Allen Say picks up where he left off in Drawing from Memory, continuing his memoir in a volume blending prose narrative with intricate full-page, panel, and spot illustrations in both color and black-and-white. Fifteen and newly arrived in the United States from Japan, Say is given $10 and a few words from his father (“Don’t disgrace me”) before he is deposited at a military school run by his father’s old friend. His experiences there are mixed: He knows great kindness and also great frustration. He eventually leaves on his own, hoping to get a job and attend college, but first he has to finish high school. An understanding principal helps him enroll and find a job to support himself (he was living alone in a small hotel room), and a keen-eyed and compassionate art teacher helps him take the next steps on his journey to becoming an artist. He also falls in love for the first time. Occasional photographs and examples of his high school art are also included in a volume in which Say’s alter ego, a comic strip character named Kuysuke created by Say’s Japanese master teacher, is both a source of comfort and companionship for the lonely teen, as well as a sounding board. (Age 11 and older)

Caldecott Medalist, Allen Say, presents a companion to his award-wining Drawing from Memory - the story of his coming-of-age at a military academy and the discovery of what it means to be American



For Allen Say, life as teen in Southern California was a cold existence. His father, one of the leading hamburger salesmen in Japan, ran a booming burger business, much like McDonald's, and sent Allen to an American military academy, so that his son could learn English and "become a success in life."



As the school's first and only Japanese student, he experienced immediate racism among his fellow cadets and his teachers. The other kids' parents complained about Allen's presence at the all-white school. As a result, he was relegated to a tool shed behind the mess hall. Determined to free himself from this oppression, Allen saved enough money to buy a 1946 Ford for $50 - then escaped to find the America of his dreams



In this follow-up to Drawing from Memory, Allen continues to reinvent himself as an author and illustrator. Melding his paintings with cartoon images and archival photos, Allen Say delivers an accessible book that will appeal to any reader in search of himself.