We Are Not Free

Massachusetts Children's Book Award

Michael L. Printz Honor Book

Asian/Pacific American Award for Literature

* NATIONAL BOOK AWARD FINALIST * PRINTZ HONOR BOOK * WALTER HONOR BOOK * ASIAN/PACIFIC AMERICAN AWARD FOR LITERATURE HONOR BOOK *

From New York Times best-selling & acclaimed author Traci Chee comes We Are Not Free, the collective account of a tight-knit group of young Nisei, second-generation Japanese American citizens, whose lives are irrevocably changed by the mass U.S. incarcerations of World War II.

Fourteen teens who have grown up together in Japantown, San Francisco.

Fourteen teens who form a community & a family, as interconnected as they are conflicted.

Fourteen teens whose lives are turned upside down when over 100,000 people of Japanese ancestry are removed from their homes & forced into desolate incarceration camps.

In a world that seems determined to hate them, these young Nisei must rally together as racism & injustice threaten to pull them apart.

Traci Chee is the New York Times bestselling author of The Reader. Her novel, We Are Not Free, was met with a Printz Honor & Walter Honor in addition to the NBA nomination & received four starred reviews. Her latest title is A Thousand Steps into Night, a Japanese-influenced young adult fantasy, which was longlisted for the 2022 National Book Award for Young People's Literature. She studied literature & creative writing at the University of California, Santa Cruz. 

Traci Chee is an all-around word geek. She loves book arts & art books, poetry, & paper crafts. When she isn’t writing, she enjoys hiking, egg painting, gardening, & hosting game nights for family & friends. Traci is fourth-generation Japanese American & is a native of Northern California, where she lives with her fast dog. Traci grew up in a small town with more cows than people. 

www.tracichee.com

Twitter: @tracichee

Facebook & Instagram: @TraciCheeAuthor