Graham Salisbury

Hunt for the Bamboo Rat by Graham Salisbury is based on a true story and tells of the World War II military intelligence service of a young Hawaiian born American-Japanese who under the code name of Bamboo Rat spies on the Japanese in the Philippines.

When the Japanese invade, Zeniji who is 17 at the time, sticks to his cover story and hides the fact that he is in the American military. He is arrested, beaten and tortured but stands his ground. Eventually, the Japanese accept his cover story and as he speaks both Japanese and English he is forced to work for a high ranking officer. He continues his spy work and his information is delivered to the Americans through the Philippine guerrillas. Even after the Americans return to the Philippines, Zeniji must be very careful how he approaches people as all they see is a young Japanese man not the American hero that he has become.

Hunt for the Bamboo Rat is an intense and exciting survival story. Zeniji proved to be a strong, intelligent young man, a very loyal American who survived as a spy and a POW. His story is one of courage in the face of insurmountable odds and I was glued to this adventure-filled historical fiction novel.… (mais)

This is a great adventure/survival story for folks who like realistic, fast-paced fiction. Well, I don't know if I should say it's fast-paced because there is a lot of time before the "big event" (I don't want to give anything away), but I think the suspense and tension are gripping enough to keep you going until you find out what is going on.

The story is based on a real event that happened to a boy scout troop in Hawaii in the nineteen seventies. I really liked the elements of Hawaiian folklore that are woven into the story and the way that the kids in the scout troop got to meet some men who told them a lot of cool and creepy stories about the history of the wilderness they were camping in. Pele the little white dog is not a character I am likely to forget very quickly...… (mais)