Publisher Description
Tomi was born in Hawaii. His grandfather and parents were born in Japan, and came to America to escape poverty. World War II seems far away from Tomi and his friends, who are too busy playing ball on their eighth-grade team, the Rats. But then Pearl Harbor is attacked by the Japanese, and the United States declares war on Japan. Japanese men are rounded up, and Tomi’s father and grandfather are arrested. It’s a terrifying time to be Japanese in America. But one thing doesn’t change: the loyalty of Tomi’s buddies, the Rats.
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“The author subtly reveals the natural suspicions of the Americans and
the equally natural bewilderment of the Japanese immigrants when they
suddenly become the personification of the enemy. It is a tribute to the
writer’s craft that, though there are no easy answers in the story,
there is empathy for both cultures…[An] impressive view of
the Japanese American experience during the war.”
—
Booklist
About Graham Salisbury
Graham Salisbury
comes from a hundred-year line of newspapermen, all associated with Hawaii’s
morning paper, the Honolulu Advertiser (now the Honolulu Star Advertiser).
Although a career as a newsman could have been possible, Salisbury chose to
imagine rather than report. His books, including Blue Skin of the Sea, Under the Blood-Red Sun, House of the Red Fish,
Eyes of the Emperor, Shark Bait, Jungle Dogs, Lord of the Deep, Island Boyz,
Night of the Howling Dogs, and the popular Calvin Coconut series have been
celebrated widely with praise and distinguished awards. Graham grew up on the
islands of Oahu and Hawaii. Later, he graduated from California State
University, Northridge, and received an MFA degree from Vermont College of Fine
Arts. He once surfed with a shark, got
stung by a Portuguese man-of-war (several times!), and swam for his life from a
moray eel. Believe it or not, he didn’t wear shoes until the sixth grade and
didn’t see snow until he was nineteen. He now lives with his family in
Portland, Oregon.