This book was chosen because it is on the 2009 Reading Olympics list for Bucks County, and Morrisville's Gifted 6-12 students are required to read one Reading Olympics book per month this school year. Our goal is to get the books on the list, journal about them as we read them, have a release party at the end of the school year, and track the journey of our books next school year. We're excited to see where this book goes!

This is Juliana!!!! This book was very interesting but also quite confusing in the middle. It was about a Japanese family living in Hawaii after Pearl Harbor Day. The main character, Tomi, has had to lead his family while his father and grandfather were taken to the states to work. The whole book is about Tomi trying to overcome challenges while trying to resurface his father's sampan and dealing with rude and annoying comments from people who are “anti Japanese ". In the end he raises the boat with help from his friends and family. I didn't really enjoy the book because it is so violent at times. If you like books about war and hardships READ THIS BOOK!!!!!!! Before I go this book contains some Japanese and Hawaiian sayings.

This is Kevin. This book is about a Japanese family that lives in Hawaii. The main character, Tomi, is an American citizen since he was born in the U.S. but his parents and his grandfather are not. After Pearl Harbor was bombed, most Japanese that were not American citizens that were living in Hawaii were taken to labor camps. Both Tomi's father and grandfather were taken. Tomi lives with his mom and little sister alone for a while until Tomi's grandfather gets really sick and is sent back to Hawaii. Tomi's goal is to bring up his father's Japanese sunken boat so that when he comes back, he would be able to continue fishing. But Keet Wilson who is the son of the family who Tomi's mom works for is trying to stop him. Keet really dispises Japanese people, so he is always trying to stop Tomi from bringing the boat up. In the end with his many friends, Tomi ends up bringing up the sunken boat. I really enjoyed this book because it talks about a boy my age so I can relate and because there is a little bit of fighting. In the end it left me wondering what would happen next. I would recommend this book who wants to learn a bit more about WWII and how some people lived during this time.

Hi this is Nathan. I liked this book. It is about a kid named Tomi who lives in Hawii. After the Pearl Harbor bombing his dad and grandfather are taken away just because they are Japanese. The military sink his fishing boat. Tomi wants to bring the boat up from the lake. He and his friends have to go through many challanges. I only did not like the ending. That is what I thought of this book.