Award-winning author Naomi Hirahara to launch new book, Evergreen, at Lamanda Park Library branch – Pasadena Weekendr

Acclaimed author Naomi Hirahara will launch her new book, “Evergreen,” at the Lamanda Park Branch Library in Pasadena on Saturday, July 13. The free event, sponsored by the Pasadena Public Library, will be held from 2 to 3 p.m.

Evergreen is a gripping Japantown crime thriller that follows a young Nisei, a second-generation Japanese-American, as she navigates the challenges of post-World War II life after returning to Los Angeles from the Manzanar internment camp. The novel, a sequel to Hirahara’s Mary Higgins Clark Award-winning Clark and Division, explores themes of justice, family, and the struggle to regain a sense of home after a traumatic experience.

“Both ‘Clark and Division’ and ‘Evergreen’ are about the relocation of Japanese-Americans from their imprisonment during World War II,” Hirahara said in an interview with Pasadena Now. “Many people are not aware of the difficult transition that Japanese-Americans went through after their release from one of the ten internment camps.”

Hirahara, herself a Japanese-American, drew inspiration for the novel from her work as a journalist for *Rafu Shimpo*, the largest Japanese-American newspaper in the United States. During her ten years working for the newspaper, she interviewed many people who had lived through the experience of incarceration, which helped her create the characters in her books. Although Hirahara’s parents were not in the camp and did not live in Chicago, her work for the Rafu Shimpo provided valuable insight.

“I think one of the themes is going back to where you once lived, but things have changed,” she said. “The situation has changed, so you have to adapt, even if that one place was once your home. So it’s a story about people going through trauma and reclaiming the place they called home.”

“Evergreen” also explores the interactions between Japanese-Americans who returned to Little Tokyo and African-Americans who moved to the neighborhood when Japanese-Americans were imprisoned during the war. Hirahara hopes readers take a message of compassion from the novel, as it shows how these two groups, both of whom have experienced uprooting, can work together for the common good.

During the event at the Lamanda Park Branch Library, Hirahara will present a PowerPoint presentation showcasing the locations depicted in the book as well as visual photographs and engage in conversation with attendees. The presentation will be followed by a question-and-answer session where readers can delve deeper into the novel’s themes and Hirahara’s writing process.

Hirahara is currently working on her next project, “Crown City,” which is set in Pasadena in 1903 and explores the popularity of Japanese art among wealthy women at the time. The novel, part of the Japantown Mysteries series, tells the story from the perspective of a young carpenter who comes to Pasadena from Yokohama and is scheduled for release in summer 2025.

The “Evergreen” presentation is part of the Pasadena Public Library’s ongoing efforts to promote literary events and community engagement. The Lamanda Park Branch Library is located at 140 S. Altadena Drive, Pasadena.

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