Winner of the American Book Award
Based on the author's own experiences, this award-winning novel was the first to tell the story of the evacuation, relocation, and dispersal of Canadian citizens of Japanese ancestry during the Second World War.

JOY KOGAWA is best known as the author of Obasan (1981), which is based on Joy and her family's forced relocation from Vancouver during the Second World War when she was six years old. Joy's other novels for adults include Itsuka (1992, republished as Emily Kato in 2005) and The Rain Ascends (1995). Her works for children are Naomi's Road and Naomi's Tree (2009). Since 1967, Joy has also published several poetry collections, including A Choice of Dreams (1974) and Jericho Road (1977). Among her many honours, Joy has received an Order of Canada (1986), an Order of British Columbia (2006) and, from the Japanese Government, an Order of the Rising Sun (2010) for "her contribution to the understanding and preservation of Japanese Canadian history."