Heart of a Samurai

Heart of a Samurai
By: Margi Preus
Amulet Books 2010
Newbery Honor Book 2011

Heart of a Samurai is definitely one of the better historical fiction novels I have ever read. The novel takes us through the story of a group of five Japanese men stranded at sea and desperately trying to survive. They cannot return home in fear of being executed by their own people and end up fighting to survive on The Island of Birds. They eventually get rescued by a group of Americans, but they were more commonly known as the "Barbarians" to the Japanese. Manjiro, the main character, begins to assimilate to the culture of the Americans, but is scolded by his Japanese companions that believe he is changing for the worst. Manjiro soon finds out that the ship they are aboard is a whaling vessel. He finds out that the Americans kill whales to get their oil and bones, this was an important supply in the 1800's, and he is put off by his fellow crewmates. The ship harbors in Oahu and Manjiro is left with the heart wrenching decision of leaving his Japanese friends or starting a new life in America. He decides to start his new life in America and soon finds out the pros and cons of living there. He soon begins school and learns what it is like to have a voice and opportunity. As great as Manjiros life in America was he still desperately missed Japan. After many turmoils Manjiros gains a wealth of money and leaves to Japan after finding his friends again in Oahu. After dealing with imprisonment and interrogations he is finally able to leave and see his mother after 12 years of being so far way from her.  Soon after, Manjiro starts a new life in Japan becoming one of the most important men during that era. His new rank as samurai seemed impossible to everyone since he came from a lowly fishing village but with Manjiros strength and determination he made his dreams come true.

I loved so many things about this book. It was such a heartwarming tale of rising above what others have set out for you. Manjiro was once a simple boy that allowed others to stand over him without a fight but he realized that he was so much more than that. I feel like this is such an important lesson for younger children because through this story they can realize that no matter what their "rank" is in society they can still become something great. The book taught so many great lessons and was a fantastic story. I especially loved the authors pacing. She did a great job of making it so we were no over killed with too much of anything. I felt like as soon as I was starting to get bored of Manjiros journeys at sea she would twist it around so something else would happen. The story is also very historically correct which I found amazing since many children's books are overly dramatized and they begin to loose their effect. The extras she did put in were only to enhance the readers understanding of Manjiros problems with others discrimination's of him.

I also really enjoyed how much I actually got into the book. I am usually not a fan of historical fiction, but this was actually exciting. There were so many times I felt torn between what I wanted Manjiro to do. I was so torn about him leaving his friends and starting a new life in America and then when he decided to come back to Japan. All of these moments kept me involved with the book though and I had a really hard time putting it down. The book also does a great job of showing children perspectives on cultures. Each culture is not perfect, but they all have something unique and wonderful about them and I feel Manjiro really brought out the pros and cons of America and Japan. It is so rich in culture and I loved how Manjiro always looked back on his roots so he never forgot who he really was. I feel like this would be a great book for young students going through the same situation of newly being in America.

I read some reviews prior to reading the book and heard that the whale killing was a bit brutal, but I didn't believe it at first. When I actually got to the scenes with the killing it turned out to be quite brutal for a children's novel and was very surprising. I usually found myself wincing at the detail that some of the scenes went into, and I feel like this might be a bit to rough for kids to read. I feel like it is also very enlightening to see how terrible and detrimental of an industry that it is. It could really open up the eyes of many people to make them more aware of what is happening to the wildlife around them.

I would definitely read this book with my students if they were at least in 6th grade so they could hopefully get a better grasp of the concepts of individuality and being proud of who you are. It would also be great for my students to learn about one of the most influential men in Japan and how he brought together two nations by standing up for each side and stopping the isolation that ripped so many people apart. Most of all I would want my students to learn that if you put your whole heart into something you can become anything you want just like how Manjiro had the heart of a samurai.