Events › Meet Sharon Fujimoto-Johnson, Author of Shell Song

Join author-illustrator Sharon Fujimoto-Johnson for a live reading of her book, Shell Song. When Sharon was a young girl, she inherited the shells that her grandfather had collected in Japanese American incarceration camps in Hawai'i during World War II. Those shells carried his story across generations to her. Based on Sharon's own family history, Shell Song is the first picture book about Japanese American incarceration in Hawai‘i during World War II. It is a moving tribute to the importance of finding and collecting pieces of hope, big or small, even in the darkest of times. Sharon's presentation will include a brief introduction to the historical context for the Japanese American incarceration, her family history, and a behind-the-scenes look at her creation process that included digitally collaging into the artwork her grandfather's shells, soil from the incarceration camps, her grandmother's wedding kimono, and other family artifacts and fabrics. View the actual shell collection that Sharon is bringing for display and participate in a rubber stamping craft to remember someone special to you.

Sharon Fujimoto-Johnson is a children’s book author-illustrator and fourth-generation Japanese American who grew up in both America and Japan. She now lives in California in a house filled with three generations of family, two languages, and countless books and art supplies. Her books include THE MOCHI MAKERS (Simon & Schuster/Beach Lane Books, 2024), a gentle and joyous “storytelling treat” (Kirkus Reviews, starred review) and SHELL SONG (Simon & Schuster/Beach Lane Books, 2025), inspired by the seashells her grandfather collected in a Japanese American incarceration camp in Hawai’i during World War II.

If this program sparks your curiosity, check out the rest of the One Book, One Coast series and deepen your engagement by reading They Called Us Enemy—a powerful story bringing Japanese American history to life through the deeply personal narrative at the heart of the series. Check it out in print or starting April 1, when unlimited digital copies of They Called Us Enemy will be available on both the Libby app and Hoopla platforms for San Mateo County Libraries cardholders—no holds or wait times required.

Explore more books and films about the Japanese American history that inspired this event in our One Book, One Coast staff list.