The Reunion

"You're supposed to be my friend, Jas," Mitsu said matter-of-factly, but there was hurt in her voice. "If you're not going to act like one, I want my bracelet back." "Fine " I said. With one sudden movement, I tore the bracelet off my wrist. Too late, I remembered the clasp. The bracelet caught for a moment on the width of my hand, then gave. The red beads flew from the broken string, bouncing with tiny plops over the boardwalk and off into the mud. Mitsu burst into tears, turned and ran. "Mitsu " I called. The shock of my own action had stopped the flow of anger with a sudden, sickening bump. "I'm sorry " I called after her. But Mitsu was gone. Shannon is excited about spending a week at her friend Rina's house, but she's a little nervous too. Rina seems to be able to do everything better than she can and her home is chaotic compared to Shannon's own. When things fall apart, Rina's grandmother is there to tell them a story from her past, early in the Second World War. The story is about a rift between her and her childhood friend, Mitsu, a rift that could never be healed because Mitsu and her family were taken away from the small town of Paldi and interned with other Japanese Canadians. Rina's grandmother, Jas, never saw Mitsu again. That is, not until Shannon and Rina find a handful of forgotten beads in the bottom of a cardboard box. Jacqueline Pearce grew up in Duncan on Vancouver Island. At a summer job, she learned about the small logging town of Paldi, inhabited by people of East Indian and Japanese descent. When an old photograph led her to learn that her friend's mother had grown up in Paldi, the story for The Reunion began to take shape. Jacqueline has always been interested in local history and people's stories. She lives in New Westminster with her husband, her daughter, a big dog and two half-wild indoor cats. The Reunion is her first book.