Together in Manzanar: The True Story of a Japanese Jewish Family in an American Concentration Camp

by Tracy Slater

On a late March morning in the spring of 1942, Elaine Yoneda awoke to a series of terrible between her family and freedom, her country and conscience, and her son and daughter. 

She was the child of Russian Jewish immigrants and the wife of a Japanese American man. On this war-torn morning, she was also a mother desperate to keep her young mixed-race son from being sent to a US concentration camp. Manzanar, near Death Valley, was one of ten detention centers where our government would eventually imprison every person of Japanese descent along the West Coast—alien and citizen, old and young, healthy and sick—or, in the words of one official, anyone with even "one drop" of Japanese blood. 

Elaine's husband Karl was already in Manzanar, but he planned to enlist as soon as the US Army would take him. The Yonedas were prominent labor and antifascist activists, and Karl was committed to fighting for what they had long equality, freedom, and democracy. 

Yet when Karl went to war, their son Tommy, three years old and chronically ill, would be left alone in Manzanar—unless Elaine convinced the US government to imprison her as well. 

The consequences of Elaine's choice did not end if she somehow found a way to force herself behind barbed wire with her husband and son, she would leave behind her white daughter from a previous marriage.

Together in Manzanar tells the story of these painful choices and conflicting loyalties, the upheaval and violence that followed, and the Yonedas' quest to survive with their children's lives intact and their family safe and whole.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, World War II, Biography Memoir, Memoir, Biography, Jewish

312 pages, Hardcover

First published July 8, 2025

About the author

Tracy Slater 's essays and articles have been published in the Best Women’s Travel Writing anthology, the New York Times online, The Wall Street Journal online, The Boston Globe, Boston Magazine, The Chronicle Review, The Washington Post online, and Brain, Child Magazine online, among other places.

Her book The Good Shufu: Finding Love, Self and Home on the Far Side of the World, was published in 2015 by G.P. Putnam's Sons, a division of Penguin Random House, and was named a Barnes & Nobles Discover Great New Writers Selection, a National Geographic Traveler Great New Read, and one of PopSugar's best books of 2015. The book has also recently been released in Japanese (under the title 米国人博士、大阪で主婦になる) by the Tokyo-based publisher Aki Shobo.

Tracy received her Ph.D. in English and American Literature from Brandeis University and taught for ten years at various Boston-area universities as well as in men's and women's prisons throughout Massachusetts. She is also the founder of Four Stories, a global literary series in Boston, Osaka, and Tokyo, for which she was awarded the PEN New England’s Friend to Writers Award in 2008.

Reviews

[Linden · Rating 4 out of 5]

Elaine and Karl were activists and members of the Communist party in California. Elaine had a daughter from her previous marriage and together they had a three year old son when the US government ordered incarceration for Japanese-Americans. Elaine was white and Jewish, but insisted on going to the Manzanar camp with Karl and Tommy. (Their difficult time there is hard to read about, especially in light of current events.) After Karl enlists, Elaine and Tommy leave Manzanar since some new laws are passed regarding mixed families. Their time in the camp had a lasting effect on all of them, especially Tommy and his half sister. Farewell to Manzanar is one of my favorite books, and this author offers a more disturbing insight into the camp. Thanks to Edelweiss and the publisher for the ARC.

[Genevieve · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting premise and important history but I found the narrative arc lacking and/or hard to follow. Would have been helpful to have each chapter more distinct in what it was trying to convey because it all just kind of ran together for me. Also a little repetitive in places and slow/probably didn’t need to be as long as it is.

[Anthony Kurlan · Rating 4 out of 5]

A personalized look at what Manzanar really was -- the displacement of persons, the violence between the Issei and Nicei -- and their differences in loyalty were an eye-opener. The treatment of a non-Japanese woman was brutal -- and her son's medical journey was so unfortunate, given the living conditions. A good read!!

[Lisa of Hopewell · Rating 4 out of 5]

My Interest
My cousin-by-marriage spent part of her childhood in one of the Japanese “Internment” camps during World War II. I don’t know her very well and she is over 90 now, but meeting her in the late 1980s brought the cruel and illegeal treatment of U.S. citizens based on ethnic profiling to my attention. (And, it wasn’t only West Coast Japanese–those of Japanese descent from some Central and South American countries were sent to the USA for “internment” as well, but they were much fewer in number). Those Japanese-Americans away from the designated geograpnic area were not taken into custody. By comparison, almost no one of German-American heritage was interred.

The recent events in our coutry in which U.S. citizens have been wrongly arrested and taken into custody by untrained, masked “agents” has made this book very timely. [I am not “for” illegal immigration–but I certainly am for the U.S, Consititution and laws and that includes due process for all. No legitimate law enforcement in this country wear masks–not even legally authorized bounty hunters. Going “under cover,” something legitimate police do still involves due process and obeying all laws].


The Story
Elaine Yoneda, the Jewish wife of a Japanese-American man, Karl Yoneda, volunarily accompanied her three year-old son and husband into Manzanar–a camp housing Japense-American citizens or resident aliens [Green card holders] from designated areas on the West Coast of the USA. Like the German Jews, they were given limited warning of their departure for the camps and had to sell their properties or have them confiscated. Karl had gone ahead believing he would be paid a Union wage to help make the new camp fit for its residents and in the hope that this service would help him be able to join the Army and figth in the war. Elaine had an older daughter from a previous marriage, but that man was not Japanese so her daughter was left with Elanine’s parents. Tommy, her son with Karl, though only 3 years old was officially classified as a “threat” to the USA. Elaine was not required to move to the camp, but Tommy was. Like any sane mother, she went along to protect him. The boy had severe asthma and the camp they were going to was everything an asthmatic couldn’t endure.

Karl was the West Coast’s only Japanese member of the Longshoreman’s Union and was a Communist. Elaine shared his political views, but both were staunch Americans, too. They went to the Camp and got involved trying to make things better. Karl continued to try anything to get into the Army and finally succeeded. Meanwhile, Elaine and Tommy suffered.

My Thoughts
Just as in World War II Mexican-Americans and Native Americas were regarded as “white” in the military, Japan was part of the Axis with the Nazis–they were seen as equals to the Germans. The fascist faction in the West Coast community made itself known in Manzanar. Elaine, being politically active, suffered for being a Communist [so it seemed–maybe I missed something while driving] while being Jewish wasn’t really something that singled her out. Being white did single her out. The rules on “mixed race” families were subject to wildly differing interpretations making her situation even more fraught.

What continues to amaze me is how loyal nearly all of the Japanese were to the U.S.A. Like the Black men in the miliatry, they fought for the right not only to serve in the armed forces but literally for the right to die for their country–the U.S.A.

Elaine, Karl, and Tommy were very brave and politically astute. This undoubtedly helped them be effective in reaching their personal goals during their time in Manzanar, but also let them help others sharing their incarceration.

This is an incredible story–one that needs to receive great exposure to Americans of today.

My Verdict
4.0
Together in Manzanar: The True Story of a Japanese Jewish Family in an American Concentration Camp by Tracy Slater

I listened to the audio version of this book.

[Andrea Eschen · Rating 5 out of 5]

I let household chores and other daily necessities slide while I read Tracy Slater’s new book Together in Manzanar. The compelling and complicated story kept me turning the pages despite the call of other things. Slater describes the life of a Japanese-American man Karl Yoneda, his wife Elaine, the daughter of Russian-Jewish immigrants, and their three-year old son Tommy in the Manzanar concentration camp in 1942. The US government has deemed the toddler a threat to American security because the “slightest amount of Japanese blood” runs through his veins. Elaine is not going to let him go without her. Because of Karl’s likely banishment and incarceration, he hopped on one of the first buses to Manzanar to help construct this “pioneer community” because he hoped to make resettlement easier for those who followed. For their labor, the Army’s Wartime Civil Control Association promised Karl and the other workers union wages and other benefits, none of which came through. He had already tried to enlist to fight rising fascism in Japan, but the Army refused him for being an “enemy alien.” He would do whatever he could for America’s war effort even though his son and wife shared the same camp.

Slater’s book details their life in Manzanar: the frigid and scorching days and nights, spoiled food, sandstorms, barracks with holes in the floor, and inadequate bathrooms. She describes the complex political and social relationships between the Japanese themselves, Karl and Elaine’s political work for the country’s communist party while in Manzanar, the uprisings in the camp, and murdered prisoners. Despite the US government’s incarceration of the Yonedas, Karl remains staunchly loyal to his country. He continues to try to join the Army.

The story of the family, life in Manzanar, and the government’s policies toward Japanese Americans gave me the chills. The relevance to today’s incarcerations of immigrants, lack of legal processes, uprooting of lives, and removal of children from their parents make the book even more disturbing to read.

[Sara · Rating 4 out of 5]

This isn't the first book I've read on the incarceration of the Japanese in America, but it is certainly a very personal and unique one. As a Jewish woman myself with two half Japanese children, I realized that had I been living in California during that period of history, I would have been faced with the same choice that Elaine had to make. That's sobering right there.
This is the story of a couple that is deeply in love and deeply committed to the labor movement and the idea that one must work hard to improve the world. Was it to the detriment of their children? The reader will have doubts and concerns, but given the situation it would have been hard to do otherwise.
The description of early days at Manzanar are telling. The management of Manzanar, cover ups, racism, and illness all play a part here. The effect of the incarceration on her children cannot be understated. It's a story of choices where none of the choices are particularly good ones and outcomes are unknown.
What must be said is that if you are looking for a story with religious aspects or impact, this is not it. The Judaism in this story is all about prejudice and the belittling of the Jews. This was a time when assimilation was the name of the game for those who wanted to be "American." And finally, it is a cautionary tale lest we ever catch our government heading this way again.

Thank you to NetGalley for an advance copy of this book. I found it very interesting.

[Lily · Rating 5 out of 5]

In this intense and powerful new biography, readers follow the Yoneda family -- Elaine, Karl, and Tommy -- as they experience the executive order of the internment of the Japanese population in the United States beginning in 1942. Elaine, the daughter of Russian Jewish immigrants, and Karl, Japanese-American and about to enlist in the Army, are reunited in Manzanar even though Elaine technically does not fall under the executive order, and the Yonedas continue their labor and antifascist activities even in the camp itself. Powerful, moving, and packed with incredible details, documents, and images, readers will absolutely love this detailed and immersive biography about an incredible family whose strength and bravery are absolutely astounding. The depth of information and details really bring the challenges of the internment camps and the complex racial and ideological politics to life in some powerful ways, and Slater has organized this book in such a way that readers from all backgrounds will understand and appreciate it. The historical research and documents really shine, and the analysis is very strong, and Slater does not shy away from the challenges and difficulties of this moving history. Immersive, powerful, and totally fascinating, readers will not be able to put down or forget this must-read World War II biography.

Thanks to NetGalley, IPG, and Chicago Review Press for the advance copy.

[Angie · Rating 4 out of 5]

This Nonfiction by Tracy Slater is about a Japanese Jewish American family who end up in Manzanar, a Japanese interment camp started shortly after Pearl Harbour, when the US declared war on Japan and saw the need to imprison all Japanese people in America, even, in the case of the Yoneda family, toddlers who are only half-Japanese and born in America. The author is clearly very well researched and gives an extremely detailed description of every aspect of the family's story. She even went back into the ancestors of each of the parents in the family, their upbringing and how that impacted the future of the people described in this book. There were areas relevant to the story but somewhat less obviously related which were carefully examined and explained for readers, making this an extremely comprehensive source of information for anyone wanting to know more about everything from the construction of Manzanar to the deportation orders to views on interracial marriages at the time of WWII in the US. This book is perfect for non-fiction readers who want to know more about this time period and life in internment camps in the US. Thanks to netgalley and the publisher for giving me the chance to read and review this book!

[Shana · Rating 4 out of 5]

***Thanks to NetGalley for this ARC in exchange for my honest review***

Together in Manzanar fills a very specific niche, but a very valuable one. I have never before read about the non-Japanese family members who were imprisoned alongside their Japanese family during WWII. The Yonedas were a particularly interesting family to read about because of their extensive history of activism prior to the war. Tracy Slater did a great job weaving in their story with the social and historical context. She made the book both informative and readable. I also appreciate that she wrote about them without glorifying them or some of their decisions, some of which they too questioned later in life. The big elephant in the room with this book though, was the story of Joyce, the white daughter that Elaine left behind. There are plenty of hints that Joyce led a troubled life, but not much beyond that. I assume Slater was respecting the family's wishes in not delving into it further, but I was still left very curious!

[Mona Frazier · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was an in-depth account of a couple with a young child whose father was taken to a concentration camp. The government wanted to take the child too, three years old and chronically ill, without his mother, but she fought to stay with him and was also put into the concentration camp in Manzanar. She made the gut-wrenching decision to leave her older teenage daughter (from her first marriage to an Anglo) with her grandparents, which had dire consequences.

Since both Elaine and Karl had been social activists in their community, they continued their work for their rights, which often put them at odds with everyone. The author's knowledge and research must have been meticulous, given the amount of detail provided. It's an absorbing story, and it contains a wealth of information I had not encountered in other stories about the incarceration of Japanese Americans in Manzanar, although I had read two books on the subject before this one. It's an eye-opener of a book for fiction and non-fiction readers alike.

[Rachel]

When I took American history classes in high school, several aspects of our past were ignored. We never learned about the restraints placed on Jewish immigration to the U.S., even when it became clear how dangerous it was to be Jewish in Europe before and during World War II. We also never learned that, once the U.S. entered the war, Japanese-Americans on the West Coast were ordered to sell their homes and possessions, and report to the American concentration camps (which is what those camps were called at that time). This included Japanese-American citizens and their non-citizen relatives, many of whom had been in the U.S. for years, but were not allowed to become American citizens no matter how long they lived here.
These thoughts arose while reading “Together in Manzanar: The True Story of a Japanese Jewish Family in an American Concentration Camp” by Tracy Slater (Chicago Review Press).
See the rest of my review at https://www.thereportergroup.org/feat...

[Barbara Arnett · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting book about life in Manzanar (internment camp for Japanese Americans during WWII.). It follows Elaine (white woman of Jewish descent) married to Karl (Japanese American). Karl actually got a construction job building Manzanar but by 1942 was an early person incarcerated at the camp. Families of mixed race could either voluntarily join their family members in the camp or not join their families. Elaine and Karl had a 3 year old son who was coerced into the camp and Elaine was not going to abandon her husband and son. The book gives a very detailed description of camp life and ongoing internal strife in the camp. An interesting (disturbing) read about American life in the 1940s.)

[Zoe Zeid · Rating 4 out of 5]

We didn’t learn too much about the Japanese Internment Camps in school, so this was an informative read with a spin, as the family detained was a mixed family. Elaine did what every mother would - to go to the camp with her son so he was not alone, even though she did not have to be there. It was interesting to hear about the different groups in the camp and how Carl did everything he could to join the US military, despite how he and his family had been treated by the US military. The entire internment process was enlightening and horrifying to hear about… especially the children from mixed families who were sent by themselves to the camp orphanage. I definitely recommend this book, especially the audio version if you want to know more about what happened in our country during WWII.

[Marge · Rating 4 out of 5]

Revealing account of how the U.S. forced US citizens of Japanese extraction out of their homes in California and Washington State and incarcerated them in what they then called concentration camps. The family featured in this book was an American born Japanese, his American born Jewish wife, and their 3 year old son. The wife was not obligated to be relocated to the desolate barbed wire enclosed camp but chose to accompany her toddler son who was deemed a security risk (!).

The book underscores the danger of racism and antisemitism infecting large swaths of American society and originating in the top levels of civil and military organizations. The incarcerated Japanese and Japanese Americans saw no irony in blaming the Jews for their plight and demonizing the Jewish woman in their midst

[Susan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Tracy Slater has written an illuminating and poignant book about the under-reported US incarceration of people of Japanese descent during World War II. By telling the story of the Yonedas, a Japanese Jewish American family, she brings to light the complex experiences of all those who were forced to live together in Manzanar and other camps in the American West. It would be a compelling read at any time but is particularly resonant in today’s xenophobic political environment.

[Donia · Rating 2 out of 5]

I have visited Manzanar several times and have read other books about its establishment and its operation. The horror of caging Americans in a facility such as Manzanar is hard to fathom and well worth documenting. Additionally, I appreciate the effort that goes into the writing of such an historical account of the tragedies and insanities of War as this book has accomplished.

Unfortunately, I found the writing style to be extremely dry and lacking emotion. The book struck me as a rather technical documentation with an inability to draw me in. Thus, the low rating that I gave the book. Nevertheless, it is a valuable account of what transpired there.

[Erika Dreifus]

Even if you think that you're familiar with the story of the incarceration of people of Japanese origin or descent in the United States during the Second World War, you'll learn a lot from this book. I certainly did.

[Celeste · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was not taught about the internment of Japanese people during WW II. This book filled in that gap. The author compiled her information from diaries kept by the two main characters. I'm glad I read this book.

[Susan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Such a fascinating story and a must read for anyone who’s interested in social justice in the US!

[Anca · Rating 5 out of 5]

I reviewed this urgent work of history for The Chicago Reader.

https://chicagoreader.com/books/book-...

[Brendan O'Meara · Rating 5 out of 5]

Tracy Slater has written a tough and necessary history of a shameful time in America. A must-read that sadly, as of 2025, feels of the moment.

[Sharon · Rating 2 out of 5]

Historic retelling of Karl and Rlaine Uoneda . I skipped ahead many facts for those wanting to know more about this time in America

[Karen Brush · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting but tedious

[Rena Fraade · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed how the author frames the story. What incredible people to share the story of!

[Nancy Loe · Rating 2 out of 5]

An odd little book, eliding over important parts of the story. Learned nothing new about the mistreatment of Japanese-Americans or Manzanar.

[Esther Dushinsky · Rating 3 out of 5]

Audiobook