As a child, Jeanne Wakatsuki recalls watching the chaos of the attack on Pearl Harbor unfold. Her dad and brothers had gone out fishing that morning, but had to return. She lives in Santa Monica, but after war is declared on Japan the U.S. government begins moving Japanese-Americans into camps, afraid of espionage. Unsure whether her family will be sent to a camp or not, Jeanne feels the instability strongly. Her father is taken away by the federal government, sent to a camp. Then her family moves to Long Beach and then Boyle Heights, becoming deeper entrenched in a Japanese culture with which Jeanne is relatively unfamiliar.
The day finally arrives when Jeanne and her family are sent to the camp at Manzanar. They are not reunited with their father because he is at a different facility. During the first year at Manzanar, Jeanne learns independence. Because the camp was constructed last-minute it's not equipped to house so many people, so there are endless problems. Most significantly, the family sleeps in overcrowded barracks, crowded together with dozens of other people. Although they are still together, Jeanne rarely sees her mother. She makes friends with some of the other kids and spends all of her time with them. The situation is tense -- some people even die during a riot, -- but they manage to maintain a sense of childish wonder and excitement.
Papa rejoins the family the next year, but he's changed. His time in the other camp has left him angry, alcoholic, and solitary. Eventually, however, he takes up gardening. The occupants of the camp have cultivated a somewhat vibrant community and built a school which Jeanne attends. Mama works, for low salary, but she is earning something.
Life becomes more difficult for the Wakatsuki family after their father's return, however, because he is suspected by the authorities of being an informant. They watch him constantly and require extra precautions for the entire family. When the Loyalty Oath is introduced, Papa and Woody, Jeanne's elder brother, fight over signing it. The oath requires a rejection of Japan and a pledge of willingness to serve in the U.S. military. Although he eventually does sign, Papa is loathe to relinquish any more of his life to the U.S. government. After he signs, he is highly criticized by some of his peers.
After the camp, people struggle to transition back into civilian life, having lost their money, jobs, homes, etc. Most of Jeanne's siblings move to the East Coast, but she remains with her family in Long Beach. They live in a dilapidated little housing project. Because of the anti-Japanese sentiment of the war, she's bullied in school. Eventually, though, she makes a friend who lives nearby, and they join the Boy Scouts together. By the time high school rolls around Jeanne is even more of an outcast, however, due to increasing social pressure to "fit in." Her family moves to San Jose her senior year where Jeanne faces a crisis of values -- becoming popular but losing her parents' respect.
As an adult, Jeanne takes her husband and children back to Manzanar to tour the place. She patiently explains to her kids how difficult life was for Japanese-Americans back then. The trip is really challenging for Jeanne. When the enter the camp, she hears the voices of all the people she knew there, including her mom. She ends the book with a memory of her father on the day they all left the camp. He had bought a car and was driving like a madman, but Jeanne found comfort in his boldness. She believed in the resilience of her family, despite the fear of not adapting to life outside the camp again.
