Manzanar National Historic Site will host author Stephanie Morrill on Sunday, Oct. 20. She will be discussing her new book, “Within These Lines.”
This event is free and open to the public. The book talk will be held in the west theater of the Manzanar Visitor Center from 11 a.m. to noon and will include a Q&A portion.
After the talk, Morrill will be signing books in the Manzanar bookstore.
This young adult historical fiction novel explores the World War II-era relationship between an Italian American girl, Evalina Cassano, and a Japanese American boy named Taichi Hamasaki. The pair begin a relationship prior to the bombing of Pearl Harbor.
After Executive Order 9066 is issued, Taichi and his family, along with other West Coast residents of Japanese ancestry, are forced to leave their homes and move to incarceration camps.
Taichi and his family are incarcerated at Manzanar. His only connections to the outside world are the letters he and Evalina send each other. As tensions between political factions in the camp begin to rise, Taichi starts to doubt he will ever leave the camp alive and be reunited with Evalina.
Morrill is the author of several contemporary young adult series, as well as the 1920s mystery “The Lost Girl of Astor Street.” She lives in the Kansas City area, where she loves plotting big and small adventures to enjoy with her husband and three children.
Manzanar National Historic Site is located at 5001 Hwy. 395, six miles south of Independence, nine miles north of Lone Pine, and approximately 220 miles northeast of Los Angeles.
For more information on Manzanar, call (760) 878-2194, ext. 3310 or visit the website at?www.nps.gov/manz and Facebook page at facebook.com/ManzanarNationalHistoricSite.