The Taste of Rain

By Monique Polak

It is 1945, and thirteen-year-old Gwen has been a prisoner at the Weihsien Internment Camp in northern China for nearly two and a half years. Gwen is one of 140 children who were enrolled at a boarding school in Chefoo when the Japanese Imperial Army invaded China.

Life in the camp is difficult. There is not enough food or water, and even the children are forced to do hard labor. But Miss E., one of their teachers from Chefoo, has come up with an unusual scheme: she will follow the Girl Guide Code, treating Gwen and her friends as if they are part of a Girl Guide troop. Girl Guides promise not only to stay positive in the most challenging situations but also to do good turns, meaning they must be kind to others without any expectation of reward. Gwendolyn hopes that when she grows up, she will be as courageous and optimistic as Miss E.

But then Gwen learns that Miss E. is not as full of answers as she seems, and she realizes that in order to protect a friend, she will have to do something that could never be considered a good turn.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Orca Book Publishers
• Release date: Sep 3, 2019
• ISBN: 9781459820289

Monique Polak

Monique Polak is the author of more than thirty books for young people. She is the three-time winner of the Quebec Writers' Federation Prize for Children's and YA Literature for her novels Hate Mail, What World is Left and Room for One More. In addition to teaching at Marianopolis College in Montreal, Monique is a freelance journalist whose work has appeared in Maclean's Magazine, the Montreal Gazette and other Postmedia newspapers. She is also a columnist on ICI Radio-Canada's Plus on est de fous, plus on lit! In 2016, Monique was the CBC/Quebec Writers' Federation inaugural writer-in-residence. Monique lives in Montreal.

Book preview

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

ONE

Rise and shine, Girl Guides! Miss E. calls from the doorway. It’s time to get dressed and welcome another shiny new day. Even when she isn’t singing, Miss E.’s voice sounds like music.

Tilly, who is lying next to me, her shoulder bumping up against mine, covers her eyes. I am really not a morning person, she mutters. Then she turns onto her other side and fake snores.

Stop it, says Dot, Tilly’s neighbor on the other side, blocking her ears.

I nudge Tilly. Come on, I say. Miss E. is right. It’s time to welcome another shiny new day.

"Shiny new—argh! Tilly says to the ceiling. Something tells me it won’t be any better than yesterday or the day before. And I wouldn’t use the words shiny or new for either of those days."

Our uniforms are folded and ready at the bottom of our sleeping pallet. I toss Tilly hers, then grab mine. Though the cotton is worn thin, and the skirt has become too short for me, I can’t help smiling when I run my fingers over my newest badge: Artist. I think about the pencil sketch I drew of our boarding school back in Chefoo, and how much Miss E. liked it. Why, Gwen, she’d said, this sketch is so realistic it gives me shivers.

I told the boys’ teacher that I’d go next door and wake up the boys too, Miss E. calls. I’ll be back in five minutes for our morning prayer and song!

What about our pep talk? Jeanette asks. Jeanette is a morning person. Her uniform is already on. Even her pale blue scarf is tied nicely around her neck.

Yes, a girl named Cathy adds. Don’t forget about our pep talk. Cathy’s scarf is still on the pallet. She is up on her tiptoes, stretching her arms over her head.

Miss E. laughs and claps her hands. Not to worry, Girl Guides! Every shiny new day begins with a prayer, a song—and a pep talk!

I pull the blue tunic over my head and tie on my scarf, though I can never seem to do it as nicely as Jeanette does. Even Tilly is getting dressed now, and Cathy is tying on her scarf. We can hear Miss E. outside, crowing like a rooster. The boys answer with a chorus of groans and laughter.

By the time Miss E. is back, all twenty-eight of us girls have formed two neat lines in front of our wooden sleeping pallets. Because there’s so little room, we squeeze together as tightly as matches in a matchbox.

We are together when we sleep, but we spend most of our time in smaller groups. Tilly and Jeanette are my two closest friends. Then there’s Cathy and Dot, who always seem to be together, and Eunice and Margaret. We are all part of Miss E.’s Girl Guide troop at Chefoo.

Don’t you girls look dapper! Miss E. tells us. She presses her palms together over her heart, drops her head and launches into the Lord’s Prayer: "Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be Thy name…"

We’ve all said this prayer so many times the words come automatically. But I try to concentrate on what they mean. That’s what Miss E. wants us to do. It’s also what my parents would want. But I don’t concentrate on the prayer’s words for my parents. I do it for Miss E.

"Give us this day our daily bread..."

I should be thinking about the Lord, but instead I’m thinking about how much I’d like a slice of toasted white bread with butter and strawberry jam—and a steaming cup of Lipton tea with milk and six tablespoons of sugar.

When the prayer is done Miss E. announces she wants to teach us a new song. You’ll love it, Gwen, she says, singling me out, because it’s American. It’s about a boy who plays the bugle.

Miss E. curls her left fingers and brings them to her mouth, then stretches out her right arm like she is playing a bugle.

She lowers her pretend bugle and starts to sing. "He was a famous trumpet man from out Chicago way. He had a boogie style that no one else could play."

Miss E. taps one foot. She doesn’t need to ask us to join in. We are already playing our own pretend bugles and tapping our toes to the beat. What a fun song! And it’s patriotic too. No one—not even Tilly—can be in a bad mood when she sings this song.

"He was the top man at his craft. But then his number came up and he was gone with the draft."

It’s also easy to learn. My favorite part is when it goes "A-toot. A-toot. A-toot-diddelyada-toot."

Jeanette drops her pretend bugle. "What do you think diddelyada means?" she asks.

Tilly stops tapping. It doesn’t mean anything. It’s just a sound.

We do the song three more times with the arm gestures and foot tapping—and a lot of laughter.

When she smiles, Miss E.’s gray eyes shine and her dimples show. That was an excellent way to warm up our bodies, she says. Even better than a cup of tea. Now for that pep talk I promised.

We sit down cross-legged on the dirt floor, elbows in so there is room for all of us. Miss E. kneels down to face us. Her face glows. I don’t know if it’s from the singing or the exercise or because she loves being with her Girl Guides. All three probably.

Today, Miss E. begins, is a wonderful gift. It may not be sunny outside, but in here—she taps her chest where her heart is—it is always warm and sunny, never muggy. That makes us laugh. It’s May, and the weather in northern China is already unbearably muggy, making it even harder for us to fall asleep at night. It’s almost bad enough to make a person look forward to February, when it’s so cold our hands and feet get blisters.

We are together, Miss E. continues. And we are so grateful for that. Together we shall continue to make the most of this day and every day the Good Lord sees fit to give us. And today, like every day, as Girl Guides you must all find a way to do a good turn for someone—without any expectation of reward. How was that pep talk? There is laughter in Miss E.’s eyes.

We answer by applauding.

Well then, Miss E. says, let’s recite the Girl Guide Promise.

Even Tilly, who is looking more awake, joins in.

I promise, on my honor, to do my best:

To do my duty to God, the Queen, and my country,

To help other people at all times,

And to obey the Guide Law.

Just as we finish reciting the promise, a fat gray rat scurries across the dirt floor. Jeanette shrieks. Tilly groans. Dot and Cathy whimper. Several girls grimace. We should be used to the rats by now. Just like we should be used to the bedbugs and the lice. But the last thing we want is any more roommates.

For a split second even Miss E. looks alarmed, but then she bursts into laughter. Did you see that fellow’s whiskers? she asks. Why, he’s the spitting image of my uncle Edward. Minus the glasses, of course. Did I ever tell you about my uncle Edward? He was a chemist. He knew all about herbs.

A chemist who knew about herbs? I’d like to hear more about him, but Miss E. is already on to another topic. She has the kind of brain that jumps from topic to topic, then back again. Tilly gets annoyed by Miss E.’s way of thinking, but I love it. I have loved every single thing about Miss E. since my first day at the boarding school in Chefoo, where she was our head teacher and Girl Guide leader.

One of these days I’m going to show you girls how to trap a rat, Miss E. is saying. We’ll make it a game. You can compete with the other children from Chefoo. With 140 of you, we could have many teams. The team that traps the most rats on a given day shall win a prize.

A prize? we call out. What kind of prize is Miss E. thinking of?

Absolutely, Miss E. says. What’s a game without a prize?

When we hear footsteps outside our hut, Miss E. brings one finger to her lips and winks at us. Company’s coming, she whispers.

We stand up, shoulders back, eyes forward.

"Kiwotsuke," the Japanese soldier barks as he strides into our hut. Kiwotsuke is one of the first Japanese words we learned after the Japanese invaded China. It means at attention. The soldier’s right hand is on the shiny sword he wears at his side. He scans the hut, the pallets, all twenty-eight of us, before his eyes land for a brief moment on Miss E. Some of the Japanese soldiers are nicer than others. This one’s eyes are cold, and his face shows no feeling. He is not tall, and he has a thin black mustache.

Miss E. smiles, but her dimples don’t show. "Ohayo gozaimasu, she says, which means good morning" in Japanese. This time her voice doesn’t sound musical.

The Japanese soldier clicks the heels of his black knee-high boots together, then turns his back on us and leaves our hut. When he pushes on the door, I see a strip of gray sky and, in the distance, a watchtower. If I squint, I can see another soldier standing inside the tower, his rifle extended like a sword. Though the day is already steaming hot, I shiver.

Miss E. claps. "Ohayo gozaimasu," she says to all of us.

"Ohayo gozaimasu," we answer in one voice.

Your Japanese is getting awfully good, Guides, Miss E. says. Now how about joining me in another round of ‘Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy’?

TWO

We have been imprisoned at Weihsien for almost two and a half years.

On December 8, 1941—the day after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor—the Imperial Japanese Army took over our boarding school in Chefoo. They affixed Japanese seals to every single piece of furniture—even the chalkboards in our classrooms—and forced all of us students, and even our teachers, to wear red armbands. Mine has the letter A on it because I am American, though I have lived in China since I was three. Tilly, whose family comes from Britain, has a B on hers.

For a year we lived like prisoners in our school. Because our parents are missionaries working in inland China, they were too far away to help us. When the Japanese decided they needed our boarding school for military operations, we were taken by steamer and then by train to the Weihsien Civilian Assembly Center in northern China. Civilian assembly centers are what the Japanese call places like these. What they really are is prisons.

Miss E. once asked us to try imagining what Weihsien was like ages ago, when it was an American Presbyterian compound with pretty brick houses, a real school and hospital and lush green gardens. That took a lot of imagination. Even before it was turned into a prison, Weihsien was looted by Chinese bandits, then occupied by Japanese soldiers. None of them took very good care of the place.

Now the buildings are falling down, the gardens are overgrown, and the roads are strewn with rubble and leftover bits of broken furniture that will be used for firewood next winter. The school’s been turned into a dormitory, and the hospital has hardly any medicine. Worst of all, eighteen hundred prisoners have to share only twenty-three toilets, which seldom flush, since we get so little water. The only buildings that aren’t falling down are the ones where the Japanese soldiers live and work. Most of those are at the back of the camp, in an area we’re not allowed to enter.

I will never forget how, when we arrived at Weihsien in 1942, Miss E. pointed to the three Chinese characters inscribed over the gate at the main entrance. "Le Dao Yuan, she said, reading the characters to us. That means ‘Courtyard of the Happy Way.’ Isn’t that lovely? And we shall make every effort, Girl Guides, to be happy in this place. Won’t we, Girl Guides?"

Of course, we’d all agreed. Only back then we didn’t know how hard life at Weihsien would be, nor how long we’d be here.

It was Miss E.’s idea to pack our Girl Guide uniforms along with textbooks, games and art supplies. The other teachers went along with the plan, not only because Miss E. was head teacher, but also because she convinced them that if we followed the Girl Guide code, life in a prison would be easier to bear.

There is no white toast, strawberry jam, Lipton tea or sugar at Weihsien.

All we get for breakfast is a bowl of boiled broomcorn mush. Until we came here, I never knew that people ate broomcorn. Back in Chefoo, which is on the country’s eastern coast, the farmers fed broomcorn to their cows, chickens and ducks. The women made brooms from the broomcorn grass. Which explains the name broomcorn.

Broomcorn doesn’t taste very good, but when your stomach is so empty it feels hollow, and there’s nothing else for breakfast, broomcorn does the trick.

We line up to get our broomcorn in one of the camp kitchens—there are four of them—with plates and spoons we brought from Chefoo. Mine and Tilly’s aren’t exactly plates; they are small cast-iron frying pans. Another prisoner ladles out the broomcorn—a scant half ladle for each of us. She is so thin her cheekbones poke out of her face, and her lips, like all of ours, are dry and cracked from lack of water.

Some people get into arguments. Yesterday a man complained he didn’t get enough of the grainy mush. Another day, two grown-ups waiting in line

Reviews for The Taste of Rain

[janarose1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

At the Weihsien Internment Camp, 13 year old Gwendolyn and her fellow classmates are prisoners of the Japanese. Gwendolyn idolizes Miss E, one of their former teachers. In order to maintain hope, Miss E. has the former class follow the Girl Guide Code. The Code requires them to do good turns, act courageous, and maintain standards, all amidst the horrifying and terrible conditions of the camp. I thought this was an excellent middle school book. Gwendolyn was a likeable and relatable character. The book did not shy away from the horror of the camp, but rather tried to show the hope and despair of the children. Overall, well worth reading.

[lilibrarian · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

During World War II, Japan invaded China and placed enemy aliens, civilians who were living in China, into internment camps. This included adults and, in this book, children from a boarding school. The teacher taken with them worked hard to keep up their morale, and keep them functioning as a group. These children have been incarcerated for almost three years, starved and doing physical labor for the Japanese.

[nicholsm-1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I received a free advanced copy of this book from the LibraryThing Early Reviewers giveaway in exchange for an honest review. In the darkest moments, having hope and a positive attitude is sometimes the only thing that can help you survive. That’s the theme of this upper elementary/middle grade novel that tells a different WWII story than usual. We follow the fictionalized account of 13-year-old Gwen who narrates life for her and her classmates as prisoners of the Japanese at the Weihsien Civilian Assembly Center in China. The students have been living in the prison for several years after their boarding school was captured by the Japanese during their invasion of China during WWII. The girls have survived through the leadership of their teacher Miss E, who has them follow the Girl Guide Code (the British version of the Girl Scouts) and continue their lessons as best they can to maintain some sort of structure in such horrible conditions. Miss E is their rock and attempts to put a positive spin on everything to help keep the girls from falling apart mentally and emotionally. While this book is recommended for ages 9+ it still deals with some of the horrific things these children would have experienced in a prison camp. One student gets electrocuted from a loose wire on an electric fence, also a Japanese soldier who is caught helping the girls gets tortured and killed. The girls also have to kill a beloved pet pig for food. The author does a good job of presenting these traumatic events in an age appropriate way.

[brangwinn · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Children’s novels do a wonderful job in introducing readers to unknown events in history. Ms. Polak ws inspired by an NPR story about a woman who had been in a Japanese prison in China during World War II. Building on the NPR story, Polak has created a story told in first person by one of the young prisoners. Gwen, had been sent to a boarding school while her parents continued to do Christian missionary work in China. When the school was captured by the Japanese, they along with the teachers are sent to the Weihsien Internment Camp in northern China. There Miss E, one of the teachers, created a Girls Guide approach to surviving. Well-written, the story doesn’t shy from horrors such as the killing of a Japanese guard who sympathized with the captives. The story has been softened for younger readers, but readers will know the suffering and the strength of the school children and their teachers. The story ends with the liberation of the camp. For girls, in particular who are interesting in history, this is an excellent book to give them. (LibraryThing review copy)

[gypsysmom_1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Even though this is a book aimed at the young adult reader I really enjoyed it. What's more as it is based on real events it is a history lesson about World War Ii but in a theatre that we never hear much about i.e. China under Japanese occupation.Gwen is a thirteen-year-old daughter of American missionaries to China who was left by them at a school in Chefoo while they went about their missionary work. When the the Japanes attacked Pearl Harbour they also took over Chefoo school and after a year of imprisonment there all the children were sent to an internment camp in Weihsien. They stayed there for the rest of the war. Gwen tells the story of how the children survived due to their teachers' dedication. In particular Miss E. had them continue their Girl Guide practices and regular lessons and showed them by example to look for positives. But this is not a sugar-coated tale; bad things happen especially when the one Japanese soldier who had been kind to the girls was tortured and killed. I think this would be a great book for young adults to read and there was lot for this senior citizen to enjoy as well.

[tellen81 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I liked this book. It was an easy read. The topic that was addressed is disheartening but how the girls tried to make the best of everything was heartwarming.

[babs605 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I enjoyed this story, even though it is written for middle readers. It tells the story of a group of children held prisoner in China during WWII. I think I liked the story because it's about a subject that doesn't get much attention; usually the story is about prisoners of war in Europe.

[pammycats · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

The Taste of RainWritten By: Monique PolakI received a free ARC of this book in exchange for my honest opinion.The title is from a Jack Kerouac haiku“The tasteof rain-- Why kneel?”I did have to take some time to think on this poem. I’m not sure I’ve quite got my mind around it yet but to me it means that life is too wonderful to allow myself to be defeated. This book is based on real Girl Guides at the Weihsien concentration camp (run by the Japanese during WW II). Their leader - Miss E - guides them through the experience by following the Girl Guide philosophy - always be optimistic and do good without the promise of reward. This is a hard idea to follow but it is especially difficult in the camp. They face deprivation and hardship. These united girls find that this selfless bravery helps them face the cruelty of their world. Does this sound a little bit too good to be true? Well, the girls find this out too. It’s hard to be optimistic in the face of so much unfairness. The girls find that life is complicated. We all make mistakes but must keep trying to do our best. Making mistakes is how we discover who we really are and who we want to be.There are lots of real people scattered throughout the story. There is the Olympic medalist Liddell who really perished at the Weihsien camp. Major Staiger was really the leader of the group that liberated their camp. The main protagonist- Gwen - is based on real life survivor Mary Previte. She went on to do all sorts of amazing things including making it her mission to track down all the members of the rescue team and thank them. The joyous rescue scene retold at the end of this book is also recounted by Ms. Previte at weihsien-paintings.org/Mprevite (website listed at the end of the book). This website was amazing with all sorts of artifacts and articles from the people who were there. I loved the pictures there which just made my reading experience so much more emotional. Some more resources I found (not listed in the book resource section) were two podcasts - “Witness History” and “ Reply All”. The book does list the podcast, “This American Life”. Anyway, this real story has so many great resources out there for further reading.The ending of this book is perfect. The camp has been liberated. The girls are facing a very uncertain future. The camp experience was horrific but the girls had a family that they could rely on with each other and their teacher. The unknown - no matter how happy you are to face it - is daunting. The book does not provide a “happily ever after” ending but it does leave us feeling the uncertainty of the characters.Overall, I recommend this book for its delicately nuanced retelling of an amazing real story.

[standhenry · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Middle grade chapter book about a side of WWII camps not typically covered in literature. Told from perspective of 12 year old girl, story shows emotions and hopes of this age while lightly touching on the hunger, grief, horrifying tragedy that happened there. The Taste of Rain is based on a true story with actual characters that can be researched for further detail. I look forward to reading more novels by Monique Polak and I highly recommend this for 4th grade and higher.