From the Publisher
Eddy Okubo lies about his age and joins the army in his hometown of Honolulu only weeks before the Japanese bomb Pearl Harbor. Suddenly Americans see him as the enemy—even the U.S. Army doubts the loyalty of Japanese American soldiers.
Then the army sends Eddy and a small band of Japanese American soldiers on a secret mission to a small island off the coast of Mississippi. Here they are given a special job, one that only they can do. Eddy’s going to help train attack dogs. He’s going to be the bait.
Publishers Weekly
According to PW's starred review, this companion to Under the Blood-Red Sun narrated by a Japanese-American soldier in the U.S. Army in 1941, "brims with memorable and haunting scenes." Ages 12-16. (Jan.) Copyright 2007 Reed Business Information.
Ed Goldberg
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VOYA
Just weeks after Japan attacks Pearl Harbor, sixteen-year-old Eddy Okubo, a Hawaiian of Japanese descent, enlists in the United States Army. Wanting to defend his country, he encounters a continuation of the "Japanese problem"-Japanese American soldiers are segregated and given menial jobs. Machine guns are trained on them. He is constantly called a "Jap." Stationed in a Midwest base adjacent to an internment camp housing Japanese Americans and Japanese prisoners of war, he realizes that his country makes no distinction between them: "To them we all look like Hirohito." Twenty-five Japanese American soldiers, including Eddy, are handpicked for a special assignment. A Swiss scientist has convinced President Roosevelt that dogs can be trained to locate Japanese because of their unique smell. Eddy and his buddies are the "bait.o Salisbury ably crafts an adventure story from an actual but little-known World War II project. The action will keep readers turning pages. The prejudice that Eddie encounters is realistically portrayed. Scenes describing Eddy hiding in the swamp waiting for dogs to locate and attack him are vivid. The book will generate interest in this ill-advised project, and the author's note and glossary of Hawaiian and Japanese words are helpful. Although readers might select this book for a school assignment, librarians can also recommend it as a tale of action, bravery, and self-realization. A good companion novel to Harry Mazer's A Boy at War (Simon & Shuster, 2001), it should be included in middle, junior high school and public libraries. VOYA CODES: 4Q 3P M J (Better than most, marred only by occasional lapses; Will appeal with pushing; Middle School, defined as grades 6to 8; Junior High, defined as grades 7 to 9). 2005, Wendy Lamb Books/Random House, 240p.; Glossary., Ages 11 to 15.
School Library Journal
Gr 8 Up-Salisbury continues to make his mark by bringing alive the time in Hawaii when the U.S. entered World War II. Eddy, a 16-year-old Japanese American, tells how he and his buddies, Chik and Cobra, become part of Company B of the 100th Infantry Battalion following the attack on Pearl Harbor. Without discounting the community's old loyalties to Japan, the story makes clear the transition caused by the declaration of war, and by the desire to be part of the great fight to protect America. These young men are patriotic, but the powers that be have a hard time trusting their dedication. The novel is based on historical fact, and Salisbury brings events vividly to life as he recounts one humiliation after another foisted on the troops, from the top down to their immediate commanders. In one scene, these soldiers are heading to training camps on trains that pass internment camps for other Japanese Americans. As the actual assignment unfolds-they are to act as bait in the training of attack dogs-the pernicious racism and absurd beliefs are further revealed. The immediacy of the writing allows readers to imagine themselves as one of the boys. A story with huge implications for observers of current events.-Carol A. Edwards, Douglas County Libraries, Castle Rock, CO Copyright 2005 Reed Business Information.
Kirkus Reviews
Salisbury chronicles the true story of Hawaiian soldiers of Japanese descent following the attack on Pearl Harbor. Eddy Okubo has an evolving understanding that Japanese Americans are no longer trusted, even if they are serving in the U.S. armed forces. "To them we all look like Hirohito. . . . We got the eyes of the Emperor," they realize. Eddy and 25 others are sent to Cat Island, Miss., where their humiliation is absolute. They are part of an experiment (based on a racist, erroneous theory that Japanese smell different from Caucasians) to see if army dogs can be trained to scent Japanese soldiers. Through a process of merciless brutalization, the dogs will be trained to hate, hunt and attack "the bait." Eddy can only face this cruel duty by reconciling it with his vow to wipe out the shame his father felt after Pearl Harbor, and to prove his loyalty and his worthiness to serve. Salisbury's tone, both unsentimental and unsensational, renders his telling all the more powerfully affecting. Morally and psychologically complex, historically accurate and unforgettably gripping. (author's note, glossary) (Historical fiction. 12+)
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