Sticky Notes: They Called Us Enemy

Howdy readers. Here is the blog for Book 7, fresh off the fingers. 

Book Details

• Title: They Called Us Enemy
• Author: George Takei, Justin Eisinger, and Steven Scott (illustrated by Harmony Becker)
• Genre: Graphic memoir / historical nonfiction
• Publication Year: 2019
• Number of Pages: 208

Major Awards and Recognition

• American Book Award (2020)
• Asian/Pacific American Award for Literature (2020)
• Eisner Award Nominee for Best Reality-Based Work
• YALSA Excellence in Nonfiction for Young Adults Award Finalist

A Brief, Spoiler-Free Summary

They Called Us Enemy tells the childhood story of George Takei, best known to many people as Sulu from Star Trek, but here writing about a much earlier chapter of his life. As a young Japanese American during World War II, Takei and his family were forcibly removed from their home and imprisoned in U.S. internment camps following the signing of an executive order by the POTUS.

The graphic memoir follows his family’s journey through multiple camps and the complicated emotional landscape that came with it: fear, confusion, loyalty, anger, and resilience. Because the story is told largely through the eyes of young George, readers see both the innocence of childhood and the harsh reality of the historical moment.

What makes the book particularly powerful is how it connects this history to broader questions about democracy, civil rights, and social justice in America. Takei doesn’t just recount what happened, he asks readers to consider how a country that claims liberty and justice for all allowed this to happen, and what responsibility we have to remember it.

Why I Chose This Book

I’ve wanted to read this one for a while. I still remember the first time I learned about Japanese American internment camps. I was probably in my twenties, and honestly, I was shocked. It wasn’t something I had learned in school. I actually heard about it from my brother, who is a huge history buff.

That moment stuck with me. It made me realize how many stories from American history are either minimized or left out altogether.

I’m really drawn to revisionist history—stories that revisit the past and shine light on perspectives that weren’t fully told the first time around. To me, those stories are essential. They help us better understand who we are as a country and how our ideals line up with our actions.

The graphic novel format also makes this story incredibly approachable. It feels like a powerful vehicle for learning history in a way that is both engaging and emotionally resonant.

Teaching and Content Considerations

I think this book would make an excellent whole-group read. The graphic novel format makes it very accessible, and the historical themes are important for all students to encounter.

While it could work in middle school or high school, I think the sweet spot is probably 8th or 9th grade.

This book would appeal to several audiences:

• Students interested in history or revisionist history
• Graphic novel readers
• Anyone interested in questions of identity, citizenship, and civil rights

Instructionally, it would also be a great text for a graphic novel unit, because it demonstrates the power of visual storytelling. For example, page 17 uses visual juxtaposition brilliantly, pairing President Roosevelt’s speech with vandalism against Japanese Americans. This is a great example of the power of a picture.

The text also opens the door for meaningful classroom discussions. One powerful moment comes on page 140, where Takei reflects: “Shame is a weird thing. It should rest on perpetrators but they don’t carry it like victims do.” That line alone could anchor an entire class discussion.

Another key moment comes on page 173, when Takei notes that he found almost nothing about internment camps in his history books growing up. That raises an important question: What do the stories we choose to tell, or not tell, say about us?

Content-wise, there are moments of racism and violence, but nothing beyond what most young adult readers can process with proper context.

Book Talk Read-Aloud Options

Page 20: The line describing one of the most popular political positions in California at the time being “Lock up Japs.” This excerpt sets the tone for the hostility and fear of the era and immediately grounds the story in its historical reality.

Page 61: A heartbreaking but humanizing moment when young George is told the camp fences are meant to keep dinosaurs out, not Japanese Americans in. This moment perfectly captures how the story is told through the lens of a child trying to make sense of an impossible situation.

Overall Thoughts

I really enjoyed this book. It’s incredibly educational without ever feeling dry or overly academic. The storytelling is engaging, the visuals are powerful, and the historical context is deeply important.

More than anything, it shows how history and storytelling intersect. This is absolutely a text I plan to use in my classroom someday.

What I Want to Explore More

This book also made me think about the possibilities of cross-disciplinary teaching between social studies and ELA. Texts like this create natural opportunities to explore history, identity, rhetoric, and storytelling all at once. It would fit beautifully into a unit built around questions like: 

What does it mean to be American?

or

Whose stories get told in history, and whose get left out?

It also makes me want to explore more revisionist history and untold stories, because those perspectives often help us understand both the past and the present more clearly.

Final thought: If you haven’t read this one yet, check it out. It’s an important story told in a powerful and accessible way.