of a community’s struggle with race, responsibility, and what it truly means to be an American.

This is at the invitation of the Kol Shalom community on Bainbridge Island. Please contact Eagle Harbor Books at 842-5332 for more information.