Daughter of Molokai by Alan Brennert

A young Hawaiian girl is adopted by a Japanese couple and then grows up in California. Life is very different for the immigrant family than what they knew in Hawaii and they work hard to overcome obstacles until Pearl Harbor changes their lives forever. They lose everything and are forced to live at the internment camps. It is only years later that Ruth learns of her birth mother and why she and her husband were forced to give her up. This is historical fiction at its best. Alan Brennert is a master at giving us the lush beauty of Hawaii and the forced internment of the lepers contrasted to the harsh climate of the Japanese-American internment camps and the racism and fear in both. A true story of immigration and the difficulties they faced - the quest for a better life for yourself and your family where hard work and allegiance to your new country was met with fear and ignorance. It is also the story of the love of two mothers and the courage of one hapa woman to understand and embrace her dual heritage. This is book two in the series but can easily be read as a standalone.