Last Night with Tokyo Rose by Alexa Kang

What does the American flag mean to me?
How far should I go for a country I once called my own, when it has abandoned me and shattered everything I ever believed it to be?
I, Tom Sakai, am just an ordinary man. In Seattle, where I was born, I grew up wanting nothing more than a decent job to get by. As long as I can watch the sunset over Puget Sound with a beer in my hand, life is good.
But in 1941, a simple life is too much to ask for a Nisei. Born to Japanese immigrants, I am American. Only my fellow citizens and government don’t treat me as one. As Japan and America edge to the brink of war, my future turns bleak. Wherever I go, doors closed. When an offer came for me to work on an ocean liner sailing to Manila, I jumped at the chance and set out to sea.
In Manila, I found my escape. In this burgeoning city under American colonial rule, new friends welcomed me. Job opportunities awaited me. Above all, I fell in love.
And then, Pearl Harbor struck. My identity now forces me to take a side. My survival hinges on whether I stand with the land of the rising sun or the land of the free.
I can no longer run from who I am. Do I swear my allegiance to Imperial Japan, the instigator of war and violence? Or America, the country that desserted me when the world’s darkest hour begins?
How can I choose when doing so would mean losing forever the woman I love?