Tallgrass by Sandra Dallas

I read this book last summer when I was furiously digging for the family roots.  Although I haven’t found any ancestors who were interned in camps during WWII, I do have many ancestors who were farmers.

Tallgrass is the name of one of those Japanese internment camps, based on an actual camp located on the plains of Colorado.  Told through the eyes of a 13 year old daughter of a farming couple, this book grabbed my attention from the first page and didn’t disappoint.

The story revolves around a mysterious murder and the prejudices of this small farming community when it is immediately assumed one of the interned workers must have committed it.  It is also a bit historical fiction and coming of age story. 

But most of all, it will tug at your heartstrings as you struggle with the community as it comes to terms with what fear will do to those who allow it to take root.