Under the Blood-Red Sun

By Graham Salisbury

5 Stars

Historical Fiction

Teen to Adult

This is a book from my own personal library. It came as one of the books I got with a children's literature course I was following. It ranks amoung my favourites.

Tomi Nakaji is the hero of our story. He's a young Japanese-American boy growing up in Hawaii at the time of Pearl Harbour. His father is a poor fisherman. He lives with his mother, younger sister Kimi and grandfather on the property of one of the richer white residents who employ his mom as a maid. His friends are a mixed bag of youngsters who love baseball and play together as the Rats. The characters of the book are all richly portrayed.

Tomi's world explodes with the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbour. His father and grandfather are arrested and interned. His mom is temporarily unemployed. They struggle together. Tomi's friends the Rats are loyal. I won't go into a great deal of detail but I cannot understand anyone not enjoying this book and being moved by the story.

This book comes highly recommended. You'll love the characters and how they deal with the issues. It will also teach a little bit of American history at the same time.