From left: Naomi Hirahara, Uma Krishnaswami and Cynthia Kadohata discussed children’s literature. Photo by J.K. Yamamoto

DENVER —”Whose America? Who’s American? Diversity, Civil Liberties and Social Justice,” a conference held in Denver by the Japanese American National Museum from July 3 to 6, featured several authors of books about Japanese Americans.

From the Bay Area, Tsukasa Matsueda discussed his book “Issei: The Shadow Generation,” which looks at cultural traits that the Issei passed on to the Nisei, such as the concept of “gaman” (to endure).

Cynthia Kadohata, a Newbery Medal winner for “Kira-Kira,” and Uma Krishnaswami, author of “Naming Maya” and other books for children, discussed how to integrate culturally specific stories into mainstream publishing. The moderator was mystery author Naomi Hirahara, who has just published her first book for young readers, “1001 Cranes.”