Civil War Ii

Prisons and Patriots provides a detailed account of 41 Nisei (second-generation Japanese Americans), known as the Tucsonians, who were imprisoned for resisting the draft during WWII. Cherstin Lyon parallels their courage as resisters with that of civil rights hero Gordon Hirabayashi, well known for his legal battle against curfew and internment, who also resisted the draft. These dual stories highlight the intrinsic relationship between the rights and the obligations of citizenship, particularly salient in times of war.

The Civil War ended, but the turmoil of D’Arcy Curran’s life did not. Rather than give up the child she raised from birth, 16-year-old D’Arcy kidnaps her sister Suzanne’s son. The only safe place for her and little Danny is home…Manhattan, Kansas. Once there, D’Arcy learns that danger comes in many forms, and some of them are too close for comfort. Her father is murdered by marauding Jayhawkers. Her mother is lost in grief. D’Arcy faces the disapproval of many when she wears trousers, carries a gun, and takes over the responsibility for the farm.