Welcome to the land of danger and intrigue, where individuals are legion and non-conformity is the norm. Join me as I explore the many facets of humanity and meet the scum of the earth and its angels incarnate.

That said, on to the review!

During the days, weeks, and months before America's entry into World War II, a young sansei living in Honolulu enjoys the blissful days of childhood, going to school and doing his chores before joining with his friends to play baseball. For Tomikazu Nakaji, they are the last days of innocence as the onset of war transforms his formerly peaceful life into a world rife with fear, suspicion, and sadness.

A third generation Japanese American, Tomi knows English better than he knows Japanese. He has Portuguese, Hawaiian, and Caucasian friends. He knows himself to be American and is proud of it, enough so that when his grandfather decides to wash his Japanese flag, Tomi urges him to take it back in the house. He's not ashamed of his heritage, but his allegiance is to America. His grandfather scolds him for denying his ancestry, but Tomi isn't stupid: there's a war in Europe and a war in Asia, and the United States is trying to maintain its neutrality while berating Japan for attacking China. Tomi knows there are people suspicious of the Japanese immigrants, wondering whether their neighbors would be for America or for Japan should the United States enter the conflict.

Then it happens, turning Tomi's world--and that of all Americans of Japanese Ancestry--upside down. The Japanese bomb Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, sinking the U.S.S. Arizona and pulling America into World War II. Tomi's father is out fishing when martial law is declared. The Nakaji family spends anxious days wondering whether "Papa" is all right. He is, it turns out, but he's in prison on Sand Island, having been shot through the leg while returning to the island. It's of little consolation that he's alive while his companion is dead; Tomi and all his friends think the whole thing is stupid, but what can they do? Very little, and Tomi can do even less when his grandfather, too, is taken away by the FBI. He and his family must survive, however, and they do so. In the following days, weeks, and months, Tomi learns who his friends are, and it gives him strength to endure.

Graham Salisbury can write with some authority, because he was born and raised in Hawai'i. Under the Blood-Red Sun received the Scott O'Dell Award for Historical Fiction among others, quite a distinction for a second novel. His first novel is hardly less notable, having received many awards itself. Though both qualify as Young Adult novels, I just had to read and write about it. I'm a yonsei myself (fourth-generation Japanese), so this book held a particular interest for me. Salisbury may not be Nihonjin, but I think he's captured the emotional impact of the transition from being American to being Japanese-American.

Buy this book in hardcover or paperback or visit the Cosmic Tomes Bazaar for other titles.

Looking for something that's no longer there? Check in the Archive to search for it.

Comments? Suggestions? Just click here or on the link at the bottom of the page to send me e-mail.
Also, if this review prompted you to read the books, then let me know. I appreciate knowing I made a difference in somebody's life.

You are the th visitor to this page since August 10, 1998.

Back Home Back to Starfire Reviews

This page hosted by Get your own Free Home Page