Sonny Mendoza is afraid of the sea, not such a great thing, since he lives on an island, completely surrounded by a vast expanse of blue, stretching off into the distance. Sonny is...sensitive, but not necessarily weak, afraid, but not afraid to admit it, and dispels all myths that teenagers are simple-minded creatures. Another great coming-of-age type story!

This book was required reading at my school, so I read it before the school year started. Graham Salisbury is a great author, and I really liked his books because he gives you a clear image of his thoughts while he was writing the novel. Some of my classmates don't enjoy reading, but I love to read, so this book was definitely a great choice. I liked the way he combined experiences that seemed real and ones that were astonishingly unreal.

I first read this book about a year ago and I've loved it since then.This book is a great summer read.I can't tell you how much I loved this book.It's not really a novel.It's really a group of short stories with the same main character. You can almost smell the salt in the sea air.Beautiful, not sad and and not empty.It may sound cliche but this is a warm family tale.

Island Boyz is a collection of short stories that is sure to delight readers young and old alike. More then just stories told with a Hawaii flare, these stories could take place in any young person's life, and I believe some of them have.

Some make you chuckle, such as the story 'Mrs. Noonan', some make you wonder(Forty Bucks) and yes there is at least one that left this reader a tad sad (The Doi Store Monkey). Isn't that what a good read is all about?

A good mix for the mind and soul. A recommended read, one I feel you will truly enjoy!

Shirley Johnson/Reviewer

These short stories reflect the author's love of Hawaii and its culture and atmosphere, providing very different viewpoints and experiences of Hawaiian culture and dreams. From a dead boy and a ravine's hidden beauties to images of the shark as a family protector, this captures perfectly the diverse cultures and concerns of Hawaii's youth.

These stories are fantastic, varied, vivid, subtle, captivating, engrossing -- I'm running out of breath to describe them. Nearly every narrator (and certaingly every speaking boy)in these stories uses the pidgin dialect of the Hawaiian Islands, and as you grow accustomed to reading it, the rhythm of the language begins to feel like music in your ear. Few writers have created as detailed and heartfelt a portrait of a place as Salisbury does here for his beloved Hawaii. The stories are full of fishing, diving, flips flops, green mountains and soaring birds. The stories, and the island boyz, will stay with you long after the book is closed. Waiting for the War is the standout story among a whole collection of fine pieces.

This book, Under the Blood Red Sun, is a book that may seem like it has many different meanings, but I personally think it is about racism. I think it is this because it takes place during WWII and many people are prejudice against Japanese-Americans because the country of Japan bombed Pearl Harbor. The story is about a boy, Tomi, and how his family survives during the war. The book starts out with Tomi always playing baseball with his best friend, Billy, and their baseball team they put together. Their team, the Rats, usually played another player-owned team from the ghetto. The ghetto is usually called the Ka'Kao, and the baseball team is called the Ka'Kao Boys. After the bombing of Pearl Harbor, most of the Ka'Kao Boys have to get jobs and they break up. Tomi has to start doing chores and has less and less time to hang out with Billy. The story goes on with several interesting twists and will keep you glued to the book to find out what happened. I personally would give the book a 4/5 star rating because I thought the story got a little slower later in the book and, if it doesn't get more exciting, I tend to lose interest. I would have given it a 5/5 rating but because of the 'slowing' of the story. I would encourage anybody who enjoys historical fiction books or just fiction books to read this book.

I have just finished reading the incredible Under the Blood Red Sun,a novel by Graham Salisbury. I loved reading the different details and personalities of the characters. I think that different human qualities are greatly portrayed in this book. The period of time(World War II) that this book is set in helps you understand the main characters emotions about different things very well. The author's choice of adjectives and verbs also helps. This story has many good points to support it, as you can see. The story is about a Japanese boy named Tomi during World War II. When the Japanese bomb Pearl Harbor, Tomi must endure many hardships, including his grandfather's loyalty to Japan and the Japanese people being arrested. He is supported only by his friends on his baseball team, the Rats. The dialogue between Tomi and his friends shows that Mr. Salisbury understands how teenagers act and feel. I think that he does a good job of portraying ideas and feelings that are important to the story. Since the characters have strong feelings, this is very good. Tomi's decisive actions are explained by Mr. Salisbury taking you into his mind and showing you Tomi's inner feelings. You can tell he worked hard to create this wonderful work. In conclusion, this is a great story to read and enjoy. I think Mr. Salisbury's effort really paid off in this book that recieved the Scott O'Dell award. I believe that many people will enjoy reading this novel. It engrossed me so much at parts, I could not put it down! I would give this book a five-star rating and a round of applause. Suitable for kids of all ages, this book is a great read for any historical-fiction and adventure lover!

This is a terrific book. The story is about a boy named Tomi Nakaji. He lives in Oahu, Hawaii, when Pearl Harbor is attacked by the Japanese. During this difficult time, Tomi has to face many challenges such as Keet Wilson, the Japanese Bullies, and his father and grandfather getting arrested. The only people he has left now are his sister, mother and his buddies (the Rats). Tomi's world vanishes in an hour, however, he still needs to be the man of the house and help his family get through this horrible loss.

I think the book is really good because it is about real life situations. It is really good. I especially like how the author describes Erick and how he wants to be a tough guy. He rally wants to look cool infront of his friends. Booley he never wanst to loose his reputation. He's always defending it. CC is always quiet and he is really crazy. It was really interesting to read the book and see how Erick was Shark Bait. And in the end, Bolley said, "You'll never be shark bait, Thats my amakua."

I read the book called "Shark Bait" written by Graham Salisbury about a boy called Eric who has to o through a day and he has to choose between what things are right and wrong. It also talk to us about choosing our own friends. The good thing about the book was the action part when they were about to fight. The bad thing about the stories in the book was that even though Eric knew he was with a bad gang he kept following them . I give this book a thumbs up because the way they wrote it and the new words we learned. I think that any kind of reader should read this book but overall I should say target the children and let them read this book to learn right from wrong.

I read the book Shark Bait, by Graham Salisbory. This book is about five boys who got in trouble,Eric is one of them. he didn't listen to hes father. The good thing that this book has a lot of action and its tell you what can happen is you mess with guns. The bad thing is the there were two characters with almost the sane named, one was,CC, and the other was Sissy. A reader who should try this isthe one who likes action and who like to read. I recomended this book to the persons the want to start reading books, because in this way they going to find how interestings it is to read a book. It is like you are in another world.

I've now read three Salisbury books, and they were all marvelous. I'll be a fan of his for a long time. "Jungle Dogs," like his award-winning "Under the Blood-Red Sun" and his acclaimed debut, "Blue Skin of the Sea," takes place in Hawaii and focuses on a boy's conflicts while growing up. Like those other two works -- "Blue Skin," incidentally, is a real delight -- "Dogs" is beautifully written, with a potent sense of time and place and a wide range of human emotions and experience. It also has uncannily authentic dialog and several moments of hit-me-in-the-gut poignancy. I strongly recommend ANY Salisbury work; I can't wait to get my hands on his latest, "Shark Bait."

This book is great for anybody that enjoys reading I have read this book about 5 times and I still enjoy it. GET THIS BOOK!!!

I don't want to spoil the story for those who haven't read it. I'll just say that I did not like the ending. It reminded me of the movie "Cheaters" which I saw on HBO last year (and which was about a high school teacher who allows his students to cheat).

My thumb is down for Lord of the Deep.

This is a great read! I would have never thought I could get caught up in the excitement of "landing the big one!" In this young adult book by Graham Salisbury, that is exactly what happened. Graham's description of events drew me into the drama of the moment, and I could almost feel the
salt air misting on me. Excellent!

Lord Of The Deep is a great action and adventure story, but it is more than that as well.

Mikey is growing up and on an outing with his father Bill, who charters his fishing boat, Mikey tastes young love ,stirring new emotions and feelings inside of him. Already struggling with new feelings, Bill makes a decision that goes against the rules after the catch of a 'big ' one, Mikey does not approve of Bill's decision and is troubled over it. He learns not all things in life are black and white.Not all decisions are made on what is correct.

Perhaps some readers will feel that this story should have had a different ending then the one it did. However, I believe the author wanted to show that what we feel are right decisions are not always made by the ones that we think the highest of.
Growing up is not easy and pretending that adults will always practice what they preach is often a fairy-tale, as hard as we might try; decisions may be based on reasons unknown to others. Right or wrong!

I liked Lord of The Deep. It was a fast pace, quick read. Kept my attention from beginning to end,and that is what a good book is all about!

I recommend it.

Shirley Johnson/Reviewer

As the winner of the 2002 Boston Globe/ Horn Book Award for best fiction publihsed in the USA, LORD OF THE DEEP is surely misunderstood. Some readers seem to want pat answers. Others seem to want the book to "educate" their young readers. This book does neither. What it does is provide a glimpse at the gray areas in real life, and an opportunity to relfect upon one's own feelings about how to resolve a difficult issue. You have to read with more than gratuitous answers in mind to ride this book through its study in human nature.