<Tr> <Th> ISBN </Th> <Td> 0 - 345 - 50533 - 6 </Td> </Tr> <P> Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet is historical fiction . It is a bestselling novel (2009) by Jamie Ford about the love and friendship between Henry Lee, a Chinese - American boy, and Keiko Okabe, a Japanese American girl, during the internment in World War II . </P> <P> Henry meets a girl named Keiko . Soon, Henry and Keiko bond . The two become very close friends, even though both are bullied due to race . Henry feels a sense of filial piety to his parents . Although kind, Henry sneaks out one night and Keiko gives him her family pictures . Henry must protect these before they are taken . He then travels with the lunch lady to work at Camp Harmony where he sees her . He follows her with his friend, a local jazz musician named Sheldon, to Minidoka, Idaho . Upon finding her there, he promises to wait for her . They decide to write each other letters until the war is over, and Henry returns to Seattle . </P> <P> He religiously mails Keiko letters but receives very few in return . His father is intent on sending Henry to China, now that the Japanese are being pushed back, to finish his education traditionally . Henry arrives home one day to find a ticket to China in his name . He agrees to go on the condition that his father (as part of an association of elders) saves the Panama Hotel from being sold . The Panama Hotel is where Keiko's family stored the larger part of their belongings when they were shipped to the internment camps . Many other families also stored their possessions in the basement of the The Panama Hotel, which later became a National Historic Landmark and National Treasure . </P>

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