Under the Blood Red Sun

 

(Picture from Goodreads.com)

1.       Bibliography
Salisbury, Graham. 2005. UNDER THE BLOOD-RED SUN. Audible- Audiobook Unabridged. Narrated by Greg Watanabe. Listening Library.

2.       Plot Summary
Salisbury’s intriguing historical fiction story centers around a thirteen-year-old boy, Tomizu, who is the American-born son of Japanese immigrants. He goes to school, helps the family, and plays baseball. Everything changes when the Japanese attack Pearl Harbor in 1941. After the attack, his father is arrested and suddenly everyone is suspicious of Tomizu and his family. He struggles to be the man of the household while figuring out the true meaning of friendship and loyalty.

3.       Critical Analysis

Salisbury’s historical fiction novel is very accurate in accounts of the time. Through his research the reader gets the view of the regular citizen, not just soldiers which is typically found. Through the eyes of a young boy, a new light is shown on the Japanese and American-Japanese citizens. The arrests and deportation of family members was detrimental to families and frightening to children.

 

The theme of relying on friendship is strong throughout the novel as Tomi has neighbors and friends of all races who stick by his side through his struggles. The characters and vivid and well described to build the united feeling the characters exude.

 

While listening to the audiobook, the reader can hear accents and pronunciation of words they may not know. A feeling of foreboding and love can be heard in the dialogue between characters. The audio is well performed and clear.

4.       Awards/Reviews
*Winner of the Scott O’Dell Award for Historical Fiction
*An ALA Best Book for Young Adults
*A Booklist Children’s Editor’s Choice

From Publishers Weekly

Salisbury (Blue Skin of the Sea) again invokes a Hawaiian setting for this novel, which chronicles the trials of a Japanese American boy and his immigrant family in 1941. Tomi's fisherman father and housekeeper mother work hard to support Tomi, his younger sister and grandfather in their cramped servants' house. While he embraces everything about being American, including a passion for baseball, Tomi struggles to find some middle ground between his modern life and the nationalism and traditional values his parents and Grandpa try to impart. But as WWII intensifies and Pearl Harbor is bombed, Tomi's family faces racism, violence and hardship at every turn. Tomi's father and grandfather are taken away and incarcerated, leaving Tomi to worry if he can perform honorably as man of the house. Salisbury skillfully describes Tomi's emotional highs and lows, and has a particular knack for realistically portraying the camaraderie and dialogue between boyhood chums. The slow-evolving plot drags in a few spots (especially the play-by-play descriptions of baseball games), but readers are rewarded with steadily building dramatic tension in the novel's second half and a satisfyingly open-ended finale. Ages 10-up.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From School Library Journal

Grade 5-8-September, 1941 is a time of increasing confusion for Tomi Nakaji, 13, who lives on the island of Oahu. As if his gruff, stroke-slowed grandfather, who insists on waving his Japanese flag around the yard, isn't enough, he has to contend with Keet Wilson, the bully next door. From a treetop, Tomi and his haole (white) best friend, Billy, witness in disbelief the bombing of Pearl Harbor. Tomi finds the horrors personalized as his father, a poor fisherman, and later his grandfather are arrested and his father's fishing partner is killed. Tomi assumes responsibility for the family honor and katama, or samurai sword. Racial/ethnic tension is subtly portrayed throughout the novel, but escalates following the Japanese attack- Tomi's mother loses her job as a housekeeper and Billy "disappears" for awhile, though he returns as a loyal and helpful friend. Tomi faces his fears and becomes assertive enough to stand up to Keet without besmirching his family's honor and risks his life to see his imprisoned father. Character development of major figures is good, the setting is warmly realized, and the pace of the story moves gently though inexorably forward. While it may be a bit more aimed than pitched, the ending leaves readers confident that the Nakajis will survive.
Joel Shoemaker, Southeast Jr. High School, Iowa City, IA
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.

 

5.       Connections

*This would be a good book for students interested in WWII, particularly the attack on Pearl Harbor

*This would be a good book to teach about xenophobia and the fear of Japanese American’s and the consequences of the fear.