Maxine Trottier, illustrated by Paul Morin,
Flags.
Stoddart Kids, 1999

Written as a memoir from early childhood, Flags is the story of young girl who befriends her grandmother's neighbor while visiting in western Canada at the start of World War II. Mr. Hiroshi has a special garden, a Japanese garden with a koi-filled pond surrounded by "flags," a kind of iris. When Mr. Hiroshi is sent to an internment camp, the little girl looks after his garden until someone new moves into the house.

Flags is a lovely story, understated, yet powerful, and written so that fairly young children can understand the circumstances. Paul Morin's illustrations are warm and help the story along, although I suspect they did not transfer well to the printed page.

Sumi Hayashi