Discussion Guide

Book
Club
Discussion Guide
Author Information
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.
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


Photo and author information taken from
Graham Salisbury’s website:
grahamsalibury.com
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
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?
Discussion questions from Under the Blood-Red Sun Study Guide prepared by Conflict Resolution Academy, LLC
W EBSITES
TO CHECK
OUT
Graham Salisbury’s official
website:
grahamsalisbury.com/
Random House Kids interview
with Graham Salisbury:
www.randomhousekids.com/forparents/graham-salisburyq#.UaeolRXD-po
Goodreads’ trivia and quizzes for
Under the blood-red sun:
www.goodreads.com/trivia/
work/1168123-under-the-bloodred-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/theunited-states-of-ya/