Date: 09/22/2009

John Hamamura, author of the novel Color of the Sea, the SJSU Campus Reading Program selection for fall 2009, will make two campus appearances Wednesday, September 23. Hamamura will be in conversation with Assistant Professor of English Nick Taylor at 1:30 p.m. in King 225-229. He will also read from his work and sign books at 7 p.m. in King 225-229.

Publisher Random House Inc. said: "Raised in Japan and Hawaii, Sam Hamada has been trained in the ways of the samurai. After graduation Sam strikes out for California and falls in love for the first time, with a beautiful young woman named Keiko. But then the Japanese attack Peal Harbor, igniting the war and making Sam, Keiko, and their families enemies of the state. Drafted into the U.S. Army, sent on a secret mission, Sam's very identity both puts his life at risk and gives him the strength he needs to survive. Taking us from the lush Hawaiian Islands of the 1930s to the wartime world of madness in Hiroshima, Color of the Sea is the unforgettable story of one Japanese boy's coming-of-age."

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