Historical fiction about a relocation camp for Japanese families during WW II in Ellis, Colorado called Tallgrass. Kirkus: Colorado beet farmer and his family are sorely tried by events of WWII.When the U.S. government establishes a Japanese-American relocation camp in Ellis, Colo., in 1942, Loyal Stroud takes a view apart from most other townsfolk. Having ?the enemy in their midst? riles the locals, but Loyal believes the whole thing is plain wrong. Why not round up all the German-Americans, too, while they?re at it? Aside from civic issues, Loyal has to figure out how to harvest his beets, what with Buddy, his son, enlisted, along with his farm hands. Against prevailing sentiment, Loyal hires three young men from the camp. And although Rennie, 14, the last child home, worries about her father?s decision, she and her mother, Mary, come to love the boys, who are from California farm country. And when Mary?s heart ailment finally gets bad enough for her to take the rest cure the doctor advised, the Strouds hire Daisy, the sister of one of the boys. Daisy works hard and speaks in a Hollywood tabloid lingo that charms the whole family. Their domestic harmony is rocked by news that Buddy is missing in action and¥shockinglyÂ¥that Rennie?s school friend Sally is found raped and murdered. Everyone except the Strouds and the sheriff believes ?the Japs? did it, and the tension in town builds to the point of near-anarchy, when the local bigots get liquored up and try to take the law into their own hands. Throughout all this drama, as in most of Dallas?s work (Alice?s Tulips, 2000, etc.), a community of quilters, known here as the Jolly Stitchers, come and go, bringing cakes, covered casseroles and gossip to the sick and grieving. The parallels of a country at war then and now give this story a layer of poignancy, but otherwise, as is obvious from the start, the good guys win and the bad guys lose, and Buddy comes marching home.A well-spun but familiar tale.

Rounding up from 3 1/2 stars. Yes, it's another WWII book, and I said I was taking a break. But this one has a different twist - it's about a Japanese internment camp near a small town in Colorado. The story was simple and sweet. Yes, there was some drama and heartbreak, but not the intense war-violence of many of the WWII books I've been reading lately. ( )

3.75 stars

This is set in a small town in Colorado during World War II. A Japanese internment camp opens up close to the town and some of the townsfolk are not happy. Some people are a little more open-minded, including the main character's father. The story is told from 13-year old Rennie's point of view. Rennie's dad is a sugar beet farmer, who gives the Japanese people a chance by hiring some boys to help him farm. When a girl close to Rennie's age turns up raped and murdered, a lot of people in town automatically point towards the Japanese.

I really liked this. In addition to the story, I enjoyed the descriptions of farm and rural life in Colorado. I was close to giving the book a full 4 stars until the very end, where I thought a few too many loose ends got tied up all at once. It was just a little too neat and tidy, but I still really enjoyed it, and will read more books by Sandra Dallas. ( )

Woo hoo! First book read in 2021!

This book was good. 13-yo Rennie Stroud's parents are cut from the same cloth as Mama & Daddy Walton and Ma & Pa Ingalls. Everyone wishes their parents were like them.

Not really character driven> but good characters and good plots. I teared up a few times.

POI: Tallgrass is the name of the Japanese internment camp.



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I like everything about this novel. The characters are extremely well-drawn individuals, aided in great part by Dallas's good ear for dialogue. Rennie's point of view is depicted realistically, as that of a thirteen-year-old. Dallas chose a setting that doesn't get enough attention -- a rural Colorado town where a Japanese internment camp is installed and dramatizes racial and political tensions among the interred and the townspeople. Above all, I appreciate Dallas's treatment of how the townspeople allowed their preconceptions to influence their conclusions about who was the perpetrator of a serious crime. ( )