Book Club Author Information

Discussion Guide

Other Books by Author Night of the howling dogs

House of the red fish Eyes of the emperor

Island boyz Lord of the deep

Jungle dogs Shark bait

Blue skin of the sea Calvin Coconut series

Book Club

Photo and author information taken from

Graham Salisbury’s website: grahamsalibury.com

Graham Salisbury (above with no shirt) comes

from a 100-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. “I enjoy writing about

characters who might have been. To me,

exploring fictional themes, situations, and lives is

a quietly exhilarating experience. There are times

when completely unexpected happenings take

place as my fingertips explore the keyboard,

things that make me laugh, or get choked up over,

or even amaze me.” Salisbury’s drive to write about the emotional

journey that kids must take to become adults in a

challenging and complicated world is evident

throughout his work. Says the author: “I’ve

thought a lot about what my responsibility is, or

should be as an author of books for young

readers. I don’t write to teach, preach, or criticize,

but to explore. And if my readers vicariously

experience story characters making choices,

living with the consequences of those choices,

and learning from them … then perhaps I will

have done something worthwhile.” His books — 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 his very popular Calvin Coconut series

— have been celebrated widely with praise and

distinguished awards. Graham Salisbury, winner

of the PEN/Norma Klein Award, 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. In fact, he was a member of the

founding faculty of VCFA’s highly successful

MFA program in Writing for Children. Other important things to know about this author:

He worked as the skipper of a glass-bottom boat,

as a deckhand on a deep-sea charter fishing boat,

and as an Montessori elementary school teacher.

His rock-and-roll band, The Millennium, had a

number one hit in the Philippines, which he

composed. 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. Graham

Salisbury now lives with his family in Portland,

Oregon.

Discussion Questions 1) Tomi and his mom have to bury things

under their house that identify them as being from Japan. If you city was taken over by another country, what items in your house would identify you as an American? What would you have to bury or hide?

2) Why is the U.S. military concerned about Tomi’s pigeons? Why did they make Tomi and Grampa kill the birds?

3) Tomi’s father is arrested and his fishing boat is sunk. They have lost their primary means of making money and getting food. What did they do to get food?

4) Billy lies to the Army men about seeing Tomi’s Grampa waving a Japanese flag at the Japanese airplanes during the bombing of Pearl Harbor in order to protect Tomi’s Grampa from getting arrested. Would you have lied to save a friend’s grandpa? Why?

5) What does Billy do to be a supportive friend to Tomi when he hears about Tomi’s father being shot and arrested and when he hears about Sanji’s death?

6) Several days after the bombing, Billy and Tomi practice pitching and catching together again. “I just wnted to get back to how it used to be. . . .I tossed it back. Watching Billy catch it, just like it used to be, almost choked me up” (pg 152). Why did Tomi want things to get back to how it used to be? What had changed for Tomi? What had changed for Billy?

7) Tomi’s family had to forget Christmas. What if you had to forget Christmas one year? Do you know anyone who has had to forget Christmas one year (because of poverty)?

8) Billy gave his binoculars to Sanji’s daughter Marii (the one’s his dad gave him for Christmas). Would you give your favorite gift to someone poorer than you? Would you give your favorite gift in exchange for bananas?

9) Four pups chase Lucky through Diamond grass as Luck drags the Japanese flag through the grass while Tomi, Billy, Kimi, and Grampa are there practicing baseball. Tomi and Billy catch Lucky and the flag and must rebury it. How would you feel if you had to byr the American flag and hide who you are?

10) Tomi must look for a job. What would it be like if you had to find a job to help your family survive?

11) Grampa isarrested and tells Tomi to look after the katana. Charlie shows Tomi where Grampa hid the sword in the jungle. “That thing was very important to him,” Charlies said. “His history . . . your history, Tomi” (pg 222). “Ancestors. Honor. . . Respect. . . Not my katana . . . but the family katana. It belonged to no one, and to everyone . . . past, present, future.” (pg 222-223). Is there anything in your family that represents your history?

12) Tomis verbally attacked by a racist. “Hey, Buddhahead — you got a lot of nerve coming out in the open after what your people did” (pg 240). Rico stands up to the man and says something to him. What would you do? Stay silent, say something? What would you say? What would you say if you were Tomi? What would you say if you were Tomi’s friend? Have you ever had this happen to you?

WEBSITES TO CHECK

OUT

What’s it all about?

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.

Discussion questions from Under the Blood-Red Sun Study Guide prepared by Conflict Resolution Academy, LLC

Graham Salisbury’s official

website: grahamsalisbury.com/

Random House Kids interview

with Graham Salisbury: www.randomhousekids.com/for-

parents/graham-salisbury-q#.UaeolRXD-po

Goodreads’ trivia and quizzes for

Under the blood-red sun: www.goodreads.com/trivia/

work/1168123-under-the-blood-red-sun

Reading Group Guide for

Deadline: Study Guide prepared

by Conflict Resolution Academy,

LLC: www.conflictresolutionacademy.

com/

articles_ebooks_studyguides/

Under%20the%20Blood%

20Red%20Sun%20-%20Study%

20Guide.pdf

United States of YA Image and

list of books came from Epic

Reads: www.epicreads.com/blog/the-

united-states-of-ya/