Yuki Sakane

Yuki is the primary character in the novel. She is a Nisei Japanese American born in Berkeley, California, in 1930. When the novel begins, Yuki is eleven years old, and when the novel ends, she is probably thirteen years old, having spent approximately one and a half years imprisoned. She has a round, full face framed by bangs and straight, black hair hanging to her shoulders. When the novel begins, Yuki is a typical American girl in most respects, having several neighborhood friends of her own age. She enjoys school and is a good student. At the beginning of the novel, Yuki owns three pets - a canary named Old Salt, named in honor of a neighbor's deceased parrot; a large gray carp in a yard pond; and her favorite pet and confidant Pepper, a dog. She will be forced to part with these pets when she is...