Chapter 17, It's All Starting Over Summary and Analysis

The summer before the war ends, Jeanne and her family wait patiently for their turn to be returned to Los Angeles from Manzanar, back to the outside world. When Hiroshima is bombed, all hopes for staying in the comparative safety and in the known world of Manzanar is destroyed. The war is over; they are no longer the enemy.

Schools in Manzanar are closed permanently that July, 1945. The government sets December 1 for everyone to be gone and Manzanar permanently closed. They set weekly quotas to return people to the West Coast from the camp for those who choose not to leave on their own. Jeanne's parents resist, choosing to wait. Papa can no longer hold a commercial fishing license, and there is no home to return to.

Papa reads the newspapers through the...