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Heart of a Samurai - by Margi Preus (Paperback)
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Highlights
- A New York Times bestseller, Heart of a Samurai is "a terrific biographical novel" (Wall Street Journal), filled with international adventure, a look at cultural differences, and both American and Japanese history.
- Maud Hart Lovelace Book Award (Grades 6-8) 2015 4th Winner
- 8-12 Years
- 8.2" x 5.4" Paperback
- 336 Pages
- Juvenile Fiction, Action & Adventure
Description
About the Book
Fast-paced and full of adventure, this fascinating, true story is based on a real incident that occurred in 1841, and follows a young Japanese boy as he travels from Japan to America and back to Japan.
Book Synopsis
A New York Times bestseller, Heart of a Samurai is "a terrific biographical novel" (Wall Street Journal), filled with international adventure, a look at cultural differences, and both American and Japanese history.
A Newbery Medal Winner * An NPR Backseat Book Club pick
This award-winning adventure novel will thrill and enrich every young reader who picks it up.
In 1841, a Japanese fishing vessel sinks. Its crew is forced to swim to a small, unknown island, where they are rescued by a passing American ship. Japan's borders remain closed to all Western nations, so the crew sets off to America, learning English on the way.
Manjiro, a 14-year-old boy, is curious and eager to learn everything he can about this new culture. Eventually the captain adopts Manjiro and takes him to his home in New England.
The boy lives there for some time and then heads to San Francisco to pan for gold. After many years, he makes it back to Japan, only to be imprisoned as an outsider.
With his hard-won knowledge of the West, Manjiro is in a unique position to persuade the emperor to ease open the boundaries around Japan; he may even achieve his unlikely dream of becoming a samurai.
"Illustrated with Manjiro's own pencil drawings in addition to other archival material and original art from Tamaki, this is a captivating fictionalized (although notably faithful) retelling of the boy's adventures. Capturing his wonder, remarkable willingness to learn, the prejudice he encountered and the way he eventually influenced officials in Japan to open the country, this highly entertaining page-turner." --Kirkus Reviews (starred review)
About the Author
Margi Preus has written many popular plays and picture books for children, including Windswept, Lily Leads the Way, and The Bamboo Sword. She teaches a children's literature course at the College of St. Scholastica in Duluth, Minnesota, where she writes for Colder by the Lake Comedy Theater and also watches for whales on Lake Superior.
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