Thanks so much for all the info! You gals are great!

I do think Jess will become my WWII girl, probably full Japanese. I do want to buy Molly but I want her to be a pioneer girl (Lisbeth) with my Kirsten.

I am thinking a mix of Asian and American furniture and whatnot- I'm wondering if I could do the low, long lacquer type table with floor cushions and get away with it. I'm also wondering what kind of bed and bedding would be best. My husband makes furniture so I'm mostly concerned about doing the research- he'll make whatever I tell him! [img]tongue.gif[/img]

I want to buy one kimono, but I'm guessing she would have mostly worn American clothes to school and such.

I was thinking along the lines of the AG books and thinking I might write them so that part of the time her family is not in the camp and part of the time her family is. I read a story of a rose-grower in California whose nice "white" neighbors took over the family business and kept up the house while they were in the camp. I was thinking of something along those lines. If I write a series (I love to write and these would be a nice break from the dissertation and serious ethnographic stuff I do) in the AG style I was thinking I'd want it to follow the same lines as their others- educational and honest, but tempered somewhat with goodwill and love for kids. (i.e., they talk about how bad the turn of the century factories were but Nellie and sisters are rescued by Sam and Cornelia, a rare event in history.)

I will keep everyone updated! [img]smile.gif[/img] I think one of the things I'd want to explore in this topic is the tension a Japanese American would have felt, especially a family who had dad in the military, between proud patriotic feelings for America and dad, and the disappointment, frustration, etc. at the injustice of being stuck in a camp.

I think for food I'm going to try to get hold of Cherry- she does amazing Japanese food in FIMO and I know I couldn't possibly compete with her expertise! Anybody know if they had the tiny, comparmentalized school lunches back then? I know it's a big deal in the last few decades for mothers to pack perfect, nutritious lunches- they are in a bunch of little containers and I always liked how artistic they looked.