A review by hsquared
Hunt for the Bamboo Rat by Graham Salisbury

4.0

There are several excellent books about the experiences of Japanese American internment camps, but much fewer that describe other experiences, especially those of soldiers who fought for their country in spite of the injustices their families were treated to at home. Salisbury based his fictional story of Zenji Watanabe, a 17-year-old Japanese American from Hawaii who became a spy for the US Army in part on the experiences of an actual man by the name of Richard Sakakida. The story is at times violent and intense. Salisbury does an excellent job of helping the readers understand the extreme risk Watanabe voluntarily took on in agreeing to spy against the Japanese. Give this to high school boys looking for exciting war stories, or use to enrich a U.S. History class unit on World War II.