April is poetry month and today we are going to share a book written in reverso poetry. They say history repeats itself and today's book illustrates this in a powerful way. The book is Barbed Wire Between Us by Mia Wenjen and illustrated by Violeta Encarnación. It is recommended for ages 7 to 12.
About the Book:
- ⭐ Starred review from Kirkus
- ⭐ Starred review from Publishers Weekly
- ⭐ Starred review from School Library Journal
- Kirkus: The Most Anticipated Children's Books of Spring 2026
A powerful reverso poem about two girls separated by barbed wire and 80 years of history
Barbed Wire Between Us is a powerful reverso poem that tells two deeply resonant stories across time. It begins with a Japanese American girl sent to an internment camp in Oklahoma during World War II. Read in reverse, it reveals the journey of a Latina girl detained in the very same camp decades later, during the U.S. policy of migrant family separation. Harrowing and emotionally charged, this poetic narrative compels us to confront a haunting question: What have we truly learned in the past 80 years about how we treat the most vulnerable among us? With haunting symmetry and striking parallels, Barbed Wire Between Us is a moving meditation on justice, memory, and the echoes of history that still shape our present.
Barbed Wire Between Us is a powerful reverso poem that tells two deeply resonant stories across time. It begins with a Japanese American girl sent to an internment camp in Oklahoma during World War II. Read in reverse, it reveals the journey of a Latina girl detained in the very same camp decades later, during the U.S. policy of migrant family separation. Harrowing and emotionally charged, this poetic narrative compels us to confront a haunting question: What have we truly learned in the past 80 years about how we treat the most vulnerable among us? With haunting symmetry and striking parallels, Barbed Wire Between Us is a moving meditation on justice, memory, and the echoes of history that still shape our present.
From Me:
A reverso poem uses the same words forward and backwards to tell two stories. It makes this book so powerful. In the first half of this book Mia shares a part of her mother's story. During World War II Japanese American families were forced into internment camps out of fear they may be spies. One of the places that held these families was Fort Sill is Oklahoma. This is where the story takes place. a young Japanese American girl is followed through leaving her life for Fort Sill. It shares bits and pieces with amazing illustrations that only add to the story. Then the same words are used in reverse to share the story of immigrants today and how Fort Sill is being used as a detainment center for them and life is about the same if not worse than it was for the Japanese Americans in the 1940s.
The use of reverso and telling the stories in the same setting is effective in getting the reader to realize the similarities. The book shares the hardships of Fort Sill and life behind barbed wire and without much. Even though the federal government has apologized to the Japanese Americans and paid reparation payments to them, the federal government is repeating itself detaining immigrants and at times United States citizens in the same place with similar (if not worse) treatment.
The words are the same. The illustrations are different. The race of the detained is changed. The clothing has changed. The conditions have not. The illustrations show these details while the same words describe life detained at Fort Sill. It is powerful and a must-read book for this time.
This book shares a side of immigration many do not see or want to see. Today it seems like it is in the news and all over social media but the truth of what is happening in the detainment centers is still really unknown. At the end of the book, there is information about the history of Fort Sill as well as about a reverso poem. In the Author's Note, Mia shares more about her family's connection and more history about the Japanese Americans forced into internment camps. This book is a great addition for a study of immigration. The age for this picture book is higher than most picture books and that is because of the content of the story. It is powerful but more mature than most picture books.
