Dash

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Larson, Kirby. 2014. Dash. New York, NY: Scholastic Press.  ISBN 978-0-545-41635-1

PLOT SUMMARY

In this historically accurate story, Larson introduces us to Mitsi Kashino, an eleven year old Japanese-American girl forced to go to an incarceration camp during WWI, following the attack on Pearl Harbor. She is unable to take her dog, Dash, with her so she has to find him a place to stay while she is gone. Thankfully, her elderly neighbor, Mrs. Bowker, is willing to help. As if being separated from Dash was not bad enough, the camp is nothing like her home. It is crowded, dirty, and surrounded by barbed wire fences. While in the incarceration camp, Mitsi receives letters written from Dash’s perspective, helping her and others in the camp to cope with the situation. When the war ends, will Dash and Mitsi be reunited?

CRITICAL ANALYSIS

Larson does an excellent job of making the characters in this novel come to life. The character of Mitsi is based on a real woman, Mitsue Shiraishi, which experienced the incarceration camps. Larson also based many of the plot events on Mitsue’s account of events, so the story line has a good mix of fact and fiction, which engages the reader. Larson includes Japanese language to add to the authenticity of the characters and their interactions. Dash plays a pivotal role in the story as he represents the love between a child and their pet. He gives hope to Mitsi and the other characters in the story as she shares his letters with the camp throughout the story. Larson develops Dash’s character through the letters, as seen when Dash describes making a “wish on a  lamp post” when he went out for a walk.

The anti-Japanese sentiment in the book accurately reflects how Japanese-Americans were viewed, following the bombing of Pearl Harbor. In the book, Mitsi’s friends treat her differently and she no longer feels like she belongs. In one part, she is chased by a group of children through the street and ends up falling. They taunt her and ruin her books.

Larson provides great details, which support the real life events as they played out during WWI.  For example, he gives us a glimpse into the moment Pearl Harbor was bombed, describing the moment when Mitsi and her family were listening to the radio one evening and heard them announce the bombing. This gives authenticity to the action in the story. Larson also includes an accurate portrayal of the internment camps, which were not fit to house all of the people that were forced into them. The conditions were poor and unlivable. Larson describes their “apartment” as having, “Five army cots lined up in the middle of a space smaller than their kitchen at home.”

This book includes several themes, but the most prevalent is never giving up. Throughout the story, Mitsi is faced with struggles, but remains hopeful. Readers of all ages could relate to this novel about cultural differences, fear, and prejudice.

REVIEW EXCERPTS

*Scott O’Dell Historical Fiction Award

*School Library Journal: “Larson’s latest is historical fiction at its best.”

*Starred review in Booklist: "Larson creates a masterful picture of the homesteading experience and the people who persevered." 

CONNECTIONS

*Do an author study and invite students to read other books by Kirby Larson:

Larson, Kirby. Duke. ISBN 0545416388

Larson, Kirby. Dear America: The Fences Between Us. ISBN 0545224187

*Read another historical fiction about the Japanese incarceration camps:

Mochizuki, Ken. Baseball Saved Us. ISBN 978-1880000199