Welcome to “Chatting One Book,” week seven! Just two weeks are left of One Book, One Philadelphia, and we’d love for you to share on Facebook or Twitter (or in the comments below) what your favorite One Book program has been this season.

This week, we’re discussing “Last Day,” the section that describes the women’s experiences as they are forced to leave home and are deported to internment camps after the outbreak of World War II. Something that immediately stood out to me was that, unlike other sections of the book, this one was written as one long paragraph, rather than several shorter ones. Why do you think Julie Otsuka chose to structure the section in this manner? I found the experience of reading “Last Day” to be a little intense and overwhelming, with no breaks in the text and no chance to catch my breath or pause and think. In a way, I think the experience of reading such a large block of text mirrors for the reader how the experience of deportation might have felt for the women—overwhelming.

What did you take away from “Last Day”? Share your thoughts in the comments!