Podcast | Radio | Video | Print
Radio:
NPR Morning Edition covers the release of Together in Manzanar, as Sacha Pfeiffer interviews Tracy Slater. Listen here. (July 22, 2025)
NPR’s “Book of the Day” spotlights Together in Manzanar again, in a segment titled “2 new books were inspired by dark moments in Japanese and Japanese American history.” Listen in! (August 8, 2025)
Podcasts:
The New Books Network & Asian Review of Books interviews Tracy Slater about the WWII US forced removal and incarceration of the West Coast Japanese American community, the Yonedas’ incarceration as a mixed-race family, and their reaction to the American concentration camps as leftist and anti-fascist activists in the context of WWII. Listen here. (August 28, 2025)
Mixunderstood podcast, episode 31: an interview with Tracy about the forthcoming Together in Manzanar, in the episode “Giving up your world to join your mixed family in Manzanar” (August 21, 2024)
Videos:
Densho: A conversation with Tracy Slater and Brian Niiya of the history organization Densho, about Slater’s book & the broader story of mixed-race families in the WWII US concentration camps for Japanese Americans. Watch the event recording! (July 15, 2025)
Book launch @ Newtonville Books: A reading & conversation. Watch a recording. (July 8, 2025)
Publishers Weekly calls Together in Manzanar "a poignant account of a family facing a series of increasingly impossible conundrums during WWII....This cinematic and propulsive family saga casts a riveting spotlight on an ignominious episode in U.S. history."
Jewish Book Council names Together in Manzanar one of their ten summer book picks. Reviewing the book, they write, “Slater is acutely sensitive to the emotions and motivations of the people she describes, as well as to the larger issues of justice, race, and government accountability. Her account of prejudice, the abuse of power, and the rationalizations used to justify them, is as relevant today as ever. Slater’s natural empathy and sharp observations make this historical account a sensitive, affecting human story as well. Full review.
Asian Review of Books calls the book’s narrative “fascinating,” writing, “Tracy Slater’s new book Together in Manzanar: The True Story of a Japanese Jewish Family in an American Concentration Camp not only tells an unusual story but also delves into the complexity of the people forced to live there during World War II….The parallels to today’s political divisiveness, the scapegoating of immigrants, separation of families and setting aside the rule of law are all too self-evident.
Hey Alma magazine names Together in Manzanar “one of 27 Jewish books we’re excited about in 2025,” writing, “You absolutely won’t be able to put this one down!”
Kirkus Reviews spotlights Together in Manzanar, calling its story a “well-told if disheartening history” of a “World War II homefront action that many Americans would like to forget.”
Chicago Reader writes, “Woven together from oral histories, diaries, interviews, newspapers, and archives, Slater tells the story of a California family whose gumption in the face of impossible dilemmas is important to consider…Slater’s book offers much needed context beyond the Yonedas’ compelling story: how the United States government arrived at this abhorrent policy, how an internal rebuttal was silenced and hidden away, instances of other interracial families at other camps, and the attempt to erase this history almost as soon as the camps were closed.
The Times of Israel interviews Tracy and covers the release of Together in Manzanar as the story of “the sole Jewish-Japanese family in American WWII incarceration camps” for Japanese Americans.
Hadassah Magazine names Together in Manzanar one of their featured “Serious Jewish Books to Read this Summer,” calling it both “distressing and timely.”
Haaretz newspaper explores the release of and story behind Together in Manzanar, extending the book’s coverage in a new langauge (Hebrew)!
Post Alley | Seattle reviews Together in Manzanar, writing, “There is no end to the reasons for reading this book. It is a profoundly enlightening, rigorously researched and detailed history of the internment, and a riveting story as well. Slater’s thorough accounting of the general mistreatment of the incarcerated is a remarkable achievement in itself. (Conditions in this camp were egregiously inhumane.) Her writing is particularly artful in the way it moves back and forth between the Yoneda family saga and the larger camp and national pictures….Manzanar also offers endless chilling parallels with the present time….After the internment, the Japanese phrase, ‘Nidoto Nai Yoni’ (‘Let it not happen again’) became a rallying cry against what most people hoped was an unthinkable, unrepeatable act. But reading this book, you are hit over and over again with terribly familiar statements and acts that echo today. ”
Other Praise for Together in Manzanar
"Together in Manzanar is an essential, deeply personal, and powerfully told story that speaks directly to the heart of what it means to navigate mixed identity in America. As a Jewish Japanese American whose own family experienced the trauma of incarceration, I am profoundly moved by Tracy Slater's meticulous research and storytelling, which illuminate the resilience, activism, and moral courage of the Yoneda family. This book fills a long-overdue gap in the historical narrative, giving voice to a mixed-race experience often overlooked in discussions of World War II and Japanese American incarceration. Together in Manzanar is not just a history lesson--it is a testament to the power of love, resistance, and the fight for justice, echoing the ongoing struggles of mixed-race and marginalized communities today. As the founder of Mixed Asian Media, I believe this book is an indispensable addition to the conversation about identity, belonging, and the intersections of race and history in America." --Alex Chester-Iwata, founder of Mixed Asian Media
"Together in Manzanar is the true story of an American mother fighting for her family, her conscience, her country--and eventually her life. Slater's fast-paced historical narrative is a fascinating look at a hidden chapter of our nation's past, particularly of mixed-race America, as well as an intimate look at one family during wartime, the terrible choices they confronted, and a mother's determination to protect her children without sacrificing her soul." --Kim Cross, New York Times bestselling author of What Stands in a Storm
"Together in Manzanar is a riveting, intimate account of one family that illuminates broader, little-known aspects of the WWII Japanese American incarceration. Exploring questions of patriotism, activism, and political ideology, Tracy Slater reveals intersections of oppression across peoples and nations, and brings to life the agonizing choices individuals must make when their leaders fail them. This is a story of the past that is essential today." --Akemi Johnson, author of Night in the American Village
"A gripping, well-written depiction of one of the most fascinating couples in American history. Not only does Slater recount the biographies of two important labor activists, but she also presents a beautiful story about a family that endured prejudice, separation, and hardship while remaining true to their principles." --Jonathan van Harmelen, historian, University of California, Santa Cruz
"Tracy Slater has done her homework and is uniquely positioned to tell the story of Elaine Yoneda, an eyewitness to one of the most explosive parts of the wartime Japanese American experience. With dramatic flair, Slater captures the untold story of a high-profile mixed-race couple inside an American concentration camp at a pivotal moment in history." --Frank Abe, coeditor of The Literature of Japanese American Incarceration
"As society evolves and new issues and debates come to the forefront, previously neglected but newly relevant lessons and stories continue to be drawn from the exclusion and incarceration of Japanese Americans during World War II. Drawing on her own experience, Tracy Slater has found such a story, one that promises to expand our knowledge of the general incarceration and that will have specific relevance for many modern American families. . . . Both fastidiously researched and a page-turner, this book will appeal to both those new to the story and those who know it well." --Brian Niiya, director of content for Densho and former curator of the Japanese American National Museum