A year-and-a-half after the bombing of Pearl Harbor, fear still grips 14-year-old Tomi Nakaji. His father’s fishing boat was sunk and his partner killed in an unjustified attack. Now the father is in an internment camp, his grandfather has just returned from a camp and Tomi is determined to stand up to Keet Wilson, the local haole (white) bully and raise that boat, a symbol of hope and courage in an embittered time. This sequel to Under the Blood-Red Sun (1994), winner of the Scott O’Dell Award for Historical Fiction, has one scene at its heart and might have been more effective as a short story. As a novel, however, it has a leisurely pace that allows an exploration of both racism and community, the meanness of Keet Wilson standing in contrast to the rich diversity of cultures in Tomi’s world—Japanese, Chinese, Hawaiian, Filipino, Portuguese. The rousing final scene will have readers cheering. Salisbury’s previous work, Eyes of the Emperor (2005), is a fine companion, portraying the experience of Japanese-Americans in the war itself. (Fiction. 10-14)
Pub Date: July 25, 2006
ISBN: 0-385-73121-3
Page Count: 160
Publisher: Wendy Lamb/Random
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2006
In a departure from his realistic novels, Thomas (Satellite Down, 1998, etc.) tries a science fiction adventure intended for younger readers, with less success. Grady, 13, is a junior-high geek and botanist who is invited to join a secret forest regeneration project in the Amazon. The project is directed by the mysterious Dr. Carter, who turns out to be, not surprisingly, a standard mad scientist. When Grady arrives at the site he is scorned because his colleagues were unaware of his youth; assigned to drudge work and left alone at the campsite, Grady surreptitiously analyzes the data the team has collected, and realizes that Dr. Carter is growing poisonous trees that are destroying the food chain. When his efforts are discovered by Dr. Carter, Grady escapes from the camp and joins the local Indians. The book shifts into an action adventure tale, as Grady fights hostile tribes and attempts to foil Dr. Carter. While the scenario is imaginative and Thomas doesn’t completely abandon his fortÇ, characterization, at the core this novel is a kids-know-best shoot-’em-up. When Grady blossoms into an Amazonian superhero, the author’s fans may feel the threat of incredibility, but they’ll also have to turn every page to the end. (Fiction. 10-14)
Pub Date: May 1, 1999
ISBN: 0-689-81780-0
Page Count: 192
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 1999
More than a decade after the publication of the first books in this trilogy (Which Way Freedom, 1986; Out From This Place 1988), Hansen completes her story of Obi and Easter, two escaped slaves from South Carolina, who become separated during the Civil War. After leaving the army, Obi searches for Easter, learning that she has moved to Philadelphia to become a teacher, but intends to establish her home in the black settlement of New Canaan. While awaiting her return, Obi struggles to care for Grace, Scipio, and Araba, three orphans who fled a massacre in Pine Bluff, Arkansas, a black town destroyed by whites. Much of the story is told in letters between Obi and Easter, as Obi fights storms, disease, and bigotry while he builds a carpentry business. His love for Easter and her determination to help build New Canaan finally leads Obi to find his place in life. While the earlier novels set forth the romance more clearly, this one is just as strong in its enlivening depiction of African-American history. Hansen deftly weaves real historical events into the novel, presenting a vivid account of a budding black settlement during Reconstruction. (Fiction. 12-14)
Pub Date: Nov. 1, 1999
ISBN: 0-8027-8636-7
Page Count: 174
Publisher: Walker
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 1999
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