Heart of a Samarai

Manjiro, a poor fourteen-year-old fisherman, gets shipwrecked with four other Japanese young men on an island where they are rescued by an American whaling ship in 1841. Japan has had 250 years of isloationist policy where if a citizen comes in contact with a foreigner they cannot come back to their country because they are tainted. The Japanese sailors are in a fix when the whaling ship comes along. Do they starve to death on the island or do they hitch a ride with a bunch of barbarians?

Obviously, they choose the barbarians. While Manjiro's  companions stay separate from the crew and make no attempt to learn the language or work the ship, Manjiro is fascinated by sailing and whaling and he quickly learns the language and interacts with the crew. When offered an opportunity to travel to American with the Captain he takes it while his companions are dropped off at a Hawaiian port. In America, Manjiro goes to school where he has to learn to deal with bullies and acceptance. He lives in the U.S. for about 10 years before looking for gold in California. He is successful enough to travel back to Japan where he is imprisoned for years as a spy before policies shift and Japan decides to make contact with the world. Then Manjiro's language and knowledge of American culture becomes critical to the leaders in helping them open their world to others.

This book is written from a western point of view and I found some parts stereotypical, particularly from the thinking in the character Goemon. I found the book lacking in authenticity and understanding of Japanese culture. I would really like to give it to one of our students from Japan and get their view on it. I thought Manjiro sounded American in his thinking not Japanese. Also, Manjiro wouldn't have spoken as well as he did in the book, but it would be really difficult to write how someone acquires language at the age of 14. I just know from living in Asia that he wouldn't be that fluent with tenses and sentences on the whaling ship.  She had some short choppy sentences but then would switch to complete sentences, but these were minor occurences and didn't take away from the story. I did like how the author shows that Manjiro had to face prejudices from Jolly and the bully at school. It was refreshing to see that Jolly changed in the story. I also liked how the author writes about Manjiro being interested in a girl but how he overhears her talking about him and realizes that he has no chance with her being a foreigner. It is hard to be accepted as an outsider.

I thought the plot was rushed at times and covered some huge time periods. I also thought the bond between Manjiro and the Captain should have been established more. The Japanese are so intensely loyal to family that I found it unbelieveable that Manjiro would leave his family behind when he was the breadwinner and follow the captain. It would have been more believeable if he had no family. This is a true story so I wonder if this part was true or not. Sometimes the truth is harder to understand than something made up.

I'm not sure why this is young adult except that the killing of whales might be distressing to children and the vocabulary high. I thought the author handled the whaling well and Manjiro had sympathy for the magnificent whale. It is an interesting book and would be a good one to use for book club because there is so much to talk about in it. There is little violence and just  one small part where Manjiro thinks a girl is cute.

Reading Level: Young Adult

:-) :-) :-) 3 Smileys

Turtle in Paradise

Eleven-year-old Turtle has not had an easy life being raised by her scatterbrained, single mom during the Depression. Her soot-colored, grey-eyes see the world for what it is while her mother has had as many different jobs as boyfriends.  Turtle copes by being tough and cynical. When her mother gets a job as a housekeeper for a rich lady that doesn't like children, Turtle is shipped off to her aunt whom she has never met in Key West, Florida. Turtle learns to love her new, extended family and have adventures with her cousins and grows to love her crabby grandmother who has a hard protective turtle shell like her.

Turtle sounds older than 11 and is quite funny using sarcasm. She's very direct and mature for her age, but then she's the one who keeps her mom together; not the other way around. I can see some readers thinking Turtle isn't believeable. I enjoyed the character and thought it was believeable considering the two live in poverty and Turtle has probably been taking care of herself at an age earlier than most children. I didn't find the boys' diaper gang believeable. Although it was funny, I can't see a group of boys taking care of babies. It is more likely that they'd be down at the docks with the boats.  I'm not sure why the author makes it obvious who the biological father is in the story to the reader but not Turtle. And then at the end there is no resolution with the father. But these are minor issues in a well-told, fun story.

Reading Level: 4.1

:-) :-) :-) :-) 4 out 5 Smileys

Penny from Heaven

When I read the first page of this book I thought, Is this a book about religion?

It isn't.

The setting is New Jersey during the 50's where eleven-year-old Penny Falucci, the narrator, spends time with her cousin, Frankie, who usually cooks up an adventure that gets them both into trouble. Her father is dead and no one will talk about it. Her mother doesn't get along with her father's family but she doesn't ban Penny from seeing them every Sunday where Penny goes for dinner. This huge Italian American family is boisterous, eccentric, and loveable. When Penny seriously hurts herself in an accident she finds out the truth about her father and why the two families don't get along.

This book won a Newbery Honor in 2007. The writing is terrific with great character development. The tension comes from the families not getting along, Penny frustrated with her Mom who is afraid to let her do activities with other kids her age, and Frankie who talks her into sneaking out to places behind her Mom's back. Penny loves baseball and she listens to the Dodgers games with her uncle. Some might find this book slow but I loved it and thought the character development terrific. The action picks up as the plot moves toward the climax of the story.

Penny suffers a nasty injury in the book and there are some sad parts. Penny also starts to notice boys and thinks about dating. I thought the pacing was good and I found it hard to put down. If you read Countdown by Deborah Wiles, and liked it then you will probably like this book.

Reading Level 4.5

:-) :-) :-) :-) :-) 5 Smileys

One Crazy Summer

Ever gone to a movie that everyone raved about and left feeling disappointed because it didn't meet your expectations?

That's how I felt about this book.

I was expecting more than the book delivered. The story is about three girls who fly to California from New York to visit their mother who abandoned them when they were under five years old. Upon meeting her it is clear that she doesn't want them even visiting. The story is told from the oldest child's point of view, Delphine. Set in the 1960's the girls learn about their mother's past and spend their days at a summer camp run by the Black Panthers. Delphine watches out for her two younger sisters and sees her mother for who she is: "It didn't seem right that they thought singing and dancing would change Cecile into someone who cried for her long-lost daughters or fried pork chops and made banana pudding. Cecile wasn't that kind of mother, if you wanted to call her one at all." p 132.

I thought the pacing was slow in the beginning. The ending was nice and the story picks up in the middle. The writing is well done with excellent descriptions. I wished I hadn't read any reviews.

Reading Level 5.3

:-) :-) :-) 3.5 Smileys