Content Warning: This section of the guide includes depictions of wartime violence and death, as well as depictions of racism and anti-Asian racial slurs.

“Stanley and I looked different in other ways too—I was white, with skin that turned pink from sunburn, blue eyes, and wavy light brown hair. Stanley was a cross between his Japanese American mom and his white dad, with tan skin, dark brown eyes, and straight black hair. But we were brothers, forever and always, thanks to our love of comic books.”

As the narrator, Frank establishes the differences between Stanley and himself. He then immediately dismisses these differences in favor of the deep friendship between them, crediting their shared passion for comic books as the thing that connects them. He underscores their brotherhood over their differences.

“The Incident had changed me from a kid who was careful to a kid who would do anything to never get hurt again. My constant fear had gotten so bad that sometimes I wouldn’t leave the house unless I had to.

But here in Hawaii, things had gotten better. Much better. And a lot of that had to do with Stanley. When we got to talking about comics, and making up our own characters and stories, it was like I forgot to be so afraid.”

Frank references the mysterious Incident that makes him so fearful, though it will be Part 2 when he explains what this Incident was. His journey throughout the novel will be to overcome his fear. Importantly, the one thing that helps him forget his anxieties is collaborating with Stanley, illustrating the power of friendship.

“Everywhere you went in Hawaii, people talked about how they didn’t want to go to war. If the radio was right, most people from California to Connecticut felt the same way.”

This passage refers to the isolationist stance that the United States held in the early years of WWII as the war raged in Europe. Though some people wanted to enter the war and lend support to the Allied Forces, a larger percentage wanted to stay out of the fighting. This attitude changed significantly following the Pearl Harbor attack on December 7, 1941.