A community-wide reading experience.

APRIL-MAY 2013
A community-wide reading experience.
WWW.GREENWICHREADSTOGETHER.ORG

What is Greenwich Reads Together?
Greenwich Reads Together is a community-wide
reading experience which will engage all of
Greenwich in exploring a single book. The goal
of Greenwich Reads Together is to deepen
engagement in literature through reading and
discussion and to build community connections.
The Steering Committee leading this effort
includes Greenwich Library, Greenwich Alliance
for Education, Greenwich Arts Council, Greenwich
Historical Society, Greenwich Pen Women and
the Greenwich Public and Independent Schools.
Visit our website www.greenwichreadstogether.org
to find book, film and music suggestions for further
exploration, as well as discussion guides, links to
interviews with the author and much more.

Why This Book?
On a sunny day in Berkeley, California, in 1942, a woman
sees a sign in a post office window, returns to her home,
and matter-of-factly begins to pack her family’s possessions.
Like thousands of other Japanese Americans they have been
reclassified, virtually overnight, as enemy aliens and are
about to be uprooted from their home and sent to a dusty
internment camp in the Utah desert.
In this lean and devastatingly evocative novel, Julie Otsuka
tells their story from five flawlessly realized points of view
and conveys the exact emotional texture of their experience:
the thin-walled barracks and barbed-wire fences, the omnipresent
fear and loneliness, the unheralded feats of heroism.
When the Emperor Was Divine is a work of enormous power
that makes a shameful episode of our history as immediate
as today’s headlines.

Photo Credit Robert Bessoir
We invite the community to join us for programs
and discussion groups which are free and open
to the public. You don’t have to read the book to
participate. Multiple copies are available in many
formats for loan at the Library including eBook
and downloadable audiobook. For additional
information, please follow us in the press or online
at www.greenwichreadstogether.org.
Author Talk
THURSDAY, APRIL 25, 7 P.M.
Author Julie Otsuka
will join us in the Cole
Auditorium at Greenwich
Library for a discussion
of When the Emperor
was Divine. Otsuka was
inspired, in part, by her
mother’s and grandparents’
experiences
in internment camps
during the 1940s. When
the Emperor Was Divine
was named a New York
Times Notable Book and a San Francisco
Chronicle Best Book of the Year. She is a
recipient of the Asian American Literary
Award, the American Library Association
Alex Award, and a Guggenheim Fellowship.
Her book The Buddha in the Attic
won the PEN/ Faulkner Award and was
a finalist for the National Book Award.
Otsuka will speak to Greenwich
public and private school students
earlier in the day.
Free and open to all, but seating in
the Cole Auditorium is limited and
will be available on a first come,
first serve basis. Doors will open
at 6:30 p.m. For more information,
please call (203) 622-7910.
COLE AUDITORIUM, GREENWICH LIBRARY
101 WEST PUTNAM AVENUE, GREENWICH
Programs
Film: Farewell to Manzanar
FRIDAY, APRIL 12, 8 PM
Directed by John Korty (The Autobiography
of Miss Jane Pittman) based on the book by
Jeanne Wakatsuki Houston. Jeanne Wakatsuki
was seven years old in 1942 when her family
was uprooted from their home and sent to
live at Manzanar—with 10,000 other Japanese
Americans amidst searchlight towers and
armed guards. Farewell has become a modern
classic, often compared with The Diary of Anne
Frank as an example of poignant literature
about the effects of war on youth and the
human spirit. It was the first commercial film
written, performed, photographed and scored
by Japanese Americans about the World
War II camp experience and broadcast on
prime time television. (1976- 107 min.)
COLE AUDITORIUM, GREENWICH LIBRARY
101 W. PUTNAM AVENUE, GREENWICH
Origami for Children
SATURDAY, APRIL 20, 1 PM
Learn the traditional Japanese art of
paper folding, ages 6 and up. Limit 24
participants, pre-registration is required.
To register, call (203) 622-7940.
MEETING ROOM, GREENWICH LIBRARY
101 WEST PUTNAM AVENUE, GREENWICH

Internment: Memories of a
13 Year Old Girl (1941-1944)
MONDAY, APRIL 22, 1 PM
Japanese internment survivor Lorraine Leiko
Miyahara will speak about her experience as a
Japanese American during her period of confinement
in the early period of World War II.
She has written a book about her experience
entitled, Internment: A True Story. Miyahara
will share artifacts of the period and an array
of her own paintings responding to her
experiences. Books will be available for sale
and signing after the presentation. Green tea
and Japanese cookies will be served. For more
information, please call (203) 862-6750.
GREENWICH ARTS COUNCIL
MEETING ROOM, SECOND FLOOR
299 GREENWICH AVENUE, GREENWICH
Draw and Tell Story for Earth Day
MONDAY, APRIL 22, 4 PM
Join us for a story and craft session focused
on Japanese drawing. Appropriate for ages
4-10, no registration required. For more
information, please call the Children’s Room
at (203) 622-7940.
CHILDREN’S ROOM, GREENWICH LIBRARY
101 W. PUTNAM AVENUE, GREENWICH
Concert: Sumie Kaneko
& Nobuko Miyazaki
SUNDAY, APRIL 28, 3:30 PM
Enjoy a concert of traditional Japanese music
featuring Sumie Kaneko and Nobuko Miyazki
playing koto, shamisen, shinobue and singing.
Singer songwriter Sumie Kaneko has been
recognized as a pioneer by her uniquely
chromatic use of the instruments.
Free and open to all, Cole Auditorium doors
open at 3 p.m. For more information, please
call David Waring at (203) 622-7917.
COLE AUDITORIUM, GREENWICH LIBRARY
101 W. PUTNAM AVENUE, GREENWICH
The Future Day of Radiant Peace
TUESDAY, APRIL 30, 7 PM
Explore the letters of Japanese American
Mills College students who wrote to college
president Aurelia Henry Reinhardt from their
internment camps. The ever-resilient Mills girls
strove to make the best of the hand they were
dealt while looking forward to a “future day
of radiant peace.” Reinhardt (the first female
PhD from Yale University) and her staff defied
the prejudice and hysteria of the time to
support their Nisei students.
In a program sponsored by the Greenwich
Historical Society, Greenwich resident
Catherine Ladnier, a Mills College graduate,
will recount her personal journey with her
fellow alumnae. For more information,
please call (203) 869-6899.
GREENWICH HISTORICAL SOCIETY
39 STRICKLAND ROAD, COS COB
Indefinite Detention: How did it
happen? Can it happen again?
WEDNESDAY, MAY 1, 7 PM
Join us for a lively panel discussion which
will examine both the historical context and
potential for indefinite internment in America.
Moderated by Ernie Fleishman, former Superintendent
of Schools, panelists will discuss
the political climate that precipitated FDR’s
Executive Order 9066 and the role of the
media, as well as the camp experience.
Panelists will review the current state of civil
liberties in the United States.
PANELISTS INCLUDE:
Caroll Bogert of Human Rights Watch, who
has extensive international news experience
and holds a master’s degree in East Asian studies
from Harvard University.
Kevin Buterbaugh, Ph.D., associate professor
of international relations and international
political economy at Southern Connecticut
State University.
Journalist Grant Ujifusa, a key player in
securing the passage of the historic Civil
Liberties Act of 1988, which provided redress
for grievances caused by the internment of
Japanese Americans during the World War II.
COLE AUDITORIUM, GREENWICH LIBRARY
101 W. PUTNAM AVENUE, GREENWICH

Book Donation
From March 25-April 5, Greenwich Alliance
for Education will collect new or gently
used children’s books in donation boxes at
Greenwich Library and its Byram Shubert
and Cos Cob branches, as well as at BNY
Mellon Wealth Management, located at
10 Mason Street, Greenwich. On April 10,
donated books will be distributed to
children at the Boys and Girls Club of
Greenwich. Please no reference or text
books, magazines or anything dusty
or musty. For more information,
please contact the Greenwich Alliance
for Education at (203) 340-2323 or
visit www.greenwichalliance.org.
Student Essay Contest
The Rotary Club of Greenwich will sponsor
an essay contest for students attending
Greenwich public and independent
schools in grades 6-12. Two prizes of $250
will be awarded at a Greenwich Reads
Together event in two categories (6-8th
grades and 9-12th grades).
THE 2013 GRT ESSAY QUESTION IS:
How does your reading of When the
Emperor Was Divine (or The Eyes of
the Emperor) affect your thinking
about prejudice toward immigrants
and other minorities in the United
States today? In your response, you
may want to consider other historical
moments of scapegoating.
Essays will be evaluated for clarity of expression,
persuasiveness, and originality.
For full details, please visit
www.greenwichreadstogether.org.
Children and Teens
Junior Book Club
THURSDAY, MAY 2, 4:30 PM
Students in grades 4-6
will discuss the Greenwich
Reads Together companion
book, Best Friends
Forever: a World War II
Scrapbook by Beverly
Patt. When Dottie and
her Japanese-American
family are relocated to
an internment camp, Louise begins a scrapbook
which documents the experience.
Pre-registration required, limit 20 participants.
Register and pick up a book at the
Children’s Room Desk or call (203) 622-7940
for information.
Middle School
Book Club
THURSDAY, APRIL 25, 4:30 PM
Students in grades 6-8
will discuss the Greenwich
Reads Together companion
book, The Eyes of
the Emperor by Graham
Salisbury. Eddy Okubo
lies about his age and
joins the army only weeks
before the Japanese bomb Pearl Harbor.
Suddenly Americans see him as the enemy—
even the U.S. Army doubts his loyalty. So Eddy
and a small band of Japanese American soldiers
are sent on a secret mission to a small island
off the coast of Mississippi. Eddy’s going to help
train attack dogs. He’s going to be the bait.
Pre-registration required, limit 20 participants.
Register and pick up a book at the
Second Floor Reference Desk or
call (203) 622-7915 for information.

Adult Discussion Groups
Organize your own group or join with
our community to explore When the
Emperor was Divine at one or more of
these discussion groups.
Greenwich Pen Women, a branch
of the National League of American Pen
Women, will provide leaders for book
discussion groups of all ages, from teens
through seniors. Call Lee Paine at
(203) 637-3764 for further information.
Cos Cob Library will offer two book discussions
which are open to all, but aimed primarily
at adults. The Thursday Evening Book Club
will meet on Thursday, April 4 at 7:30 p.m.,
and the Brown Bag Book Club will
meet on Wednesday, April 17 at 12 p.m.
COS COB LIBRARY
5 SINAWOY ROAD, COS COB
The Friends of Greenwich Library
will host a drop-in book discussion on
Tuesday, April 9 at 1 p.m.
MEETING ROOM, GREENWICH LIBRARY
101 W. PUTNAM AVENUE, GREENWICH
The Retired Men’s Association
will host a discussion on Tuesday, April 23
at 10 a.m. All are welcome to attend.
MEETING ROOM, GREENWICH LIBRARY
101 W. PUTNAM AVENUE, GREENWICH
The International Book Club
is open to adults on Tuesday, April 23
at 5 PM. For more information, please
call (203) 531-0426.
BYRAM SHUBERT LIBRARY
21 MEAD AVENUE, BYRAM
The First Presbyterian Church
of Greenwich will host a discussion
of When the Emperor was Divine on
Sunday, April 28, at 11 a.m. The public
is welcome. For further information,
call Gail Wilson at (203) 661-0769.
FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH OF GREENWICH
1 W. PUTNAM AVENUE, GREENWICH
The Sholom Center at Temple Sholom
will host a discussion of When the Emperor
Was Divine at its weekly Lunch and Learn
program on Tuesday, April 23, 12-1 p.m.
The public is welcome to attend. To RSVP,
contact Alice Schoen at (203) 542-7165.
TEMPLE SHOLOM
300 E. PUTNAM AVENUE, GREENWICH
The Greenwich Rotary Club
will hold a discussion on Wednesday, May 1 at
1:30 p.m., after their regular weekly meeting.
PUTNAM ROOM AT J HOUSE
1114 EAST PUTNAM AVENUE, OLD GREENWICH
Teen Discussion Groups
Greenwich High School
GHS will hold GRT Day on Thursday, April 25
with programs for students, culminating in
an author visit with Julie Otsuka. The day will
conclude with a faculty and staff discussion
moderated by GHS Headmaster Chris Winters.
Various Social Studies and English teachers
will incorporate the book into their classes
this semester.
Central Middle School
CMS will hold a book discussion and potluck
dinner for parents, faculty, and students on
Tuesday, April 30 from 6-8 p.m. Students will
also read and discuss Best Friends Forever in
their academic bases.
Eastern Middle School
EMS will host a book discussion breakfast for
parents, faculty, and students on Tuesday, April
23 and offer books talks and thematic activities
for each grade during school hours from
February through March in their advisor bases.
Western Middle School
WMS will hold a pizza party book discussion
for parents and students on Wednesday,
April 24. They will also offer several lunchtime
discussion groups.
Some of the independent schools will be
holding book discussions and activities.

Lead Sponsor
Sponsors
Dr. Laura and
Mr. Robert Glanville
Supporting Organizations
Christ Church of Greenwich
First Presbyterian Church of Greenwich
The Friends of Byram Shubert Library
The Friends of Cos Cob Library
The Friends of Greenwich Library
Greenwich Academy
Greenwich Alliance for Education
Greenwich Arts Council
Greenwich Historical Society
Greenwich Independent Schools
Greenwich Library
Greenwich Library Board of Trustees
Greenwich Pen Women
Greenwich Public Schools
Greenwich Rotary Club
Retired Men’s Association
Temple Sholom