Finalist in 2024 Foreword Indies Book of the Year (War & Military)
"Captivating...masterful weaving of history, military humor and jargon, combat, brotherhood, and the day-to-day routines of soldier life...."
?Army University Press
"Kiyonaga acknowledges many facets of the times, from prejudice against Japanese-Americans to combat challenges... [He] is especially adept at capturing the nuances of fighting and interludes of peace and discovery, juxtaposing them in ways that illustrate the pulse and people of the 1940s."
?Midwest Book Review
"John C Kiyonaga has written a spirited novel about the 442nd Nisei Unit during World War 2. I recommend it highly for all readers who enjoy a WW2 thriller with a political edge. And for all readers who enjoy fine prose and novelistic scenes and characters. This small novel reveals a large writing talent."
?Alan Lelchuk, professor of creative writing at Dartmouth College, author of Searching for Wallenberg and Brooklyn Boy
"[Kiyonaga's] trimmed style creates a compelling, off-beat rhythm, moving the story via tightly stitched scenes. The result is fast-paced engagement, striking at the authentic core of the 442nd experience and demonstrating the reasons why they continue to be remembered today."
?The Molokai Dispatch
In the wake of Japan's attack on Pearl Harbor, 22-year-old Joe Horiuchi is faced with a decision: volunteer for America's war against the Axis Powers, or reject the country that is locking his fellow Japanese-Americans in internment camps. Where does Joe's loyalty lie? And what is he willing to do for the country that regards him and his people as suspect?
Like the global conflict, Joe's personal war is fought on many fronts. Overcoming his sense of betrayal by his own government, he enlists and joins the 442nd Regimental Combat Team, where he confronts a self-serving senior officer, faces an accusation of murder, lives with the paralyzing terror of waging war, and longs for the girl he left behind.
Will Joe heed his unit's motto, "Go For Broke"? Or will he settle for giving less?
Debut author John Kiyonaga draws on his own father's experience serving with the 442nd RCT, a unit consisting entirely of Japanese-American enlisted soldiers and considered the military's most decorated unit. Expertly weaving fiction with history, Uninvited Valor is the story of men called into brotherhood?and greatness?by circumstances beyond their control, and their decision to go for broke, risking everything for the country that has forsaken them.
