We Are Not Strangers

August 1, 2023
A touching tale of friendship during World War II. The debut graphic novel from Tuininga opens in 1987, with a man walking to a Sephardic synagogue in Seattle to attend his grandfather's funeral. "My name is Marco," he explains. "I was named after my papoo. My grandfather." At the service, he notices mourners from "a different neighborhood," one of whom signs the guest book with the name Sam Akiyama. The younger Marco introduces himself to Sam and learns that the man befriended his grandfather during the early days of World War II. The elder Marco, a Jewish immigrant from the Ottoman Empire, was horrified when he learned that after the invasion of Pearl Harbor, Sam and his family--along with many other Japanese immigrants and Japanese Americans--would likely be imprisoned in camps under President Franklin D. Roosevelt's now-infamous Executive Order 9066. Tuininga briefly depicts the Akiyama family's imprisonment and then their return to Seattle and later reveals that Marco had been working behind the scenes to save their home and business. "Some say all it took was a little research and some paperwork," the younger Marco explains. "While others say the only thing needed was a simple handshake." Tuininga's illustrations are uniformly beautiful, with mostly dark, understated colors that match the anxieties of the era; his characters' facial expressions convey their emotions beautifully. Some of the most powerful pages in the book are ones that lack dialogue, such as a spread in which Marco fishes alone, missing his friend Sam. The writing is less successful, heavy on exposition--Tuininga understandably wants the book to be as much history lesson as novel, and it turns heavy-handed in parts. The book needs more story, more detail; as it is, it feels unfinished. The artwork is undeniable, but one wishes the narrative were more than the broad strokes. Beautiful illustrations can't quite save an overly simplistic graphic novel.

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August 7, 2023
Tuininga (Why Blue?) presents an uplifting historical graphic novel that employs the fictional pairing of two fishing buddies from disparate backgrounds to map the rippling effects of the incarceration of Japanese Americans during WWII. Marco, a first-generation Sephardic Jewish immigrant, has carved out a modest living in Seattle’s ethnically diverse Central District. When time allows, he baits his hook to cast on the waterfront, often alongside Sam, the Japanese American proprietor of a local fish market. Following the attack on Pearl Harbor, Marco hears news of orders to forcibly relocate and incarcerate Japanese Americans. Dismayed by the fearmongering and jingoism, he devises a plan to help Sam’s family retain their home and business. Tuininga augments the straightforward plot with extensive historical detail, portraying the region’s immigrant neighborhoods and documenting conditions in incarceration camps. Pages awash in autumnal brown and overcast gray-blue exude a sense of perpetual worry in the community, while the characters’ affable faces signal hope for a path forward. As a bonus, Tuininga includes archival newspaper headlines and a guide to historical landmarks in an appendix. The result is both a forthright condemnation of a shameful chapter of American history and a heartening reminder of the value of community. Agent: Elizabeth Wales, Wales Literary Agency.

September 15, 2023
Tuininga's debut graphic novel poignantly transforms heinous historical moments into reminders of humanity and community--that the cover is stamped "Based on a True Story" seems proof that kind allyship is always an option. In 1987, Marco attends his grandfather's Seattle funeral: "I always knew he was a good man." Marco, named after his papoo, is surprised to find "some people . . . [he] didn't recognize at all"--Japanese American families with remarkable stories. For decades, Grandpa Marco and Sam Akiyama shared a fishing bench. They also shared respect, trust, and a deep bond, forged over recognition of immigrant backgrounds. They also understood persecution: Marco, a Sephardic Jew, and his immediate family escaped Hitler; Sam is a second-generation American, but that will not prevent him from being unjustly imprisoned with 120,000 other Americans of Japanese descent during WWII. Marco can't fight Executive Order 9066 but ensures Sam and his family can return "home." Tuininga's washes of browns and blue grays over detailed, expressive panels deftly underscores looming dangers. The promise to "never forget" offers much-needed hope.

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