Eyes of the Emperor

An Analysis of the 6^th Grade Level Reading in Eyes of the Emperor by Graham Salisbury

When I found this book, I felt that young people should be aware of the issue of racism in America during times of war. While most young people would assume that we live in a “melting pot”, the racism experienced by Japanese-Americans through interment camps is an important commentary about American life in WWII. Author Graham Salisbury writes this book for young people as teenagers, but it can easily be read by 11-12 years old at the 6^th grade level. With many of the students in my classroom on the cusp of teenage life, the experiences of Eddy Okana provide insight into multicultural teenagers behavior. Okana is boy that wants to join the army and serve his country, but he learns he cannot be trusted by the military in combat.  I was amazed to learn that when joins the 100th Infantry Battalion, the Army uses him as a decoy to train dogs to attack Japanese soldiers. However, after reading of some of the brutal training missions in which Okana and his friends are chased by dogs, I felt that this would be too much for an 11-12 year old. I felt that some of the students would be frightened at the intensity of the military episodes involving blatant racism towards Japanese-Americans. While Salisbury writes this story within the parameters of a 11-12 year old reading level, the content is just too strong for my particular classroom environment.