Super Short Summary

Sylvia & Aki by Winifred Conkling is a children’s historical fiction novel depicting the true stories of Sylvia Mendez and Aki Munemitsu. During World War II, Aki and her family, being Japanese American, were forcibly relocated to an incarceration camp in Poston, Arizona. Concurrently, Sylvia, a Latina girl whose family rented the Munemitsu farm, faced racial discrimination and was barred from attending the local white school. Sylvia’s father, Gonzalo Mendez, fought this injustice, culminating in the landmark desegregation case Mendez v. Westminster. Sylvia and Aki’s stories intersect, highlighting their struggles and the enduring friendship formed amid adversity.