In Chapter 1 and the Author’s Note, Larson provides the general historical context for Mitsi’s story. The year is 1941, and the world is at war. Nazi Germany began the war in 1939 when it invaded Poland. Adolf Hitler, the totalitarian leader of Nazi Germany, wants to dominate the world and systematically kill multiple groups of people, including people with physical and mental conditions and Jews. Japan and Italy are on Nazi Germany’s side, and they’re the Axis. The United States helps England, France, and Russia fight the Axis by giving them supplies and weapons. When Japan attacks Pearl Harbor on December 7, killing around 2,400 people, America officially joins the war, and the United States, England, France, and Russia became the Allies. In May 1945, the Allies defeat the Nazis in Europe. In August 1945, the United States forces Japan to surrender after dropping two atomic bombs on the country, killing around 200,000 people.

During the war with Japan, Americans treat Japanese people like enemies. Mitsi sees the discrimination inside and outside of school. On February 19, 1942, President Franklin D. Roosevelt signs Executive Order 9066, giving him the authority to put Japanese people on the West Coast (those closest to Japan) in concentration camps.