Eyes of the Emperor
 Cover, Laurel-Leaf's edition of Eyes of the Emperor | |
| Author | Graham Salisbury |
|---|---|
| Cover artist | Phil Heffernan |
| Language | English |
| Genre | Historical fiction |
| Publisher | Laurel-Leaf |
Publication date | 2005 |
| Publication place | United States |
| Media type | Print (Hardcover and Paperback) |
| ISBN | 978-0-440-22956-8 |
Eyes of the Emperor is a historical novel written by Graham Salisbury, and is currently published by Laurel-Leaf, which is an imprint of Random House Children's Books, in the United States in paperback. The first edition was published in 2005. The first edition was published by Wendy Lamb Books in hardcover format in the same year.
In 2006, Eyes of the Emperor won the Leslie Bradshaw Award for Young Adult Literature.
Plot summary
The story starts in Hawaii in 1994, where a Japanese boy, Eddy, lives. He has a brother, Herbie, and numerous friends. His friends are in the army, and Eddy, who is 16 years old, joins the US army by illegally altering his birth certificate to appear 18 years old. They enlist in Camp McCoy. Eddy's father strongly opposes this as he feels that Eddy is betraying Japan, but soon Japan attacks Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941. Eddy and his Japanese company must do manual labor, such as digging trenches, while the soldiers of other nationalities go on with regular army training. He then is mobilized by Lieutenant Sweet to Cat Island, Mississippi, along with his comrades. They then embark on a secret mission commissioned by Franklin Delano Roosevelt, which is for training dogs: Dogs are trained to smell the Japanese people, and this is training them so that when they are released in the Pacific theater, the dogs would track and kill the Japanese soldiers. This severely demoralizes the soldiers. Later, when they commute from the island to the mainland, their boat motor stalls. When they call for assistance, the US Coast Guard comes and shoots the boat, suspecting that they were the enemy. Accidental attacks continue, and the treatment of the Japanese-American soldiers becomes worse as the war worsens. Eddy is nearly killed once when his dog's trainer, Smith, calls the dog back slightly late. The soldiers are forced to treat the dogs harshly, which is against their will.
After a few weeks of grueling treatment of the Japanese, the government observes and evaluates this project. It is deemed unsuccessful, and Eddy now is assigned to combat in the European theater.
Characters
- Eddy Okubo
- The protagonist of the book. He lives in Hawaii, and is a Japanese boy native to America. He is 16 years old at the time of the attack on Pearl Harbor. Eddy is more loyal to the United States than his home country, Japan. His fathers name is Koji Okubo.
- Pop
- Eddy's father. He was strongly opposed to Eddy joining the US army, but after the Pearl Harbor attack he favors Eddy's decision. Pop is a boat-builder. He was loyal to Japan, but after the attack his loyalty changed, and he turned himself in to the immigration office for shame of his country.
- Ma
- Eddy's mother. She had no opinion on Eddy throughout the book. She is very caring of Eddy.
- Herbie
- Eddy's younger brother. After the attack, he takes a part-time job to help take care of the family.
- Kooch
- The dog that was paired with Eddy during the dog training. He was kind to Eddy, but becomes crueler and meaner as Eddy is forced to hate him.
- Smith
- Kooch's trainer.
- Chik, Slim, and Cobra
- Eddy's friends. They are older than him and were already in the U.S. army.
- PeeWee
- Eddy's friend. Eddy befriended him when they met at the barracks at Camp McCoy. He was indirectly injured when the picket boats from the US Coast Guard started shooting at the boat he was on.
- Swiss
- A man named Franz who proposed and commissioned the secret project of training dogs for killing the Japanese soldiers.
- Leroy
- A boat pilot who drives the Sugar Babe, the boat that lets Eddy and his comrades commute between the mainland and Cat Island.
Sources
- Salisbury, Graham (2005). Eyes of the Emperor. Laurel-Leaf. p. 222. ISBN 978-0-440-22956-8.
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See also
- Under the Blood Red Sun, another novel about Japan and World War II by Graham Salisbury.