No-No Boy

I came across No-No Boy while the echoes of the Chinese spy balloon incident were still fresh in my mind. Set in 1946, the novel tells the story of a young Japanese American who is released from a two-year federal prison term for his refusal to swear allegiance to the United States and join the army.

As he reintegrates into post-war society, he discovers divisions within the Japanese community regarding which country to pledge allegiance to. The novel delves deeply into the concept of American identity. It reveals how American society values individualism and demands virtuous and engaged citizenship from… show more.

This novel is the reason I became a writer, for it showed me that we Japanese/Asian Americans had stories to tell, and we could write them.

Its protagonist is one who was labeled a “No-No Boy” for his response to two questions on the “loyalty questionairre” required to be answered in the World War II camps as to whether the respondent would be willing to serve in the U.S. military. Those who refused were not only members of a reviled race after the war, but were also ostracized by their own Japanese American community.

The novel’s powerful writing, questioning one’s… show more.