Praise for Sideways: Memoir of a Misfit
'Sideways: Memoir of a Misfit is an intimate book with many layers. It presents compelling life experiences of one individual and her family who were imprisoned in the United States’ Minidoka (Idaho) concentration camp simply because of their Japanese ancestral heritage. This book gives the reader glimpses into community impacts of the U.S. Government’s massive exclusion and incarceration program, which affected more than 125,000 persons before, during, and after World War II. Cole reminisces about her Sunday school teacher, William Hohri, who later became the lead in a class action lawsuit against the U.S. Government for wrongs it committed when it profiled and discriminated against persons of Japanese ancestry. With her own Japanese American and Canadian roots, Cole explores life challenges in both countries and reveals factors and people who influenced and shaped her, including family, friends, and Roy Miki, a Japanese Canadian activist (to redress wrongs committed by the Canadian Government) and well-known poet and author.'
Dr. Rita Takahashi, Professor of Social Work and Gerontology, San Francisco State University
'Diana Morita Cole has created a memoir that uses a seamless, non-linear flow of childhood memories to explore the impact of Japanese-American internment on herself and her family. She makes it clear that just because someone was an infant in the camps doesn’t mean there was no lasting impression. This is now bolstered by recent epigenetic studies showing that the lingering effects of trauma can last generations. Growing up in the postwar period, Cole adds the missing part of these kinds of stories: the attempt by mainstream North American culture to culturally erase Japanese peoples’ identities and subsume them to an American identity. Cole uses sensuous details combined with a fine ear for dialogue to bring to life events in her troubled family past. The effect is to place us THERE as if standing in the room beside these people, feeling their pain and mixed emotions. Well done!'
Art Joyce, journalist, poet, and author of Laying the Children's Ghosts to Rest: Canada's Home Children in the West
‘Diana Morita Cole shatters any myth that newborn babies and children were unscathed by their imprisonment inside World War II United States concentration camps. Her amusing and piercing revelations about the exile and resettlement of the Morita family are a welcome addition to the history of the Japanese Americans. Cole’s book concludes with a soaring anthem to the Japanese-Canadian experience.’
Martha Nakagawa, University Archives, UCLA
‘Sideways: Memoir of a Misfit acquaints us with what is uncomfortable in history, how people suffer and find resilience. This is a book full of fascinating personal insights.’
Ernest Hekkanen, Editor-in-Chief, The New Orphic Review
Dr. Rita Takahashi, Professor of Social Work and Gerontology, San Francisco State University
'Diana Morita Cole has created a memoir that uses a seamless, non-linear flow of childhood memories to explore the impact of Japanese-American internment on herself and her family. She makes it clear that just because someone was an infant in the camps doesn’t mean there was no lasting impression. This is now bolstered by recent epigenetic studies showing that the lingering effects of trauma can last generations. Growing up in the postwar period, Cole adds the missing part of these kinds of stories: the attempt by mainstream North American culture to culturally erase Japanese peoples’ identities and subsume them to an American identity. Cole uses sensuous details combined with a fine ear for dialogue to bring to life events in her troubled family past. The effect is to place us THERE as if standing in the room beside these people, feeling their pain and mixed emotions. Well done!'
Art Joyce, journalist, poet, and author of Laying the Children's Ghosts to Rest: Canada's Home Children in the West
‘Diana Morita Cole shatters any myth that newborn babies and children were unscathed by their imprisonment inside World War II United States concentration camps. Her amusing and piercing revelations about the exile and resettlement of the Morita family are a welcome addition to the history of the Japanese Americans. Cole’s book concludes with a soaring anthem to the Japanese-Canadian experience.’
Martha Nakagawa, University Archives, UCLA
‘Sideways: Memoir of a Misfit acquaints us with what is uncomfortable in history, how people suffer and find resilience. This is a book full of fascinating personal insights.’
Ernest Hekkanen, Editor-in-Chief, The New Orphic Review