Writing children’s books is not easy, good authors make it read
that way. Writing children’s books adults can also enjoy, well,
that is something special.Amy
Lee-Tai managed to do both with her children's book A
Place Where Sunflowers Grow - which may be why it was a full
room and out-into-the-hall audience attending her discussion of
Japanese-American interment during WWII. For the second year,
Greene was a Festival of the Book location not in
Charlottesville or Albemarle County and the Friends of the
Greene County Library proved it a successful venue.
The book is fiction but based on
Lee-Tai’s memories of her grandmother’s and mother’s stories and
on her grandmother’s actual memoirs about her time in the Topaz,
Utah interment camp. As part of the presentation, the author
read the book, spoke of her own
 memories,
showed family photographs and fielded questions from the
attentive audience.
A Place Where Sunflowers Grow is
as evocative of the sadness and survival in these camps as the
artwork of Lee-Tai’s grandmother. The words of the book paint a
soft, subtle almost watercolor portrait of the time that seems
more startlingly graphic for its quietness.
Like a garden of those same sunflowers,
children in the audience sat on the floor; their upturned faces
followed the author’s every move and absorbed each word. Their
questions where sometimes simple and sometimes so intuitive, the
adults might have wondered what life event gave the children
such understanding of what should have been a very adult issues.
 Many
of the adults shared their own memories of that time or asked
questions about the history, about the author’s family and about
the book. The moderator eventually had to call a halt to all the
comments so the author could take time to speak with people
personally and sign books. Response was so enthusiastic, a box
of books was soon emptied and people were asking when she might
return to Greene again.
The sunflower theme was played out by
vases of the flower on the tables. Among the refreshments
provided were authentic Japanese snacks.
The audience and promoters of the event
were not the only ones pleased with its success. The author
spoke warmly of the attention and welcome she received.
 “I
thoroughly enjoyed my time. The Greene Country Library is
beautiful; the Friends were such lovely hosts; the turnout was
tremendous. Most of all, the audience -- students, parents,
teachers, librarians, writers -- was wonderful. They were
so kind and down-to-earth. I was truly moved by their
interest in my work and in the internment. I got just as
much out of it as the audience did!”
Like the sunflowers in her book, Amy
Lee-Tai, lovers of her book, the Greene County Library and the
Friends of the Library are also growing where they are planted.
We look forward to seeing how this garden thrives.
Return to the index of pages on this
2007 Festival of the Book event at the Greene
County Library.
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