This song is based on the powerful book – Barbed Wire Between Us – that follows two little girls held in the same detention camp (Fort Sill, Oklahoma) decades apart. Sadly, their story of family separation and illegal detention echoes recent news about places such as the ICE detention facility at Dilley and others, causing immeasurable trauma and both physical and emotional harm to those kept there.
How do you talk to your kids about topics so heavy and difficult? Books like Barbed Wire Between Us put these stories of wrongful incarceration into historical perspective, and songs and videos like this one make good conversation starters for the classroom or kitchen table family discussions.
The book, Barbed Wire Between Us is by Mia Wenjen, illustrated by Violeta Encarnación, and published by Red Comet Press.
Here are the lyrics for the song, written by Daria Marmaluk-Hajioannou
This land of promise was where we hoped
to find a place to belong
We worked hard, did things right
How could things go so wrong?
With barbed wire between us
Our stories are so much the same
We came with hope, committed no crimes
Locked away just the same
(CHORUS)
Again and again and again
we tell these stories
We say their names
So this will never happen again.
Never
Happen
Again
Inside the camps, like prisons
Little children found their way
without their parents, but with the kindness of strangers
Was how they made it through each day
Again and again and again
we tell these stories
We say their names
So this will never happen again.
Never
Happen
Again
In Fort Sill, Oklahoma, it’s a legacy of shame
where darkness is, light will shine again
Because no one deserves
to be treated this way
Again and again and again
we tell these stories
We say their names
So this will never happen again.
Never
Happen
Again
DARIA is an award-winning children’s performer and world music artist who creates uplifting music for kids, blending multicultural songs, movement activities, and global rhythms. For nearly four decades, her music has helped children learn about world cultures, diversity, kindness, and respect through joyful musical play.
Her children’s music for classrooms, homeschool, libraries, and early childhood programs is used around the world for MLK Day, Earth Day,social-emotional learning, and multicultural education.
p.s. Related posts:
Geography Game featuring WWII Internment Sites and Children’s Books
BARBED WIRE BETWEEN US is #1 New Release in Prejudice & Racism Children’s Books
BARBED WIRE BETWEEN US Makes Kirkus’ Spring 2026 Preview of Must-Read Children’s Books
BARBED WIRE BETWEEN US featured on Dr. Susannah Richards Books to Ignite and Delight Young Readers
Barbed Wire Between Us reviewed by Betsy Bird on School Library Journal
Barbed Wire Between Us gets Starred Review from Publishers Weekly!
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My books:
Amazon / Signed or Inscribed by Me
Barbed Wire Between Us by Mia Wenjen, illustrated by Violeta Encarnación
- ⭐ Starred review from Kirkus
- ⭐ Starred review from Publishers Weekly
- ⭐ Starred review from School Library Journal
- Kirkus: The Most Anticipated Children’s Books of Spring 2026
Amazon / Signed or Inscribed by Me
- California Eureka Non-Fiction Gold Award
- Junior Library Guild Gold Selection
- Notable Social Studies Trade Books for Young People Winner (from National Council for the Social Studies and Children’s Book Council)
The Traveling Taco:
- California Eureka Non-Fiction Silver Award
- Notable Social Studies Trade Books for Young People Winner (from National Council for the Social Studies and Children’s Book Council)
- Reading Rockets’ Summer Reading Guide 2025
Amazon / Signed or Inscribed by Me
Amazon / Signed or Inscribed by Me
We Sing from the Heart: How the Slants® Took Their Fight for Free Speech to the Supreme Court
- ALSC Notable Children’s Book
- 2025 Carter G. Woodson Book Award Middle Level Honoree
- Orbis Pictus Recommended Book for Outstanding Nonfiction for Children
- 2024 Julia Ward Howe Prize for Children’s Literature Winner
- California Eureka Non-Fiction Award Honor Book
- Notable Social Studies Trade Books for Young People Winner (from National Council for the Social Studies and Children’s Book Council)
- Bank Street Best Children’s Books of the Year 2025
- Recommended Reading for the Social Justice Literature Award 2025 (International Literacy Association)
- Pennsylvania Mountain Laurel Book Award Nominee 2026-27
- Junior Library Guild Gold Selection
Amazon / Signed or Inscribed by Me
Amazon / Barefoot Books / Signed or Inscribed by Me
Food for the Future: Sustainable Farms Around the World
- ⭐ Starred review from School Library Journal!
- Junior Library Guild Gold selection
- Massachusetts Book Award Long List
- dPICTUS 100 Outstanding Picture Books of 2023
- Chicago Library’s Best of the Best
- 2023 INDIES Book of the Year Awards Finalist
- Green Earth Book Award Long List
- Nautilus Silver Winner, Nonfiction Children’s Picture Book
- Sunshine State Young Readers Award Orange Blossom List for Nonfiction
- Imagination Soup’s 35 Best Nonfiction Books of 2023 for Kids
Amazon / Signed or Inscribed by Me
Bank Street College’s The Best Children’s Books of the Year
Amazon / Signed or Inscribed by Me
Amazon / Signed or Inscribed by Me
