Sylvia & Aki (2011) by Winifred Conkling is a children’s historical fiction (or, more accurately, fictionalized history) novel inspired by the true stories of Sylvia Mendez and Aki Munemitsu. During World War II, Aki’s family was incarcerated in Poston, Arizona, because of their Japanese heritage. Sylvia’s family rented the Munemitsu farm during this time; however, Sylvia was barred from the nearby, predominantly white Westminster School because of her skin color and Latina surname. Her father, Gonzalo Mendez, fought against this injustice in the important court case Mendez, et al. v. Westminster School District of Orange County, et al., which preceded Brown v. Board of Education by almost a decade. Sylvia and Aki’s families had a positive relationship, and the two women remain friends today.

Conkling, who previously studied journalism and wrote adult nonfiction, later received “a Master of Fine Arts in Writing for Children and Young Adults from the Vermont College of Fine Arts” (Conkling, Winifred, “About Me.” Winifred Conkling, 2023) and enjoys writing children’s fiction. Sylvia & Aki was a Junior Library Guild Selection title and won the 2012 Jane Addams Children’s Literature Award. It also won the 2012 Tomás Rivera Mexican American Children’s Book Award and was a 2012 CCBC Choices (Cooperative Children’s Book Center) title and a Commended Title for the 2012 Américas Award for Children’s & Young Adult Literature (Conkling, Winifred, “Sylvia & Aki,” Winifred Conkling, 2023).

The guide explores the themes of Endurance, Family, Friendship, and Segregation/Incarceration Versus Freedom and the symbolism in the story that represents equality, friendship, cultural heritage and connection, and class/ethnicity. It also briefly discusses the complex history of Sylvia Mendez and Aki Munemitsu; Mendez, et al. v. Westminster School District of Orange County, et al. School District of Orange County, et al., and the Japanese American Incarceration Camps During World War II.

This guide references the Tricycle Press/Random House Children’s Books (2011) edition of the novel.

Content Warning: This text includes some racist/discriminatory language regarding Latinx and Japanese American communities reflective of the historical period and relevant to the discussion of historical events. The author also includes some terminology common during this time that is no longer considered accurate or tasteful, such as “Mexicans” to refer to all Latinx people and “internment camps” or “evacuation” to refer to what is now commonly called “incarceration camps” or “forced relocation” of Japanese Americans. While the original language has been preserved in direct quotes, other references to such terminology use current vocabulary and phrasing out of respect for the affected communities. Readers are encouraged to use related resources for more detailed explanations of how and why these terms have changed over time.

Language Note: Aki’s eldest brother most commonly went by “Tad” in real life. However, as Conkling refers to him as “Seiko,” this name has been retained in the guide for continuity and clarity. Similarly, the school featured in the novel is officially known as “Seventeenth Street School”; as Conkling refers to it as “Westminster School,” the guide uses Conkling’s term for clarity.

Plot Summary

After the December 7, 1941 attack on Pearl Harbor by Japanese aircraft, panic, racism, and military scapegoating resulted in over 120,000 Japanese Americans on the West Coast of the United States being forcibly relocated to incarceration camps until the end of World War II. At the end of the war, very few returned to their West Coast homes, and fewer still were lucky enough to regain their land, homes, and possessions that they were forced to hide, destroy, sell, or leave behind when they left. Aki Munemitsu and her family were one of those lucky families.

At the same time, decades of racially discriminatory laws had resulted in segregated, “separate but unequal” schools in California. Refusing to continue this cycle of second-class citizenship, poverty, and inequality, Gonzalo Mendez, through his daughter Sylvia, sued the school district of Orange County to integrate schools and provide better opportunities for Latinx children and families. Based on a true story, this novel focuses on the unlikely friendship between Sylvia and Aki, told in alternating perspectives.

Aki’s typical third-grade life was upended after Pearl Harbor. As Japanese Americans, her family was forced to relocate to Poston, Arizona. Only allowed what they could carry, Aki’s family lost many of their family photos and heirlooms because they were “too Japanese.” Worse, Aki’s father was deemed a threat, so government agents took him without warning or goodbyes. Later, Aki caught chicken pox and was forced to stay behind in a hospital while her mother and brother Seiko were sent ahead to Poston. Only after Aki recovers is she escorted to Poston and reunited with her mother and brother, but there is no news of her father.

Poston is not home. It is a desert with hastily constructed barracks and no privacy. Despite this, Aki and her family can only endure and hope to one day be reunited and to return home to California.

Aki’s family is luckier than some. Their banker arranges for their farm to be leased out until their return. The family who rents it is Mexican/Puerto Rican and all born or naturalized US citizens. About to begin third grade, Sylvia tries to register at the nearby predominantly white Westminster School but is rejected due to her Latina surname and dark skin tone. Her father, Gonzalo, is furious and tries to argue with the school but is rebuffed. Sylvia is sent to the second-class “Mexican school,” Hoover School. Undeterred, Gonzalo solicits signatures from the Latinx community for a petition to integrate Westminster School. He fails to gain support from a community fearful of discriminatory retaliation but submits the petition anyway. It is ignored.

Sylvia discovers Aki’s doll and Westminster class photo in her closet and begins to wonder about Aki. As Sylvia becomes more aware of her own ethnicity, she begins to sympathize with Aki, even as she questions the privilege Aki received but that she is denied.

Two years pass. Sylvia accompanies Gonzalo to Poston to deliver rent money to Aki’s family. Sylvia meets Aki in person for the first time, questions the incarcerations of Japanese Americans, and connects with them by realizing their commonalities in farming and creating something out of nothing.

Back in Westminster, Gonzalo learns of a lawyer, David Marcus, who has fought and won integration cases. Gonzalo hires him; an official lawsuit, Mendez, et al. v. Westminster School District of Orange County, et al. is announced. Soon after, the Westminster superintendent calls the Mendezes’ home. Gonzalo refuses to drop the lawsuit, now seeking justice and opportunity for all Latinx children. Sylvia admires him. They celebrate July 4; Sylvia thinks of Aki and writes her a letter.

On July 5, 1945, the lawsuit hearings begin. Marcus successfully demonstrates the school district’s discriminatory attitudes and practices toward Latinx children, but the dialogue leaves Sylvia feeling angry and ashamed. The case will eventually swing in their favor and all schools in California will integrate, but her worldview is forever changed.

At Poston, Aki’s family has struggles of their own. Seiko, her brother, must complete a Leave Clearance Application in order to find work in Denver. Both he and Aki question their citizenship and identities as Japanese Americans. Seiko leaves. Aki receives letters from Seiko, her father, and Sylvia. She is impressed with the Mendez case but wonders if she will ever see her father again. He is eventually sent to Poston, and Aki begins to hope for the future. However, the dropping of the atomic bombs on Japan leaves the Japanese American community reeling, and Aki questions the price of peace. Once the war ends, she and her family can return home (Seiko included). Aki feels free only after leaving Poston.

Arriving in Westminster, she meets Sylvia once more. The two families share the land and property until the end of the Mendezes’ lease. Sylvia and Aki become fast friends. When Sylvia leaves, they exchange dolls as a farewell gift.

Ten years pass. The successful Mendez case inspired the Brown v. Board of Education Supreme Court case, which ruled to integrate all schools in the United States. One year after the Brown v. Board of Education verdict, Sylvia graduates high school in Santa Ana, California, the first in her family to do so. She is proud of what her father has accomplished and happy she could keep her promise to him about getting a good education.