“As a son of Japanese American parents who were incarcerated during World War II, I grew up in Seattle’s Seward Park neighborhood with many Jewish classmates and friends. There was a closeness and quiet understanding we shared knowing the difficulties our communities suffered during the war. This book beautifully uncovers a deep emotional connection between our communities that is known by few and—I promise—will leave you changed forever.”
Tom Ikeda, founding executive director of Densho

“Allyship takes many forms. From a scrap of family folklore, Josh Tuininga imagines a better world in which those targeted on the basis of race could count on their neighbors—a story all the more meaningful as we are called upon to stand with others who are demonized in the present moment. Seattleites will recognize the look of places long gone and some that remain.”
Frank Abe, coauthor of We Hereby Refuse: Japanese American Resistance to Wartime Incarceration

“Grounded in the historically diverse Central District of Seattle, Josh Tuininga’s We Are Not Strangers intertwines the stories of a Japanese American family and a Sephardic Jewish family, revealing deep personal loyalty against a backdrop of racist accusations of disloyalty. Based on careful research into both communities, this book shines a light on how world events challenged both families and how one individual’s act of quiet resistance impacted many.”
Ellen Eisenberg, author of The First to Cry Down Injustice?: Western Jews and Japanese Removal During WWII

“As sparing as it is moving, as memorable as it is timely, We are Not Strangers is beautifully drawn and evocatively told. This story is fascinating, important, and too little known—I learned so much about communities I’ve long been part of and neighbor to—but even better, it tells a different kind of love story, a different kind of hero story, a different story about race and immigration and community, which surely is what the world needs now. Josh Tuininga has made magic here.”
Laurie Frankel, New York Times bestselling author of This Is How It Always Is and One Two Three