Emily Inouye Huey explores Japanese-American history in YA debut

Episode notes

The forced relocation of thousands of Japanese and
Japanese-Americans during World War II profoundly shaped Emily
Inouye Huey's family. Uprooted from their home on the West Coast,
her great grandparents and grandparents were forced to live in a
Wyoming internment camp, which is where her father was born.
Inspired by her family's story, Emily wrote Beneath the Wide
Silk Sky, a heartbreaking and beautiful story of a
Japanese-American teenager in the days leading up to and
following the bombing of Pearl Harbor.


In this episode, Emily shares her writing and research process,
some questionable publishing advice she received (add
werewolves?!), and the evergreen call to preserve human dignity.
About our guest

Emily Inouye Huey is the author of Beneath the Wide Silk
Sky (Scholastic 2022). She holds an MFA in Creative Writing
from Lesley University and teaches at Salt Lake Community
College. Besides books, her passions include education, the arts,
the outdoors, and her family.


More about Emily:


Emily's website

Follow Emily on Instagram



Find a transcript on our episode page.