Different Days

Twelve-year-old Rosie is fiercely proud to be an American, and has a happy life with her family in their comfortable home in sunny Honolulu, Hawaii.

Then, on the morning of December 7, 1941, Pearl Harbor is bombed and everything changes.

Rosie's parents, both of German descent -- but American citizens who have lived in Hawaii nearly all their lives -- are immediately rounded up by the military. Though they've done nothing wrong, they are interrogated as German spies and imprisoned, and all the family's possessions are seized. Within days, Rosie and her brother are abandoned and homeless. A relative begrudgingly takes them in until their beloved aunt (who was also rounded up, but released) comes for them. Even then, the children's once-idyllic lives are filled with darkness and discrimination as they can only wait -- and hope -- for their parents' safe return.

Based on true events, Different Days tells the story of a little-known aspect of World War II: the Internment of German Americans.

Vicki Berger Erwin is the author of twenty-six books, including picture books and middle grade, young adult, and adult nonfiction. She admits middle grade with a hint of mystery is her favorite genre. In addition to writing, Vicki also worked in publishing for more than twenty years as a bookstore buyer and publishers' sales rep before achieving her dream of owning an independent bookstore. She still serves as bookseller emeritus at Main Street Books in historic St. Charles, Missouri. Vicki lives in Kirkwood, Missouri, with her writer husband, Jim, and crazy dog, Luna.