Chapter 1: The main character (Megumi Naomi Nakane) is walking with her Uncle in an area 7 miles from a village called Granton. The two of them come here together once a year. Now however, he is old and has to rest to avoid falling. Naomi describes the land, the rippling grass resembling an ocean.
Chapter 2: The date is September 13, 1972. Nakane shows herself in this chapter as a teacher, somewhat insecure with herself. She sinks deeper in her self-pity, when her fifth and sixth grade students call her spinster and old maid. Then to further her descent into sorrow, she receives a call telling her that her beloved Uncle has died. She then drives to her aunts house to grieve.
Chapter 3: Naomi arrives at her aunt Obasan's house. The hard bread seems to one common bond that they all can share.
Chapter 4: In ch. 4, the main character, Naomi, id describing both sides of her family; the Nakanes and the Katos. She depicted them using the photograph as a visual, characterizing each accordingly. Aunt Obasan's first child was a stillbirth. Her second was born dead as well, and they had no more children after that.
Chapter 5: Obasan wakes Naomi late at night and brings her to the attic searching for something although Naomi is unaware of what it may be. It seems to relate to the forgotten dead, as Obasan says �Everybody someday dies.�
Chapter 6: This chapter is completely a dream while Naomi Nakane is sleeping. Her dream is of a man and a woman clearing brush and trees. The lady then turns into her aunt and the man appeared as her uncle. When she awakes, Naomi finds the package her aunt Obasan was searching for.
Chapter 7: The contents of the package are a scrapbook of newspaper clippings, a manila envelope, a folder and a hardcover journal scribed in aunt Emily�s writing. The package seems to be aunt Emily�s record of the war. A written reminder of the suffering, pain, and silence that had been forced upon the Japanese Canadians throughout W.W.II.
Chapter 8: In ch.8, Naomi is going through a parcel that Obason remembered she had in the attic. Aunt Emily's letters to various places, her diary, and some Japanese writing paper. When Obason reads it, she won't tell Naomi what they mean, but instead directs her to a photograph of Naomi and her mother when she was about 2 or 3.
Chapter 9: With the package comes flashbacks. Naomi, taking a bath with her grandmother when her older brother, Stephen, was not brave enough. Sitting with her family while her mother sings and plays the piano.
Chapter 10: As a child, Naomi wanted to hear the same story over and over again. A story about a great peach picked by a boy. The story is Canadian, and maybe this is why she likes it. It is also revealed that as a child, Naomi never cried or misbehaved.
Chapter 11: This chapter deals with an old man named Mr. Gower. He seems very close around Naomi, too close, even to her at age 4. She described and instance when her took her away and into the bathroom to �fix� her knee when it wasn�t hurt. There are others, she says, who have treated Naomi in this way but she has felt too shy to speak out. It is the only secret she had kept from her mother and this causes more guilt.
Chapter 12: In ch. 12 her mother leaves for Japan. Naomi saves rolls of streamers for when her mother returns. She has no doubt that she will return shortly. She imagines doing all of the fun and special things, she has done with her family in her lifetime, again. She understands that something is wrong when Mr. Gower visits her father during the blackout, but she still cannot comprehend like Stephan.
Chapter 13: Naomi�s mother leaves for Japan to take care of Naomi�s Great Grandmother. Something seems wrong in the family that she is too young to understand, but it seems to be related to the war.
Chapter 14: Naomi recalls in her past how her grand parents had been taken away, then how various members of her family were also removed. She reads the diary of letters from Nessan. These letters provide a first-hand look at what was done to the Nisei by the government. First, they took many people to the camps, then as time went on, they forced them either to leave or to stay in the horrible camps. There was also the pool where they sent those who wouldn�t submit. Emily and her family were moving to the Ghost-Town but Aya Obasan wouldn�t go and leave Naomi and Stephen alone.
Chapter 15: Naomi�s on a train with Stephen and Obasan. They�re leaving the camp. Naomi seems excited about the trip. She seems to express herself through her baby doll.
Chapter 16: In ch. 16, they accept what they are going through, although they certainly do not agree. They have no choice, and they are a people of pride so they make the best of it by helping others. Though they feel helpless not knowing where they are going or for that matter, why. They are strong and they show their strength in their silence.
Chapter 17: Obasan left to go to the market. Nomura-Obasan (who�s too weak to stand) has to use the bed pan, but since Naomi can�t find it, she assists her aunt to the outhouse. Naomi�s doll is gone.
Chapter 18: Naomi�s grandmother Nakane has died and Obasan tells Naomi she�s gone to heaven. Her grandmother is cremated and Naomi wonders why everyone�s so sad if her grandmother is in a better place.
Chapter 19: Naomi�s uncle has returned to them. It brings a lively spirit to the family. However, Naomi doesn�t know where her father is and no one will tell her.
Chapter 20: Stephan and Naomi start going to a school two miles walk from their housing. Uncle and Obason have put a lot of work into brightening up the interior and exterior of the house including shelves, curtains, wallpaper, a rock garden, chickens, and a chicken coup.
Chapter 21: Naomi�s at the lake with Kenji. She meets Rough Lock Bill, but doesn�t like him. Her and Kenji take a rafting ride but the pole breaks and he falls overboard and runs away! Naomi, who can�t swim, jumps into the water and is rescued by Bill.
Chapter 22: When Naomi gets out of the hospital, she is faced with the constant torment of white children on her way to school. One day, she comes upon some Japanese children tormenting and killing a chicken. She now has certain places that she avoids.
Chapter 23: Nomura-Obasan has moved to her daughter�s house. Naomi and Obasan see her at the public baths. Naomi�s friends can�t play with her because of her race. Their parents have separated them from her.
Chapter 24: In ch. 24, they received word that they had won the war. Also their father returns home. Naomi feels like everything is cured and safe now that he is home. Stephan and father play music together, for the first time in a long while.
Chapter 25: Naomi�s family and her are moving to a camp due to their racial background. Her mother�s �Silver Threads among the Gold� is broken.
Chapter 26: Naomi still hasn�t been told where they�re going. As she boards the train, she wonders where her friends and father are.
Chapter 27: In this chapter, there is a quote that seems to describe their lives: �Keep your eyes down. When you are in the city, do not look into anyone�s face. That way they may not see you. That way you offend less.� The war is having a horrible effect on the Japanese Canadians. People are denying their heritage, changing their names to pass for Chinese.
Chapter 28: Naomi, Stephan, Obason, and Uncle are being taken away again. This time in the back of a truck with their luggage. They pass miles of desolate, deserted farmland bordered by barbed wire fencing. Finally, they reach a deserted farmhouse. Their new home is a one room tool shed.
Chapter 29: Their new farm suffers from extreme weather and depression. Naomi seems to feel Emily doesn�t understand what they went through. She is too concentrated on revenge, on the hard facts, than with the suffering they had undergone.
Chapter 30: Their work in the fields continues. Naomi receives word that her father�s illness is worsening. Her and Stephen face harsh jokes about being Japanese. Stephen makes a name for himself by playing in a talent show. Naomi finds herself hard-pressed to keep up with her brother.
Chapter 31: During one spring evening when she's sitting by the swamp. When her brother comes to get her and they return home, Nakayama-sensei is at the table reading a Japanese Bible. She keeps a frog that she has found nd begins nursing it back to health. There is a void in her life where her father should have been, but her last leter to him remained unanswered.
Chapter 32: In ch. 32, they find out that their father has passed away. Both Naomi and Stephan are in high school. Stephan is very involved with his music. They all move into a new house on the same farm. This house is a bunch bigger. They cannot figure out where their mother or grandmother is. Aunt Emily has wriiten several letters to various organizations, but the responses haven't led to anything. They all are begging to wonder if they haven't both passed away.
Chapter 33: Stephen has been traveling a lot because of his music and piano skills. Aunt Emily comes to visit. Naomi hears them (the adults) whispering late at night. Emily crying, and Obasan praying. About what she doesn�t know.
Chapter 34: Naomi�s uncle is dead. Stephen leaves and doesn�t visit often, if at all. Her family is visited by Mr. Barker; the man whose land they�ve worked on for many years. He has come to check up on Obasan, to see if she could make it on her own.
Chapter 35: Naomi and Obasan are sitting at home awaiting Aunt Emily and Stephen�s arrival. It seems everyone who�s ever had an effect on Naomi, good or bad, has deserted her with time.
Chapter 36: Nakayama-Sensei agains visits their house for prayer. Something awful has happened, but she doesn't yet know. It seems as though a letter has been written to them by their mother, and that someone she knows has died, for Obasan keeps repeating "Everyone someday dies."
Chapter 37: Naomi learns of what the adults had been talking of that evening. It was a letter written by grandma Kato telling of a bombing which had struck her town. It wiped out buildings, families, etc. However, grandma Kato had managed to survive along with Naomi�s mother. Yet, by the time Naomi learns of the bombing, her mother has died.
Chapter 38: Finally Naomi finds out that her mother is dead, although no one knows exactly when. Obason and Uncle will not answer her questions, but instead direct her to pictures. Naomi's empty questions are filled with haunting dreams.As Naomi prays to her mother, she resolves some of the anger and unknowing that saw her through childhood.
Chapter 39: Naomi still has a lot of grief and self-pity, but it is well-earned. As Obasan kneels at her bed praying, Naomi grabs a coat and slips out the door to visit the coulee, the one place which reminds her of her uncle.
