The Bamboo Sword

by Margi Preus

Overview

Master writer Margi Preus treats readers to an amazing adventure in 1853 Japan. This lyric novel follows Yoshi, a Japanese boy who dreams of becoming a samurai. Unfortunately, as part of the serving class, Yoshi can never become a warrior. He is taken up by Manjiro, the protagonist of Preus’s Heart of a Samurai, and becomes his servant and secret watchdog. Meanwhile, Commodore Matthew Perry and his USS Susquehanna squadron of steamships arrive in Edo Bay demanding that Japan open its ports to foreign trade. Aboard the commodore’s flagship is Jack, a cabin boy who becomes separated from his American companions. He and Yoshi set out on a grand adventure to return Jack to his ship before he is discovered by the shogun’s samurai.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781613128350
Publisher:	ABRAMS
Publication date:	09/15/2015
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Lexile:	820L (what's this?)
File size:	9 MB
Age Range:	10 - 14 Years

About the Author

Margi Preus is the author of the acclaimed novels West of the Moon, Shadow on the Mountain, and Newbery Honor winner Heart of a Samurai. She also writes and cowrites plays, sketches, and adaptations for theater. She lives in Duluth, Minnesota.

Editorial Reviews

06/29/2015
Preus revisits historical Japanese-American relations in a tale that catapults Yoshi, a young servant who longs to wield the sword of a samurai, into a clash of alien powers. When Commodore Perry’s steamships (“Black dragons belching smoke”) arrive in 1853 in an effort to force isolationist Japan into diplomatic relations, the feudal world of Edo Japan is shaken to its core. Yoshi’s master, Hideki, can’t stomach his duties as a samurai, and his bodyguard, Kitsune, blames Yoshi, who fights back and flees for his life. A homeless fugitive, Yoshi finds work with a generous artist, a sandal maker, and finally Manjiro, the hero of Preus’s Newbery Honor–winning Heart of a Samurai. Yoshi’s narrative alternates with that of Jack Sullivan, a cabin boy on Perry’s ship. When Jack is stranded on shore, Yoshi risks everything to hide him from Japanese authorities and rogue samurai whose identities are threatened by a changing social structure. Though her characters lack some of the depth of her previous work, Preus remains adept at meshing fiction with carefully researched history. Ages 10–14. Agent: Stephen Fraser, Jennifer De Chiara Literary Agency. (Sept.)

Publishers Weekly

"Middle-grade readers eager for adventure with a solid grounding in history will be enchanted."

Booklist

"Middle-grade readers eager for adventure with a solid grounding in history will be enchanted."

Booklist

★ 2015-05-06
Thirteen-year-old Yoshi is a natural with the sword and relishes the thought of slicing up the hairy, bulbous-nosed barbarian invaders to protect the Sacred Land of the Rising Sun. Japan in 1853 is a fiercely isolationist country, and no one is expecting visitors when American explorer Commodore Perry arrives at Edo Bay with four steamships belching black smoke. The villagers fear an attack, but Perry is instead delivering a letter from U.S. President Millard Fillmore asking for open ports. Yoshi becomes embroiled in the national panic when he's hired as a bodyguard for Manjiro (the hero of Preus' 2011 Newbery Honor Heart of a Samurai), now a Western cultural adviser to the shogun. Yoshi's worldview is further shaken when he finds himself nose to nose with an actual American barbarian—"lowly cabin boy" Jack Sullivan from Perry's ship. Despite Yoshi's rather murderous misgivings, he becomes his enemy's protector and friend—and Jack becomes his—making a good case that xenophobia is often simply a matter of ignorance. Thanks to the lively, warm, and witty storyteller's voice and the vivid, sensuous depictions of the katana swish and kimono swirl of 19th-century Japan, readers will feel immersed in this tumultuous time in Japanese history. As with her earlier book, the pages are liberally decorated with archival images, supplemented by original art by cover artist Yuko Shimizu. Preus spins another suspenseful swashbuckler starring a Japanese boy who finds himself caught between cultures. (author's note, glossary, selected bibliography) (Historical fiction. 9-13)

Kirkus Reviews