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340 pp.
| Abrams/Amulet
| September, 2015
|
TradeISBN 978-1-4197-0807-7$16.95
(2)
4-6
A dozen years after the events of Heart of a Samurai, American ships arrive in Japan to force trade. Preus retells this gunboat diplomacy's world-changing effects through two boys: servant Yoshi (who longs to be a samurai) and cabin boy Jack. Bolstered by period illustrations and rich appended material, the book is solidly historical but never forgets to be an adventure story. Bib., glos.
Reviewer: Roger Sutton
| Horn Book Magazine Issue:
November, 2015
306 pp.
| Abrams/Amulet
| August, 2010
|
TradeISBN 978-0-8109-8981-8$15.95
(2)
4-6
Shipwrecked in 1842, fourteen-year-old Manjiro and his fellow fishermen are rescued by a whaler. Manjiro stays on the ship, learning English and later going with the captain to his home in Massachusetts. The facts of the teen's life are inherently dramatic, but Preus keeps her hero (a real person) human-sized and empathetic. The book is augmented with actual drawings by Manjiro.
Reviewer: Roger Sutton
| Horn Book Magazine Issue:
September, 2010
40 pp.
| Farrar
| October, 2008
|
TradeISBN 978-0-374-34792-5$16.95
(2)
K-3
Manjiro, fourteen, survives being lost at sea in the 1840s. Rescued by whalers, he's taken to New England where he diligently equips himself with the skills to return to Japan almost ten years later. The story is well told and involving. Alternating half- and full-page watercolors provide atmosphere and historic detail. An informative note and a world map of Manjiro's travels are appended. Websites. Bib.
Reviewer: Roger Sutton
| Horn Book Magazine Issue:
November, 2008
(2)
4-6
Manjiro, a young Japanese fisherman, was rescued from a desert island by an American whaler, educated in Massachusetts, and returned to his homeland just in time to ease the diplomatic passage of Commodore Perry into Japan in 1853. His story, lucidly narrated by Blumberg, is uniquely suited to depicting the closed, rigorously controlled society that was Japan 150 years ago. Bib.