The Moved-Outers

The Moved-Outers is a 1945 children's novel written by Florence Crannell Means and illustrated by Helen Blair. The novel is set on the West Coast during World War II and tracks the lives of a Japanese family during their internment. The story centers on Sumiko (Sue) Ohara, a high school senior from Rancho Cordova, California, her brother Kim, her mother, and their lives while imprisoned in the Granada War Relocation Center; Sue's father is sent to Fort Lincoln Internment Camp. During her imprisonment, she falls in love with a neighbor from her hometown, Jiro Ito. The novel ends in 1943, with the war still ongoing, as Jiro and Kim join the army, and Sue and Jiro's sister attend college.^[1]

The Moved-Outers

First edition
Author	Florence Crannell Means
Language	English
Genre	Children's literature / historical fiction
Publication date	February 28, 1945
Publication place	United States

Reception

The book received a Newbery Honor^[2] and the Children's Book Award^[3] in 1946. The Rocky Mountain News called it "the most intelligent and effective bit of writing on the Japanese American evacuation",^[4] and Parents' Magazine had high praise for the book:

It is a fine young thing for young people to have this book which tells simply and without sentimentality the dreary tale of the evacuation of Japanese and Japanese-Americans to camps behind barbed wire.^[5]

External links

Brian Niiya, The Moved-Outers Densho Encyclopedia