The Inker’s Shadow

By Allen Say. Companion to the Caldecott award-wining author's graphic novel Drawing from Memory — the story of his coming-of-age at a military academy and the discovery of what it means to be American. For Allen Say, life as a teen in Southern California was a cold existence. His father, one of the leading hamburger salesmen in Japan, ran a booming burger business, much like McDonald's, and sent Allen to an American military academy, so that his son could learn English and "become a success in life". As the school's first and only Japanese student, he experienced immediate racism among his fellow cadets and his teachers. The other kids' parents complained about Allen's presence at the all-white school. As a result, he was relegated to a tool shed behind the mess hall. Determined to free himself from this oppression, Allen saved enough money to buy a 1946 Ford for $50 — then escaped to find the America of his dreams! Hardbound: 80 pp.