They Called Us Enemy by George Takei (review)

Takei, George They Called Us Enemy; written by George Takei, Justin Eisinger, and Steven Scott; illus. by Harmony Becker. Top Shelf, 2019 208p Paper ed. ISBN 978-1-60309-450-4 $19.99 Ad Gr. 5-8

Kids attuned to Trekker fandoms will recognize Takei as the actor who played Lt. Sulu in the original Star Trek; they are less likely to know him as a human rights activist, whose early childhood was spent in Japanese-American internment camps in World War II. In this graphic memoir, Takei and his associate authors cover many facets of Takei's life, an ambitious project that is often disjointed, shifting with little textual or visual segue among early memories, historical context, adult interviews and TED talks, kitchen table discussion with his father, and personal observations of current threats to the American democracy he loves. There's a lot to unpack here, and younger readers will appreciate the specifics of young George's time at Santa Anita, California, where he was fascinated by their horse stable residence, and Camp Rohwer, Arkansas, where kids conned him into calling the guards an epithet he didn't understand. Older readers will appreciate the explanation of the legally convoluted issue of Japanese/American U.S. citizenship renunciation, in which Takei's mother was entangled. Bland black and white artwork unfortunately does little to tie together the story's many worthwhile fragments. A brief closing note offers information "About the Creators," but no resources are cited to guide readers to further information.