In June of 1944, as World War II rages overseas, a feeling of defeat looms over eighteen-year-old Yasu Sakamoto. Three years of her young life have wasted away in a Japanese internment camp in eastern California. Imprisoned by barbwire and military guards, she yearns for freedom and lifelong dreams waiting for her beyond the fence. When the camps close and the internees are released she finds herself in Minnesota, still bombarded with barriers of discrimination and prejudice. Yasu realizes - like barbwire fences - there will always be obstacles in her life that take courage, determination and sometimes the support of others to overcome -- From back cover.