School Library Journal (Mon Jul 01 00:00:00 CDT 2013)

Gr 5-8 Based on the author's family's experiences, this book is a powerful account of the effect of war on an ordinary family. Ten-year-old Choi is living with his mother and uncle in Hong Kong in 1941. His normal morning at school is interrupted with the news that Japan is bombing the city and that everyone must go home immediately. Choi's mother and many others are dragged from their homes without explanation, beginning a difficult period in Hong Kong history that lasted three years and eight months. Anxiety increases as food supplies dwindle. Choi and his friend, Taylor, are given jobs as slave boys at a Japanese military station. Soon they are able to give information and stolen supplies to Uncle Kim, who is working with the resistance. Their efforts help Allied prisoners-of-war escape and aid American and British pilots who are shot down. The story alludes to women being mistreated by soldiers, as well as people suffering relocation and starvation, but does not go into graphic detail. A lengthy historical note at the end, however, describes atrocities committed by the Japanese soldiers, including rape and murder. The subject matter makes this picture book best suited for a middle-school audience. The author keeps the text from being completely one-sided by including a Japanese soldier who befriends Choi and Taylor and treats them humanely. The watercolor illustrations, accented with pen outlines, vividly depict the people's feelings of sadness, anxiety, and desperation. The many details ofuniforms, currency, buildings, and equipment will give readers a good sense of the time period and setting. This unusual book would make a good extended reading selection for World War II studies. Lucinda Snyder Whitehurst, St. Christopher's School, Richmond, VA

ALA Booklist

This eye-opening picture book for older readers offers a fictionalized first-person account, based on the author's father's experiences of a rarely studied chapter of WWII: the Japanese occupation of Hong Kong. Choi is at school when sirens go off and shells begin dropping. As he makes his way home, he sees soldiers pulling people from their homes cluding his mother. Choi stays behind with his uncle, enduring years of brutal conditions. Evocative pen, ink, and watercolor illustrations capture the period and place and, most of all, the people and their emotions. Eventually, Choi becomes a slave boy at the Japanese military station and uses his position to aid the resistance. The worst atrocities the population suffers are alluded to, with a more direct explanation provided in a lengthy closing note. Acknowledging that war may put soldiers in impossible positions too, Smith portrays Choi's supervisor-captor with compassion. On occasion, the text is repetitive, and a bibliography would have been helpful, but this does not detract from the power of this important story.

Horn Book (Thu Aug 01 00:00:00 CDT 2013)

Based on the author's father and grandmother's experiences, this compelling fictional account of the Japanese occupation of Hong Kong in WWII is narrated by Choi, a ten-year old boy who becomes a slave worker for the Japanese and a secret member of the resistance movement. The text occasionally uses abrupt transitions; muted illustrations with spare pops of color are stirring. Extensive historical notes add value.