June 2016 Featured Book
by Pamela Rotner Sakamoto '84
"Deeply reported and researched, Sakamoto's book provides a fascinating close-up of the travails of wartime life in an increasingly fascistic Japan."― New York Times Book Review
- Listen to Pamela Rotner Sakamoto '84 and Pam Allyn '84 discuss the book.
- Read an excerpt and reviews.
- Learn more about the author.
- Visit Amherst Reads on Goodreads and start a discussion.
Meticulously researched and beautifully written, the true story of a Japanese American family that found itself on opposite sides during World War II―an epic tale of family, separation, divided loyalties, love, reconciliation, loss, and redemption--this is a riveting chronicle of U.S.-Japan relations and the Japanese experience in America.
Alternating between the American and Japanese perspectives, Midnight in Broad Daylight captures the uncertainty and intensity of those charged with the fighting as well as the deteriorating home front of Hiroshima―as never told before in English―and provides a fresh look at the dropping of the first atomic bomb. Intimate and evocative, it is an indelible portrait of a resilient family, a scathing examination of racism and xenophobia, an homage to the tremendous Japanese American contribution to the American war effort, and an invaluable addition to the historical record of this extraordinary time.