On December 6, 1941, Margaret Yamaguchi celebrates her sweet 16, complete with her first kiss and first boyfriend, handsome John Wilson. An all-American teen, her world seems perfect. The Japanese attack Pearl Harbor the next morning, sending her world into chaos and her country into World War II. Because her parents were born in Japan, her entire family is suspected of sabotage, as is every Japanese family along America's West Coast. Although not a citizen, her father is a patriotic, prominent member of the community. Margaret believes his sincerity when he tells her that America will do what is right for its people. Then the unthinkable occurs?evacuation and internment. For the first time in her life, Margaret thinks of herself as different from her friends. Margaret's family ends up in the Colorado River Relocation Center, near Poston, Arizona. They suffer the blistering heat and the chilling cold for three years. John is drafted. Margaret suffers the agony of separation from him and wonders if their love will endure. As some of her family dies while at Poston, Margaret finds the strength and wisdom to hold the remnants of her family together. But what awaits her outside the fence?