Join the Malden Library and Malden Reads on Saturday April 29th from 2-4 pm at a talk with Margie Yamamoto. Her talk details the story of the Japanese incarceration during World War II as seen through the eyes of Yamamoto’s Japanese American family. Yamamoto was two months old when her family entered the American internment camps. It follows her family’s passage from immigration in the1890s through their imprisonment during the war years and documents how they rebuilt their lives thereafter. The 45-minute presentation is richly illustrated with more than 100 family and historic WWII photographs, many of the latter obtained from US Government archives.

Beyond describing the internment experiences of a single family, the talk focuses on the plight of the 120,000 Japanese — two thirds of them, American citizens — who were imprisoned, sometimes for years, by a presidential order deemed by many then and now to be in violation of the united states constitution.

For audiences not familiar with the details of the WWII Japanese incarceration, this story will serve as a primer on one of America’s darker historic moments as well as its efforts in later years to compensate those who suffered through it. This year’s Malden reads book selection, they called us enemy by George Takei, is a graphic  memoir which tells the story of Takei’s family experience of the internment camps during WWII.

Margie is retired after more than 40 years in the marketing and communications fields. Before retirement, she was director of community program initiatives at WGBH, Boston’s public broadcasting station. She has also worked for Walt Disney productions, General Electric and a number of education and healthcare organizations in New York, California and Massachusetts.

Yamamoto still serves on the board of the New England chapter of the Japanese American citizens league. She has also served on the boards of the japan society of Boston and the Cambridge center for adult education. She has also served on advisory committees for the PBS adult learning service and the institute for Asian American studies,Umass Boston.

Light refreshments will be served following the presentation. For more information about this event and Malden reads: one city, one book, visit Maldenreads.org.

Monday May 1st from 6-7pm join us for an author talk with children’s author and executive director of Handi Capable Fitness, James Norris. He is the author of the book, “Feeling Left Out”. The first book in a four part series to help children deal with the challenges they face while growing up. In the book, Norris utilizes his challenges and his journey living with Cerebral Palsy to write this personal and deeply empathetic story for children and adults alike. Come by to learn about that journey and the ways his experience can provide resources and instruction on living a healthier and more resilient lifestyle.

James is a fitness advocate and mentor, an athlete, an author, and a public speaker. He has shared his message of accessible fitness and adaptive athletic technology to a number of platforms including podcasts, social media, and public speaking engagements. His advocacy and messages of inspiration supports encourages athletes to step outside of their comfort zone and face adversity with confidence and resilience. His foundation: Handi Capable Fitness provides scholarship funding. HCF is able to provide much needed funding for fitness memberships, athletic equipment, and travel for its adaptive athletic community.

Join us for Movie Night on Wednesday, April 12, 2023 from 6:00-8:30pm. We will be showing a movie about “The Fabelmans.” The story is loosely based on Steven Spielberg’s life.

“Young Sammy Fabelman falls in love with movies after his parents take him to see The Greatest Show on Earth. Armed with a camera, Sammy starts to make his films at home, much to the delight of his supportive mother.” Rated PG-13 (151 min.) (2023)

Free snacks will be provided. This film is free and open to the public. Movie times are approximate. Please call the Malden Public Library at 781-324-0218 for more information.

Malden Public Library and Malden Reads are excited to announce a special screening of the film, “The Cats of Mirikitani,” on Wednesday, March 15, 2023: 6:00-8:00pm. We will be joined by the film’s director, Linda Hattendorf (via Zoom), for a Q&A discussion after the film.

In 2001, Linda Hattendorf, meets an elderly homeless man on the streets of New York City who creates whimsical paintings of cats and only accepts money from passers-by if they take one of his paintings in exchange. As the tragedy of 9/11 unfolds, Hattendorf invites the artist into her home and learns that he is Jimmy Mirikitani, a Sacramento, California-born man whose family moved from California to Hiroshima, only to flee Japan as WWII begins. Over time, with remarkable compassion and empathy from Hattendorf, Mirikitani reveals that he is a “Grand Master Artist” who once met Jackson Pollock, and that during WWII he was one of the thousands of Japanese-American people who were forced to go to Tule Lake, one of the most notorious Japanese-American internment camps during WWII. This profound and gripping documentary is a story of art, resilience, compassion, and healing and is not to be missed.

This film screening is one of Malden Reads’ 2023 season of events for the graphic novel, “They Called Us Enemy” by George Takei.  Pick up a copy of the book in English or Spanish at the Library or read the e-book via Libby or Hoopla with your Library card. For more information about this event, please call the Malden Public Library at 781-324-0218. Join us for the film screening in-person at the Library or register for the Q&A at: https://bit.ly/maldenreads

Co-sponsored by the Malden Reads and the Malden Public Library.