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 ... read full description
World War II seems far away ... read full description
reviews
Mar 13, 2009
Henggao
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Under the Blood Red Sun was a simple story about a boy named Tomi living in Hawaii before, during , and after World War 2. Tomi plays baseball with his friends and sees many changes in the island because of the Japanese bombers and the attacks caused tension growing between Japan and America. First, his grandfather waves a japanese flag during the Pearl Harbor attack, next his father is injured and is incarcerated, and his grandfather is arrested by the FBI.
Jul 07, 2011
Heather
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This was a great book to read around the 4th of July. It was a good reminder of all of the Americans who have sacrificed for our country. Soldiers and families of soldiers everywhere-thank you.
It also reminded me that terrible things happen in the face of war. Whether carried out by an invading army, or by our own police, or by our own neighbors-wrong is still wrong.
Tomi is a Japanese American boy who lives on Oahu in 1941. He plays baseball with his friend Billy, helps More...
It also reminded me that terrible things happen in the face of war. Whether carried out by an invading army, or by our own police, or by our own neighbors-wrong is still wrong.
Tomi is a Japanese American boy who lives on Oahu in 1941. He plays baseball with his friend Billy, helps More...
Oct 17, 2011
Alcina
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I got this book for Blue but read it first. It's the story of a Hawaiian boy of 13 whose father is interred in the Japanese American camps after Pearl Harbor. His father is a fisherman - Fishermen of Japanese descent in Hawaii were accused of taking fuel out to Japanese fighters. Graham Salisbury won a Scott O'Dell award for this piece of historical fiction and I think it is a great way for a young person to be introduced to the American acts of interring our Japanese citizens during WWII. Alth
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Mar 11, 2009
Amritha
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Tomi is a Japanese boy living in Hawaii, but he is of Japanese descent. He hears about World War 2 one day when he is in school, but is seems far away. Tomi doesn't think that the war will come near his home. But one day the Japanese bomb Pearl Harbor in Hawaii and all people of Japanese descent are suspected of helping the Japanese bomb Pearl Harbor. A few days later, his father, a fisherman, is suspected of helping the Japanese in their attack when he was fishing. A while after this, Tomi's gr
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Jul 09, 2011
Chayne
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This is one of those books I had to read in elementary school, and am so glad I did. I don't remember exactly what the story was about, except it taking place in Hawaii during the bombing of Pearl Harbor in WWII and the friendship between two friends. One of my favorite scenes in the book is when they go fishing, and the author talks about how they just throw the lines over the side of the boat wrapped around their hands with only fishing hooks. No bait or pole. The description of the silvery fi
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Jul 17, 2009
I've gotten about halfway through this book and so far, it is pretty interesting. Under the Blood Red Sun is a story about Tomi, a young boy, Hawaiian born with Japanese parents during the time of the Pearl Harbor bombings. It is interesting to read about the different Japanese cultures that are represented throughout this book and even more interesting to read how similar we all are as one human race. Tomi has to fight against his heritage and become the most American boy that he can in orde
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Sep 16, 2009
Owen
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This book is about a young boy named Tomi. He lives in Hawaii, he is also Japanese and it's 1941. He and his friend Billy play on the neighborhood baseball team the rats. One day Japanese planes bomb the harbor and everything changes. Tomi's father and grandfather are taken away, and just to add to it their neighbors the Wlison's are always out to get to get them just because they are Japanese.
I reccomend this book to people who can handle some sad parts and that like More...
I reccomend this book to people who can handle some sad parts and that like More...
Jan 18, 2008
Jackie
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Tomikazu Nakaji, an American of Japanese descent, lives in Hawaii during the war in December, 1941. He is best friends with Billy, a “haole” ( white boy). Their interests and concerns are baseball, homework, and a group of bullies who challenge them. Tomi’s family life is steeped in Japanese traditions. Those traditions and beliefs are tested when the Japanese bomb Pearl Harbor in December of 1941. Tomi’s father is unjustly arrested and taken to the mainland. Billy becomes wary of the
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Sep 27, 2010
Antonio
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This book is about a boy named Tommy who lives with his Chinese family in Hawaii. The second world war is going on and no one was even worried because it was very far from Hawaii. Tommi's best friend is Billy, Billy is rich. Tommy hates Keet Wilson, the bully. One day when Billy and Tommy are playing outside and suddenley they heard the rumbling of airplanes coming there way. And before they knew it all Pearl Harbor was being bombed.
Sep 10, 2009
Sandra
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8th grader, Tomi, born Hawaiin Japanese, is definitely American, but he and his family suffer from prejudice of others even before the Japanese bomb Pearl Harbor, near his home. This story traces what happens to the boy when his father and grandfather are arrested. The story is positive, with courageous defense of the boy by some of his friends and their families, as well as prejudice-caused injustice and bullying.
Aug 05, 2009
Jessica
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Deals with the internment of Japanese-Americans in a way that younger students can understand and identify with, and introduces those students who may not know much about Japanese culture to aspects of that culture without exoticism or patronizing. Honestly, I could have lived without as much baseball description or silly moments with friends, but I have a feeling that those moments will draw otherwise reluctant readers in.
Sep 08, 2011
Kerry
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This is a powerful read. Set in 1941, Tomi and his family live in Hawaii. His parents and grandfather are from Japan, but Tomi was born in the USA. With WWII happening far away, across the Pacific Ocean, Tomi and his friends are more concenred about their baseball team, The Rats. But, when Pearl Harbor is attacked, Tomi's life changes as his family must deal with the fact that the Japanese are to blame.
Sep 06, 2010
Bev
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This story is set in Hawaii in 1941 and 1942, and we get to experience the Pearl Harbor attack from an interesting perspective--a Japanese-American boy who lives in Hawaii with his parents, younger sister and immigrant grandfather. Luke, who has an avid interest in WWII, and I listened to it together, and it kept him engaged the whole time. I think it was great for him to learn about the prejudice and hardship endured by Japanese-Americans during this time period through the eyes of a young bo
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Mar 09, 2010
PSFlynn
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Summary: Things are pretty normal for Tomi between baseball and school, but his world soon changes when Pearl Harbor is attacked.
Passage: Whomp! Whomp! Whomp! For the next half hour he pitched curveballs. We hardly said a word. My legs ached, but it felt good. We were getting better, tighter.
Page 35-36
I chose this passage because I like the intensity of the boys playing and training to the best they can.
Passage: Whomp! Whomp! Whomp! For the next half hour he pitched curveballs. We hardly said a word. My legs ached, but it felt good. We were getting better, tighter.
Page 35-36
I chose this passage because I like the intensity of the boys playing and training to the best they can.
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Feb 12, 2010
Lisa
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Better than most of the books I have read recently . . . though it did not really tell the story in a unique way. I did like how Billy and Tomi stayed friends to the end (of the story at least) because I kept expecting Billy to turn. Always, stories of the after-math of Pearl Harbor make great conversations with students about how unfairly people are treated when we are afraid.
Jan 30, 2012
Daniel
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By not knowing too much about World War II there was no need to worry since i read this book. The whole book made me feel like i was there at that time and made me feel the same way the characters felt. The boy and the grandfather are the best partners there could be and they know it. The book was really interesting and reading it gave me goosebumps after a while. Looking forward on reading more of Graham Salisbury's books.
Nov 17, 2010
Stacie
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Fabulous. I randomly picked this up in my schools library and I'm so glad I did. It's of the few historical-fiction books I've actually read and enjoyed. It took me all of two days to finish. I love it. I wouldn't definitely recommend it to people. Even if you're not all that interested in history, READ IT. It'll be worth your time.
Jul 06, 2009
Julie
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I was hoping to have an enjoyable historical fiction story that would help me know more about Pearl Harbor. I finally gave up reading it because my expectations were not being met. It was okay as far topics like differences between rich and poor, prideful and kind, and people who love baseball...but that wasn't really what I was looking for so I decided not to force myself to finish it.
May 07, 2010
Kelsey
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I remember reading this book in 5th grade and thinking how much I loved this book. Though, I haven't picked it up in a few years, I really want to read it again and I think ya'll should as well. I retails a remarkable story of where fear drives men against humanity, and friendship over comes bonds of hatred. A classic.
Dec 15, 2009
Kris
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Although this book was enjoyable it was clearly written for younger readers. The dialog was shallow and I felt the author could have done more with this story even considering the target audience. It did, however, give me a perspective of the attack on Pearl Harbor that I had not read about before.
Nov 22, 2010
Brittany
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This is a great book about a Japanese-American boy who lives in Hawaii during the time of the attacks on Pearl Harbor and how he deals with the challenges of being accused of being a bad person when he isn't. This can be related to how Muslims living in America felt after the 9/11 attacks.
Sep 07, 2010
I remember reading this book, but not that much. What I remeber about it is that there was a war going on in Japan, and all the families were translated to a beter place, BUT this kid stayed on Japan to save his dad. Many things happened in that book, many feelings were shown during the novel.
Jan 08, 2012
Horace Mann Family Reading Challenge
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Under the Blood-Red Sun is a book about a boy named Tomi who lives in Hawaii. When Pearl Harbor is bombed, Tomi's Father and Grandfather are arrested (for they're Japanese and Japan bombed Pearl Harbor). Tomi has to survive and be the man of the family. His buddies, The Rats, a baseball team, remain on his side. D
Apr 08, 2009
Rachel
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This book talks about the Japanese internment camps that were set up in the United States during WWII. This would be a good book to use for a WWII unit. This was a very good book and is a great multicultural book. It shows another culture that may not be a familiar one to children. Acceptance for other races could be taught with this book. This could be a good read aloud book.
Sep 03, 2010
Santi
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Even though I did not like this book much it is very entertaining. The contents of this book are about the second world war. How Pearl Harbor was invaded and the friendship of two boys being broken. This book is very touching from the beginning.This is a very great book.
Sep 20, 2010
Pedro
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This is book talks about when pearl harbor was hit. I liked it alot because there is in every page something thrilling. It really gets you into reading it. It is also a kind of true story because it talks about how horrible the war is. All in all i loved this book.
May 03, 2010
Lori
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I loved this book. It is a great story of what it may have been like to be living in Hawaii during the attack of Pearl Harbor from the perspective of a white boy and his friend, a Japanese American boy. Thought provoking, especially for the young teen.
Oct 11, 2009
Colby
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This book was just okay but it also had many facts about World War 2. The story line is okay, and I think it could have been written better. But overall I liked it and the main character was cool.
The book is about a young Japanese boy and his family who move away from poverty but end up in the middle of World War 2. His dad and Uncle get arrested for being accused of helping the Japanese in the war. So he has to be the man in the house. The book contains a series of problems that Tomi has More...
The book is about a young Japanese boy and his family who move away from poverty but end up in the middle of World War 2. His dad and Uncle get arrested for being accused of helping the Japanese in the war. So he has to be the man in the house. The book contains a series of problems that Tomi has More...
Feb 10, 2012
Sue
rated it:
3.5 stars. This book about a Nisei Japanese boy living in Hawaii when Pearl Harbor is attacked does a great job of evoking the boy's innocence of world affairs and then his confusion after the attack. He thinks of himself as American and is shocked to discover that others think of him as Japanese and blame his family for helping with the attack. There are several poignant moments, such as when the Army orders the family's pigeons destroyed because they might be carrying messages, and when the
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