Yoshiko Uchida (1921-1992) was born in Alameda, California, and grew up in Berkeley. She is the author of many books, including Desert Exile: The Uprooting of a Japanese-American Family,Journey to Topaz and Samurai of Gold Hill. Traci Chee is a Japanese American author of young adult fiction. Her novel, We Are Not Free, was a National Book Award Finalist, Printz Honor Book, and Walter Honor Book. We Are Not Free also received starred reviews from School Library Journal, Publishers Weekly, Kirkus, and Booklist.
"""Reading Journey to Topaz in the twenty- first century can be heart-breaking and infuriating, but I also hope it is empowering, especially to young people, because even if we can never truly right the wrongs of our past, we can still act—right now—so that we do not have to carry these wrongs into the future."" —Traci Chee, author of We Are Not Free, from the foreword to this edition ""Yoshiko Uchida blazed a trail in Japanese American storytelling, identifying the delicate yet strong strand that kept families together under harsh and destructive circumstances. It’s no surprise why this groundbreaking novel for younger readers has remained a classic."" —Naomi Hirahara, author of Clark and Division and 1001 Cranes"