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Heart of a Samurai

by Margi Preus (Author)

Heart of a Samurai
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Reading Level: 4th − 5th Grade
cms Common Sense Media Review

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.

Heart of a Samurai is a 2011 Newbery Honor Book.

Accolades and Praise for Heart of a Samurai

2011 Newbery Honor Book

New York Times Bestseller

NPR Backseat Book Club pick

"A terrific biographical novel by Margi Preus." - Wall Street Journal *STARRED REVIEW*

cms Common Sense Media Review
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ALA/Booklist

Starred Review
It's a classic fish-out-of-water story (although this fish goes into the water repeatedly), and it's precisely this classic structure that gives the novel the sturdy bones of a timeless tale. Backeted by gritty seafaring episodes--salty and bloody enough to assure us that Preus has done her research--the book's heart is its middle section, in which Manjiro, allegedly the first Japanese to set foot in America, deals with the prejudice and promise of a new world. By Japanese tradition, Manjiro was destined to be no more than a humble fisherman, but when his 10-year saga ends, he has become so much more.

Kirkus

Starred Review
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.

Publisher's Weekly

Starred Review
Preus mixes fact with fiction in a tale that is at once adventurous, heartwarming, sprawling, and nerve-racking in its depictions of early anti-Asian sentiment. She succeeds in making readers feel every bit as "other" as Manjiro, while showing America at its best and worst through his eyes.

Hornbook

First-time novelist Preus turns the true story of Manjiro into an action-packed boy's adventure tale.

School Library Journal

Starred Review
Stunning debut novel. Preus places readers in the young man's shoes, whether he is on a ship or in a Japanese prison. Her deftness in writing is evident in two poignant scenes, one in which Manjiro realizes the similarities between the Japanese and the Americans and the other when he reunites with his Japanese family.
Margi Preus

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.

Classification
Fiction
ISBN-13
9781419702006
Lexile Measure
760
Guided Reading Level
-
Publisher
Harry N. Abrams
Publication date
February 20, 2012
Series
-
BISAC categories
JUV001000 - Juvenile Fiction | Action & Adventure
JUV016000 - Juvenile Fiction | Historical | General
Library of Congress categories
United States
Japan
Japanese
Relations
Samurai
Whaling
Nakahama, Manjireao
Maud Hart Lovelace Book Award
Nominee 2015 - 2015
Newberry
Honor Book 2011

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