Salisbury, Graham. Eyes of the Emperor.SALISBURY, Graham. Eyes of the Emperor. Random House, Wendy Lamb. 224p. c2005. 0-385-72971-5. $15.95. (Lib. bdg: 0-385-908741. $17.99.) JS* Eddy, a 16-year-old Japanese American Japanese Americans (日系アメリカ人 Nikkei Amerikajin boy living in Honolulu in 1941, lies about his age and enlists in the army. His father is initially furious, but when the Japanese bomb Pearl Harbor Pearl Harbor, land-locked harbor, on the southern coast of Oahu island, Hawaii, W of Honolulu; one of the largest and best natural harbors in the E Pacific Ocean. In the vicinity are many U.S. military installations, including the chief U.S. , he is horrified hor·ri·fy tr.v. hor·ri·fied, hor·ri·fy·ing, hor·ri·fies 1. To cause to feel horror. See Synonyms at dismay. 2. To cause unpleasant surprise to; shock. , and he tells his son, "Fight for your country ... You come back dead before you shame us." Eddy is no stranger to anti-Japanese prejudice: fie encounters it again in boot camp Software from Apple that enables an Intel x86-based Macintosh to host the Windows XP operating system. Boot Camp is used to divide the hard disk into Windows and Mac partitions, to install the necessary drivers and to create a dual boot environment. , and then he and his Japanese American friends are stationed in an internment internment, in international law, detention of the nationals or property of an enemy or a belligerent. A belligerent will intern enemy merchant ships or take them as prize, and a neutral should intern both belligerent ships that fail to leave its ports within a center, but he refuses to be crushed by his experiences. Still, the worst is yet to come: Eddy is chosen as one of 26 Japanese American GIs to go to Cat Island, MI to serve as "bait" for training attack dogs, because President Roosevelt "believed we might smell different from white guys." The experience will test Eddy's courage and his patriotism. An author's note at the end explains that this novel is based on real events. As with Salisbury's award-winning Under the Blood-Red Sun, it has a unique and valuable perspective on WW II, and it provides an interesting contrast to Mazer's tale, Heroes Don't Run, reviewed above. The shameful way Japanese American soldiers were treated will be eye-opening to most readers, and the scenes on Cat Island are dramatic and horrifying. Related by Eddy in straightforward, realistic prose, this is a riveting riv·et·ing adj. Wholly absorbing or engrossing one's attention; fascinating: The last chapter was so riveting that I was reading past midnight. read; and the cover, featuring an attacking plane and Japanese eyes, will help draw YAs to this fine novel. Paula Rohrlick, KLIATT J--Recommended for junior high school students. The contents are of particular interest to young adolescents and their teachers. S--Recommended for senior high school students. *--The asterisk highlights exceptional books. |
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