Under the Blood Red Sun

Content Warning: This section features depictions of racism and xenophobia, the imprisonment of Japanese Americans, wartime distress and anxiety, and family separation.

Graham Salisbury, an American writer, artist, and musician, has made a lasting impact on literature, particularly in his emphasis on Hawaii—a theme connected to his family’s rich regional history (“Graham Salisbury (1944–).” Notable Biographies, JRank). Despite being born in Philadelphia, Salisbury’s ties to Hawaii are rooted in his father Henry’s pivotal role as an ensign on the USS West Virginia during the Pearl Harbor attack. Henry, a fighter pilot, died on Graham’s first birthday. Growing up on Oahu, Salisbury’s education took him to boarding school on the island of Hawaii, and later to mainland California for college.

The convergence of Salisbury’s heritage and personal experiences ignited a deep-seated fascination with Hawaii and World War II, especially the Pearl Harbor attack, materializing in the creation of Under the Blood Red Sun. Salisbury initially attempted to tell the story from Billy’s perspective, but it lacked the narrative he sought, as the Japanese viewpoint was essential for authenticity (Salisbury, Graham. Under the Blood Red Sun: Letter to the Reader. Random House Children’s Books, 2014).