Audiobooks narrated by Greg Watanabe

The Literature of Japanese American Incarceration

"'An indispensable, important anthology, edited with heart and sharp insight. This should be on the bookshelf of every American who loves the Constitution, and who is willing to fight to defend it.' -Rachel Maddow "An essential volume" -Hua Hsu, The New Yorker The collective voice of Japanese Americans defined by a specific moment in time: the four years of World War II during which the US government expelled resident aliens and its own citizens from their homes and imprisoned 125,000 of them in American concentration camps, based solely upon the race they shared with a wartime enemy. A Penguin Classic This anthology presents a new vision that recovers and reframes the literature produced by the people targeted by the actions of President Franklin D. Roosevelt and Congress to deny Americans of Japanese ancestry any individual hearings or other due process after the Japanese attack at Pearl Harbor. From nearly seventy selections of fiction, poetry, essays, memoirs, and letters emerges a shared story of the struggle to retain personal integrity in the face of increasing dehumanization - all anchored by the key government documents that incite the action. The selections favor the pointed over the poignant, and the unknown over the familiar, with several new translations among previously unseen works that have been long overlooked on the shelf, buried in the archives, or languished unread in the Japanese language. The writings are presented chronologically so that readers can trace the continuum of events as the incarcerees experienced it. The contributors span incarcerees, their children born in or soon after the camps, and their descendants who reflect on the long-term consequences of mass incarceration for themselves and the nation. Many of the voices are those of protest. Some are those of accommodation. All are authentic. Together they form an epic narrative with a singular vision of America's past, one with disturbing resonances with the American present."

Frank Abe (Author), Frank Abe, Greg Watanabe, Keone Young, Ren Hanami, Traci Kato-Kiriyama (Narrator)

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Innocent When You Dream

"80-something Dan Yamada has been rendered speechless after a stroke, and as he lies in bed, he vividly recalls his life, from his days in the World War 2-era internment camps, to serving in the US Army, to his one true love. At his bedside in the present, his adult children fight over his care and legacy, all while Dan tries to communicate his poignant final wish. Includes an interview with playwright Ken Narasaki. This play is sponsored by the California Civil Liberties Public Education Program, a state-funded grant project of the California State Library. Recorded at The Invisible Studios, West Hollywood, in January 2024. Directed by Anna Lyse Erikson Producing Director: Susan Albert Loewenberg An L.A. Theatre Works full cast recording, starring: Kurt Kanazawa as Frank Fujiyama John Miyasaki as Young Dan Yamada Suzy Nakamura as Joy Yamada-Hanke Ken Narasaki as Dr. Park Rosie Narasaki as Young Grace Hamamoto Sharon Omi as Adult Grace Hamamoto Sab Shimono as Dan Yamada Greg Watanabe as Merv Yamada Senior Producer: Anna Lyse Erikson Prepared for audio by Mark Holden Recorded and edited by Neil Wogenson Designed and mixed by Charles Carroll for The Invisible Studios, West Hollywood. Senior Radio Producer: Ronn Lipkin Foley Artist: Stacey Martinez "Blue Skies" performed by Kurt Kanazawa"

Ken Narasaki (Author), Greg Watanabe, John Miyasaki, Ken Narasaki, Kurt Kanazawa, Rosie Narasaki, Sab Shimono, Sharon Omi, Suzy Nakamura (Narrator)

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Waiting to be Arrested at Night: A Uyghur Poet's Memoir of China's Genocide

"Brought to you by Penguin. A Uyghur poet's piercing memoir of life under the most coercive surveillance regime in history *WINNER OF THE NATIONAL BOOK CRITICS CIRCLE'S JOHN LEONARD PRIZE FOR BEST FIRST BOOK* *WINNER OF THE CHRISTOPHER G. MOORE PRIZE FOR HUMAN RIGHTS WRITING 2024* As his friends disappeared one by one, it became clear to Tahir Hamut Izgil that fleeing his home in Xinjiang was his family’s only hope. In this unforgettable story of courage and survival, Tahir charts the Chinese government’s ongoing destruction of the Uyghur community and way of life in spare, gripping, finely tuned prose. Waiting to Be Arrested at Night is an urgent call for the world to awaken to a humanitarian catastrophe, and a moving tribute to those Uyghurs whose voices have been silenced. 'Essential reading' AI WEIWEI, author of 1000 Years of Joys and Sorrows 'Deserves to be read widely' FINANCIAL TIMES ©2023 Tahir Hamut Izgil (P)2023 Penguin Audio"

Tahir Hamut Izgil (Author), Greg Watanabe (Narrator)

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The Snail

"There once was a snail who lived in a shell, and inside his shell, the Snail created wonders. This is the story of Isamu Noguchi, a Japanese American artist who gave the world light. The world, however, was not always so giving in return. This groundbreaking paean to Noguchi’s creativity explores his emotional hardships through the US incarceration of Japanese Americans, the effects of personal isolation, and the power of art to heal those wounds."

Emily Hughes (Author), Greg Watanabe (Narrator)

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How High We Go in the Dark

"Bloomsbury presents How High We Go in the Dark by Sequoia Nagamatsu, read by Jason Culp, Stephanie Komure, Micky Shiloah, Joe Knezevich, Brianna Ishibashi, Kotaro Watanabe, Matthew Bridges, Kurt Kanazawa, Greg Watanabe, Jeanne Sakata, MacLeod Andrews, Keisuke Hoashi, Brian Nishii and Julia Whelan. SHORTLISTED FOR THE WATERSTONES DEBUT FICTION PRIZE 2022 FINALIST FOR THE BARNES & NOBLE DISCOVER PRIZE 2022 FINALIST FOR THE URSULA LE GUIN PRIZE FOR FICTION 2022 WATERSTONES AND ESQUIRE BEST BOOKS OF 2022 For fans of Cloud Atlas and Station Eleven, Sequoia Nagamatsu's debut is a wildly imaginative, genre-bending work spanning generations across the globe as humanity struggles to rebuild itself in the aftermath of a climate plague. ‘Haunting and luminous … An astonishing debut’ – Alan Moore, creator of Watchmen and V for Vendetta 'A powerfully moving and thought provoking read. At times sublime, strange and deeply human' Adrian Tchaikovsky, bestselling author of the Children of Time series Dr. Cliff Miyashiro arrives in the Arctic Circle to continue his recently deceased daughter’s research, only to discover a virus, newly unearthed from melting permafrost. The plague unleashed reshapes life on earth for generations. Yet even while struggling to counter this destructive force, humanity stubbornly persists in myriad moving and ever inventive ways. Among those adjusting to this new normal are an aspiring comedian, employed by a theme park designed for terminally ill children, who falls in love with a mother trying desperately to keep her son alive; a scientist who, having failed to save his own son from the plague, gets a second chance at fatherhood when one of his test subjects—a pig—develops human speech; a man who, after recovering from his own coma, plans a block party for his neighbours who have also woken up to find that they alone have survived their families; and a widowed painter and her teenaged granddaughter who must set off on cosmic quest to locate a new home planet. From funerary skyscrapers to hotels for the dead, How High We Go in the Dark follows a cast of intricately linked characters spanning hundreds of years as humanity endeavours to restore the delicate balance of the world. This is a story of unshakable hope that crosses literary lines to give us a world rebuilding itself through an endless capacity for love, resilience and reinvention. Wonderful and disquieting, dreamlike and all too possible. [How High We Go in the Dark] reaches far beyond our stars while its heart remains rooted to Earth, and reminds us that our wellbeing depends on the wellbeing of our world – Samantha Shannon, author of The Priory of the Orange Tree C 2022 HarperCollins Publishers"

Sequoia Nagamatsu (Author), Brian Nishii, Brianna Ishibashi, Greg Watanabe, Jason Culp, Jeanne Sakata, Joe Knezevich, Julia Whelan, Keisuke Hoashi, Kotaro Watanabe, Kurt Kanazawa, MacLeod Andrews, Matthew Bridges, Micky Shiloah, Stephanie Komure (Narrator)

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Secrets of Happiness

"Ethan, a young lawyer in New York, learns that his father has long kept a second family - a wife and two kids living in Queens. In the aftermath of this revelation, Ethan's mother spends a year travelling abroad, returning much changed, just as her now ex-husband falls ill. Across town, Ethan's half brothers are caught in their own complicated journeys: one brother's penchant for minor delinquency has escalated and the other must travel to Bangkok to bail him out, while the bargains their mother struck about love and money continue to shape all their lives. As Ethan finds himself caught in a love triangle of his own, the interwoven fates of these two households elegantly unfurl to touch many other figures, revealing secret currents of empathy and loyalty, the bounty of improvised families and the paradoxical ties that weave through life's rich contours. With a generous and humane spirit, Secrets of Happiness elucidates the ways people marshal the resources at hand in an effort to find joy. One of O: The Oprah Magazine's O Mag's Most Anticipated Books of 2021 One of Publishers Weekly's Top 10 picks for Spring 2021"

Joan Silber (Author), Amy Scanlon, Andrea Gallo, Daniel Henning, Graham Winton, Greg Watanabe, Mia Barron (Narrator)

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Vietgone

"Saigon has fallen, and two Vietnamese refugees meet in an Arkansas relocation camp before setting out on a rip-roaring road trip across America. Qui Nguyen tells the hilarious and only slightly not-true version of how his parents met and built a life for themselves in a new land. Recorded before a live audience at the UCLA James Bridges Theater in February 2020. Original Music by Shane Rettig Director: Tim Dang Producing Director: Susan Albert Loewenberg Will Dao as Nhan and Khue Desiree Mee Jung as Huong, Translator and Redneck Biker Greg Watanabe as Playwright, Bobby, Giai, Hippie Dude and Captain Chambers Paul Yen as Quang Jeena Yi as Tong, Thu, and American Girl Associate Artistic Director: Anna Lyse Erikson Recording Engineer and Sound Designer: Mark Holden.for The Invisible Studios, West Hollywood Senior Radio Producer: Ronn Lipkin Foley Artist: Jeff Gardner Production Manager: Erica R. Christensen Mixing Engineer: Charles Carroll Editor: Mitchell Lindskoog"

Qui Nguyen (Author), Desiree Mee Jung, Greg Watanabe, Jeena Yi, Paul Yen, Will Dao (Narrator)

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The Blossom and the Firefly

"From the award-winning author of Flygirl comes this powerful WWII romance between two Japanese teens caught in the cogs of an unwinnable war, perfect for fans of Salt to the Sea, Lovely War, and Code Name Verity. Japan 1945. Taro is a talented violinist and a kamikaze pilot in the days before his first and only mission. He believes he is ready to die for his country . . . until he meets Hana. Hana hasn't been the same since the day she was buried alive in a collapsed trench during a bomb raid. She wonders if it would have been better to have died that day . . . until she meets Taro. A song will bring them together. The war will tear them apart. Is it possible to live an entire lifetime in eight short days? Sherri L. Smith has been called 'an author with astonishing range' and 'a stellar storyteller' by E. Lockhart, the New York Times-bestselling author of We Were Liars, and 'a truly talented writer' by Jacqueline Woodson, the National Book Award-winning author of Brown Girl Dreaming. Here, with achingly beautiful prose, Smith weaves a tale of love in the face of death, of hope in the face of tragedy, set against a backdrop of the waning days of the Pacific War."

Sherri L. Smith (Author), Greg Watanabe, Traci Kato-Kiriyama (Narrator)

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Hold These Truths

"During WWII in Seattle, University of Washington student Gordon Hirabayashi fights the US government's orders to forcibly remove and incarcerate all people of Japanese ancestry on the West Coast. As he struggles to reconcile his country's betrayal with his passionate belief in the US Constitution, Gordon begins a 50-year journey toward a greater understanding of America's triumphs - and a confrontation with its failures. Includes an interview with playwright Jeanne Sakata. Hold These Truths is sponsored in part by the California Civil Liberties Program from the California State Library. Directed by Jessica Kubzansky Producing Director Susan Albert Loewenberg Starring Ryun Yu as Gordon Hirabayashi Additional voices by Matthew Floyd Miller, Suzy Nakamura, Matt Walker, and Greg Watanabe Associate Artistic Director: Anna Lyse Erikson. Sound Designer and Mixing Engineer: Mark Holden for The Invisible Studios, West Hollywood. Senior Radio Producer: Ronn Lipkin. Foley Artist: Jeff Gardner. Recording Engineer and Editor: Erick Cifuentes"

Jeanne Sakata (Author), Greg Watanabe, Matt Walker, Matthew Floyd Miller, Ryun Yu, Suzy Nakamura (Narrator)

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Sisters Matsumoto

"After the attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941, the US government sent thousands of Japanese American citizens to detention camps. In 1945, three Japanese-American sisters return to their farm in Stockton, California, after years in an internment camp, but the once prosperous family finds it's not easy to pick up the pieces of their former lives. As the details of their deceased father's final arrangements emerge, the sisters must work together to keep their dreams alive. This recording is sponsored in part by California Civil Liberties Program from the California State Library. Includes a conversation with actor George Takei, playwright Philip Kan Gotanda, and director Tim Dang. Directed by Tim Dang. An L.A. Theatre Works full cast performance featuring: Keiko Agena as Rose Matsumoto June Angela as Grace Matsumoto Ron Bottitta as Mr. Hersham Kurt Kanazawa as Henry Suzy Nakamura as Chiz Matsumoto Greg Watanabe as Bola Ryun Yu as Hideo Sound Effects Artist, Jeff Gardner. Script Supervisor, Daniel Trostler. Production Manager, Nikki Hyde. Music Supervisor, Ronn Lipkin. Associate Artistic Director, Anna Lyse Erikson, Editor, Mitchell Lindskoog. Recording Engineer, Sound Designer and Mixer, Mark Holden for The Invisible Studios, West Hollywood. Recorded in Los Angeles before a live audience at The James Bridges Theater, UCLA, in November of 2018."

Philip Kan Gotanda (Author), Greg Watanabe, June Angela, Keiko Agena, Kurt Kanazawa, Ron Bottitta, Ryun Yu, Suzy Nakamura (Narrator)

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A Gesture Life: A Novel

"The second novel from the critically acclaimed New York Times–bestselling author Chang-rae Lee. His remarkable debut novel was called 'rapturous' (The New York Times Book Review), 'revelatory' (Vogue), and 'wholly innovative' (Kirkus Reviews). It was the recipient of six major awards, including the prestigious Hemingway Foundation/PEN award. Now Chang-rae Lee has written a powerful and beautifully crafted second novel that leaves no doubt about the extraordinary depth and range of his talent. A Gesture Life is the story of a proper man, an upstanding citizen who has come to epitomize the decorous values of his New York suburban town. Courteous, honest, hardworking, and impenetrable, Franklin Hata, a Japanese man of Korean birth, is careful never to overstep his boundaries and to make his neighbors comfortable in his presence. Yet as his story unfolds, precipitated by the small events surrounding him, we see his life begin to unravel. Gradually we learn the mystery that has shaped the core of his being: his terrible, forbidden love for a young Korean Comfort Woman when he served as a medic in the Japanese army during World War II. In A Gesture Life, Chang-rae Lee leads us with dazzling control through a taut, suspenseful story about love, family, and community—and the secrets we harbor. As in Native Speaker, he writes of the ways outsiders conform in order to survive and the price they pay for doing so. It is a haunting, breathtaking display of talent by an acclaimed young author."

Chang-Rae Lee (Author), Greg Watanabe (Narrator)

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Click Here to Start (A Novel)

"Young fans of Ernie Cline's Ready Player One will love this classic video game inspired mystery filled with elements of Escape from Mr. Lemoncello's Library and From the Mixed Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler. What if playing video games was prepping you to solve an incredible real-world puzzle and locate a priceless treasure? Twelve-year-old Ted Gerson has spent most of his summer playing video games. So when his great-uncle dies and bequeaths him the all so-called treasure in his overstuffed junk shop of an apartment, Ted explores it like it's another level to beat. And to his shock, he finds that eccentric Great-Uncle Ted actually has set the place up like a real-life escape-the-room game! Using his specially honed skills, Ted sets off to win the greatest game he's ever played, with help from his friends Caleb and Isabel. Together they discover that Uncle Ted's "treasure" might be exactly that-real gold and jewels found by a Japanese American unit that served in World War II. With each puzzle Ted and his friends solve, they get closer to unraveling the mystery-but someone dangerous is hot on their heels, and he's not about to let them get away with the fortune. Praise for Click Here to Start: 'As addictive as your favorite video game. I couldn't put it down.'-Adam Gidwitz, New York Times bestselling author of A Tale Dark and Grimm 'Humor, believable characters, and adventure...keeps readers in suspense to the end. A winner for mystery enthusiasts.'-Kirkus Reviews 'In this clever debut, Markell takes readers on a clue-filled adventure...[and] maintains an energetic, entertaining balance of character-driven narrative and tricky challenges.'-Publishers Weekly 'Markell's highly entertaining debut novel...is a well-paced read with fully realized and likable characters,...[and] should have strong appeal to gamers, fans of video game-based stories, and reluctant readers.'-SLJ 'This book will appeal to a wide audience. Readers who enjoyed Schreiber's Game Over, Pete Watson will enjoy the video game component; fans of Fitzgerald's Under the Egg will enjoy reading more about the Monuments Men; detective story aficionados will revel in the inclusion of The Maltese Falcon story. This is a great book to hand to just about any middle grade reader.'-YA Books Central A School Library Guild selection An Amazon Best Books of the Month Selection"

Denis Markell (Author), Greg Watanabe (Narrator)

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Audiobooks Narrated by Greg Watanabe

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