Weedflower (Chapters 1-8 SUMMARY)

A twelve-year old Japanese-American girl named Sumiko lives in America and attends an American school, during the period of World War II. The story begins with Sumiko being invited to a party of a "hakujin", or simply, a "white person" named Marsha Melrose. 

      After lots of preparation and excitement to attend the party, Sumiko arrives at Marsha's house; a large, posh, and evidently wealthy home. However, Marsha's mother forces Sumiko out of the house due to Sumiko being Japanese. 

      Sumiko feels ashamed and lonely while she waits for her grandfather, Jiichan, to pick her up. She decides not to tell her family about the incident, and begins to make up lies, such as how she sung in front of everyone in the party and they applauded her. 

      Soon after the day of the party, her family is given news by a fellow Japanese friend in the community, that the United States had declared war on Japan. In the novel Sumiko says, "The declaration was a different kind of shock from the Pearl Harbor attack. Pearl Harbor was like a big noise, and the declaration of war was like a big silence." Sumiko's Auntie and Uncle do not allow her to attend school, and force her to burn anything Japanese-related, including her only photo of her real parents, into a fire.