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Kelsey Ford: From the Stacks: J. M. Ledgard's Submergence (0 comment)
Our blog feature, "From the Stacks," features our booksellers’ favorite older books: those fortuitous used finds, underrated masterpieces, and lesser known treasures. Basically: the books that we’re the most passionate about handselling. This week, we’re featuring Kelsey F.’s pick, Submergence by J. M. Ledgard...
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  • Kelsey Ford: Powell's Picks Spotlight: Grady Hendrix's 'How to Sell a Haunted House' (0 comment)

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Prisoners of the Empire 04 Hunt for the Bamboo Rat

by Graham Salisbury
Prisoners of the Empire 04 Hunt for the Bamboo Rat

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  • Synopses & Reviews

ISBN13: 9780375842665
ISBN10: 0375842667



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Synopses & Reviews

Publisher Comments

Based on a true story, this World War II novel by Scott O’Dell Award winner Graham Salisbury tells how Zenji, 17, is sent from Hawaii to the Philippines to spy on the Japanese.

   Zenji Watanabe graduates from high school in Hawaii and is recruited into the army as a translator because he speaks perfect Japanese. He is sent to Manila undercover as a civilian to gather information on the Japanese in the Philippines. If they discover his identity, he’ll be executed as a traitor. When captured, he maintains that he is an American civilian despite unthinkable torture. He also survives being lost in the jungle for months. Zenji’s time behind enemy lines is grueling, and his survival is a testament to the strength of the human spirit.

   This is the fourth book in Graham Salisbury’s highly acclaimed Prisoners of the Empire titles, which began with the award-winning Under the Blood-Red Sun. 

Praise for Hunt for the Bamboo Rat

 

"Salisbury has once again crafted a fine novel, based on an actual person, about first-generation Americans of Japanese descent and the clash of culture and national identity that World War II accentuated. Written in short, rapid-fire paragraphs that move the plot along at a brisk pace, the story will leave readers spellbound."--Kirkus Reviews, Starred

"Fast-paced and compelling, this title will be enjoyed by voracious and reluctant readers."--School Library Journal

"The history is fascinating, and Zenji is a fictional hero readers will long remember."--The Horn Book

Synopsis

"A gripping saga of wartime survival." --Kirkus Reviews, Starred

Based on a true story, this World War II novel by Scott O'Dell Award winner Graham Salisbury tells how Zenji, 17, is sent from Hawaii to the Philippines to spy on the Japanese.

Zenji Watanabe was born in Hawaii. He's an American, but the Japanese wouldn't know it by the look of him. And that's exactly what the US government is counting on.
Because he speaks both English and Japanese perfectly, the army recruits Zenji for a top-secret mission to spy on the Japanese. If they discover his true identity, he'll be treated as a traitor and executed on the spot.
As World War II boils over in the Pacific, Zenji is caught behind enemy lines. But even though his Japanese heritage is his death warrant, it's also his key to outwitting the enemy and finding the strength to face the terrors of battle, the savagery of the jungle, and the unspeakable cruelty of war.
The riveting Hunt for the Bamboo Rat is based on a true story and follows in the path of author Graham Salisbury's other highly acclaimed Prisoners of the Empire titles, which began with the award-winning Under the Blood-Red Sun.
"Salisbury has once again crafted a fine novel, based on an actual person, about first-generation Americans of Japanese descent and the clash of culture and national identity that World War II accentuated. . . . The story will leave readers spellbound." --Kirkus Reviews, Starred
"Fast-paced and compelling, this title will be enjoyed by voracious and reluctant readers." --SLJ
"The history is fascinating, and Zenji is a fictional hero readers will long remember." --The Horn Book

Synopsis

Graham Salisbury’s family has lived in the Hawaiian Islands since the early 1800s. He grew up on Oahu and Hawaii and graduated from California State University. He received an MFA from Vermont College of Norwich University, where he was a member of the founding faculty of the MFA program in writing for children. He lives with his family in Portland, Oregon.

   Graham Salisbury’s books have won many prizes. Blue Skin of the Sea won the Bank Street Child Study Association Children’s Book Award; Under the Blood-Red Sun won the Scott O’Dell Award for Historical Fiction, the Oregon Book Award, Hawaii’s Nene Award, and the California Young Reader Medal; Shark Bait won the Oregon Book Award and a Parents’ Choice Silver Honor; Lord of the Deep won the Boston Globe–Horn Book Award. He has also written the Calvin Coconut series for younger readers. 

   Graham Salisbury is a recipient of the John Unterecker Award for Fiction and the PEN/Norma Klein Award. Visit him online at grahamsalisbury.com.


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Average customer rating 5 (2 comments)

`
Beverly B , November 13, 2014 (view all comments by Beverly B)
Hunt for the Bamboo Rat is such a suspenseful story with such a young hero, it is hard to believe it is based on the experiences of real-life WWII hero, 17 year old Richard Sakakida. I appreciated that Graham Salisbury showed how there were many people, American and Japanese, who were conflicted by their part in the war. He also showed how love of family can be a great motivator when despair is taking over. A language prodigy fluent in Japanese, English and Tagalog, and semi-fluent in Cantonese, protagonist Zenji Watanabe is recruited by the Pentagon to go to the Philippines and work as a spy in a hotel popular with Japanese business men. When the Japanese conquer the Philippines a few months after the bombing of Pearl Harbor, Zenji has the opportunity to escape, but gives up his seat on the plane to another Japanese American who has a wife and young children. Zenji is taken prisoner and charged with espionage and as a traitor to Japan. The Japanese did not care that he was an American. They believed that his ancestry should have been more important to him than his patriotism. They torture and starve him over many weeks. Luckily, a Japanese general sees the benefit of Zenji's language talents and puts him to work translating intercepted war communications. After a couple of years, Zenji has the opportunity to escape, but ends up injured and lost in the dense isolated rain forest of the mountains. He almost dies several times. Hunt for the Bamboo Rat is a perfect choice for middle grade readers who think they don't like historical fiction.

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slsteckler , November 03, 2014 (view all comments by slsteckler)
He is the Bamboo Rat, he has no basic training; no training whatsoever, for Zenji is the perfect spy. He plays his part to a T, for when things get out of control he knows nothing, he has no rank in the military, he is not a soldier, he is a civilian hired by the military to translate Japanese. Being Japanese-American, Zenji can speak both Japanese and American so this is a perfect opportunity for him to help his family financially. It’s 1941 and being transported to the Philippines, Zenji’s life living amongst the military was easy in the beginning as war was just talk. It was entertaining to hear the stories that he heard at the Momo Hotel passing himself as a warehouse worker during the day, spending his spare time talking with the Japanese businessmen in the lobby. Not a political person himself, Zenji world now becomes broader as the men talk about issues he is not aware of. I love how his world expands as his knowledge of the world opens up and he makes acquaintances. His personality is a perfect fit for the job. As fear of war hangs in the air, people are leaving the island and Zenji has a seat but he gives that up. I cringed when I read this as I knew it would mean disaster but I knew from reading that this is the kind of person Zenji was. I don’t think I walked away from the book after this point. Days, weeks and months pass by, it seems like forever since he gave up that seat but I am only the person reading the details of his life after he made that decision and not the one living out the long days that he’s now living. It’s more than I expected, and when I read that it’s based on a true story, I was surprised. The Bamboo Rat, he was more than a spy, much more. I can’t wait to read more of the Prisoner’s of the Empire books.

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Product Details

ISBN:
9780375842665
Binding:
Hardcover
Publication date:
09/09/2014
Publisher:
Wendy Lamb Books
Series info:
Prisoners of the Empire
Pages:
323
Height:
1.30IN
Width:
5.80IN
Thickness:
1.50
Age Range:
12 and up
Grade Range:
7 and up
Illustration:
Yes
Author:
Graham Salisbury
Author:
Graham Salisbury
Subject:
Children s-Historical Fiction-General
Subject:
Children s-General
Subject:
Children s-Historical Fiction-Military and War

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