Sleepless in Seattle
Ken Mochizuki’s Beacon Hill Boys takes place in 1970s Seattle, but the theme of a teenager trying to find his place in the world is one that transcends time. When the story opens, 16 year-old Dan Inagaki finds that his life is like a broken record and he feels like he hears the same song everywhere he goes: “Cut your hair, get a job and be like your brother Brad.”
To Dan, the world is filled with tension -- Vietnam War protests, riots, and integration struggles -- while his life stays the same. Because he is waiting for some excitement, Dan overlooks the clash of the different ethnic groups at his school and the tension that is always there at home with his family.
One source of tension is the animosity and admiration Dan feels for his older brother, Brad. Brad is the great all-American kid: he is a popular, well like athlete, who gets good grades and is on his way to a great college. Brad does not mind being called “Oriental” or “Jap” if it helps him fit in. Dan and his friends call Brad, “Banana”, saying that he is yellow on the outside and white on the inside. Dan wants what Brad has, the approval of his parents and the Asian community, but he wonders if he has to compromise himself to get it.
Don't Stand Out
Dan and his friends cannot understand what they call the “Japanese American community’s self-policing rules.” Why is it that no one should take the last piece of food on the platter at dinner? Why do they have to be quiet if they are treated rudely in a store, knowing that they will go home and complain? Dan defies his parents’ creed that it is best not to stand out or be noticed. In school, he sees the growing concerns of the Black Student Union and the Latino students, but wonders why there is little said by Asian students. He speaks up and the administration agrees to add a new class: comparative American history.
The Past Points to the Future
The past seems to haunt Dan, though he knows very little about it. He is especially interested in finding out about the way Japanese Americans were treated during World War II. His family does not want to talk about it and when he tries to talk to a teacher about it, he is rudely dismissed. However, Dan finds that persistence pays because when he does finally learn about internment camps and the treatment Japanese citizens received during World War II, he begins to see his parents and their generation differently.
Learning about his cultural history also helps Dan to see himself differently. Dan saw himself as a slacker, someone under the radar; while other people noticed that he was not afraid to speak up, and they admired him for it. Even if the results are not what he would have liked, Dan’s “rabble-rousing” (as his father calls it) worked. He called attention to the fact that Asian students were being singled out for punishment; spoke up to get the curriculum changed and influenced his parents to change their minds about putting his grandmother in a home. Dan did not realize that his true self was emerging and all along he was finding his voice as an advocate for those who cannot or will not speak for themselves.
Recommended Read for Young Adults
What is so great about this book is that it takes the universal struggles of a teenage boy (the search for identity, anger at parents, and lack of confidence with girls) and places them in the context of what it is like to be a second generation Japanese American. Beacon Hill Boys does not hold back from addressing the serious toll that racism takes on the lives of youth. Also, the book does portray teens using drugs, but drug use is not glorified. Overall, it is a good glimpse into the lives of Asian teenagers in 1970s Seattle and recommended for mature readers, since it could lead to a frank discussion of race and prejudice.
Beacon Hill Boys,Scholastic Press (2004)
208 Pages
ISBN: 0439249066
