Samurai Shortstop

by Alan Gratz Narrated by Arthur Morey

Overview

Tokyo, 1890. High school can be brutal, even in turn-of-the-century Japan.

From his first day at boarding school, Toyo Shimada sees how upperclassmen make a sport out of terrorizing the first-years. Still, he's taken aback when the seniors keep him from trying out for the baseball team-especially after he sees their current shortstop. Toyo isn't afraid to prove himself; He's more troubled by his uncle's recent suicide. Although Uncle Koji's defiant death was supposedly heroic, it has made Toyo question many things about his family's samurai background. And worse, Toyo fears that his father may be next.

It all has something to do with -the way of the warrior-but Toyo doesn't understand even after his father agrees to teach it to him. As the gulf between them grows wider, Toyo searches desperately for a way to prove there is a place for his family's samurai values in modern Japan. Baseball might just be the answer, but will his father ever accept a “Western” game that stands for everything he despises?

Editorial Reviews

Booklist

"A memorable chronicle of boys' inhumanity to boys, and a testament to enduring values in a time of social change."

Publishers Weekly

Debut novelist Gratz uses baseball to tell the story of Japan's tumultuous transition from 19th-century feudalism to 20th-century Westernized society. In the harrowing first chapter, 15-year-old Toyo witnesses his uncle commit seppuku ritual suicide rather than renounce his samurai lifestyle as the emperor has ordered. As required by custom, Toyo's father decapitates his brother, and Toyo must watch because, his father says, "Soon you will do the same for me." Toyo then begins life at Ichiko, Tokyo's most elite boarding school, haunted by the image of his father tossing his uncle's head onto the funeral pyre. The violence soon becomes more personal, as Ichiko's upper classmen conduct vicious hazing rituals to keep the first-years in line. His father arrives daily to instruct Toyo in bushido the "samurai code" which includes sword-fighting but also meditation and flower arranging. Toyo channels these skills into his passion for a new sport introduced by American gaijin besuboru. Into this well-researched period piece, Gratz drops a few anachronistic sports cliches, climaxing with a Big Game against a team of Americans. Though Toyo finds a way to use the samurai values his father has taught him, his leadership skills don't develop enough for him to protest or withdraw from aiding the enforcement of a brutal punishment against a boy who has strayed from Ichiko's harsh rules, undermining the sympathy readers may have developed for him. Still, this is an intense read about a fascinating time and place in world history. Ages 12-up. (May) Copyright 2006 Reed Business Information.

School Library Journal

Gr 7 Up-Toyo Shimada, 15, watches his beloved uncle, Koji, commit seppuku (hara-kiri) the day before he begins his first year of boarding school. This act sets into motion a story that is firmly grounded in the transition between traditions and modern values in Japan, a place where samurai are no more and where, according to Toyo's father, Western influences are eroding Japan's cultural heritage. Harsh and sometimes brutal incidents in Toyo's school echo the larger upheaval and confusion in Japan as the people struggle with blending their beliefs with disparate Western tenets. One place where they mesh is in baseball. Toyo sees the ancient warrior art of bushido implicit in baseball and works on convincing his teammates that in order to win the game, they must first learn to balance individual accomplishments with teamwork. Actor Arthur Morey hits a home run with his narration of Alan Gratz's debut novel (Dial Books, 2006). Although he doesn't differentiate much between characters, his Japanese pronunciation is believable and he manages to convey both solemnity and thoughtfulness in his telling. Japanese terms sprinkled throughout are either defined or easily discerned from context. A wonderful addition to public and school library collections.-Charli Osborne, Oxford Public Library, MI Copyright 2006 Reed Business Information.

Kirkus Reviews

Commodore Perry sailed into Yokohama harbor in 1853, and only a few years later, in 1870, baseball was introduced into Japan, along with many other Western influences. Out of this clash of cultures comes this story of 16-year-old Toyo, making his way in an elite boarding school, trying to get over the ritual suicide of his old samurai Uncle Koji, fearing his father may be next and eventually seeing baseball as a way to meld East and West, traditional samurai values and the game of "besuboru." Debut novelist Gratz covers much ground in this baseball story that's really about the transition of Japan from a feudal society to a westernized industrial power. The graphic opening chapter makes this for older readers, who will find it an unusual take on the American (and Japanese) pastime. (author's notes, bibliography) (Fiction. 14+)

FEB/MAR 08 - AudioFile

Set in the late 1800s in a changing Japan, this story is about baseball—and more. After witnessing his uncle's ceremonial suicide, Toyo is accepted to an elite school, where he works to earn a place on the baseball team. In his attempts to understand the ways of the samurai, Toyo gains personal insight and applies his new knowledge to his favorite pastime. An accomplished actor, Arthur Morey does an acceptable job of relaying the story. However, the intriguing and well-researched plot would be better served with a more dramatic production, and, despite the strength of the story, the producers may miss opportunities to connect young listeners to a foreign place and time. B.H. © AudioFile 2008, Portland, Maine

Product Details

BN ID:	2940172161292
Publisher:	Penguin Random House
Publication date:	11/14/2006
Edition description:	Unabridged

Read an Excerpt

Chapter Seventeen

"All right," Junzo said. "So Mt. Fuji can catch. How is he with a bat?"

"What's a bat?" Fuji asked.

Toyo grimaced and waved off the question for later. "He's a quick learner," Toyo explained. "He'll be fine."

"He better be," Moriyama said. "We've got three games coming up soon."

The Ichiko fielders took their positions, and Toyo handed Fuji a bat and ball. Fuji tested the weight of the bat in his massive hands.

"What we need you to do," Toyo told him, "is to stand here and hit the ball to the fielders so they can practice. You toss the ball in the air and hit it. Got it?"

Toyo demonstrated, then went to his position at short. "Okay, Fuji. Just hit the ball on the ground like I showed you."

Fuji tossed the ball in the air and took a swing, missing the ball by a foot.

"It's okay," Toyo said, getting ready again. "You'll get the hang of it."

Fuji took another bad swing. And another. He wasn't anywhere close to the ball. He finally made contact on his next swing, knocking the ball a whole yard and a half in front of him, where it died meekly in the grass.

"Experiment over," Junzo said.

Fuji set the bat down on the ground and bowed. "Thank you for the opportunity."

"Wait, wait, wait." Toyo ran in from short. "All right, so hitting is a little harder than catching. You need a few pointers is all."

"Great," Junzo sneered. "Now Mt. Fuji is going to get batting lessons from a girl who can't hit the ball out of the infield."

"Don't worry," Toyo told Fuji. "He's like that to everybody. Now here, watch. You're wasting too much swing. It's all about economy of movement."

Toyo took the bat and mimicked Fuji's swing.

"You're also not using your hips. You must swing with your arms and your body. Like this."

After five hundred swings of the bokkoto, Toyo was able to imitate the stance from his bushido practice without even thinking about it. He stepped forward into a downward swing, slicing the air while his hips and arms moved together. Though his arms ached, he felt a power he had never experienced before.

"Moriyama, throw me a ball."

"Come on, this isn't batting practice," Junzo complained.

"He needs to see how to hit," Kennichi argued.

Moriyama went into his windup and delivered a fastball down the heart of the plate. Toyo marshaled his strength for one good swing. In his mind, the bat became a bokkoto and the ball was his father.

Thwack! Toyo drove the ball well into right field.

"Wow, when did you learn to hit?" Moriyama asked.

Toyo stared at his bat.

"Let's see him do it twice before we give him a medal," said Junzo.

Moriyama got the ball back and Toyo got set again. "Elbows in, step forward, swing with the body," Toyo muttered to himself, trying to remember everything his father had taught him. "Keep your arms tight, stay focused, and . . ."

The ball zipped over the plate.

"Swing through," Toyo said, whacking the ball back up the middle. Katsuya dove, but the ball rocketed through into center field.

Wearily giddy, Toyo laughed. He suddenly understood what had drawn him to baseball in the first place-why he and the others loved the game so much. At its heart, baseball was Japanese. How else to explain the samurai nature of this game? It was at the same time both modern and ancient, mental and physical.

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