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    Heart of a Samurai
    Heart of a Samurai
    Heart of a Samurai
    Audiobook6 hours

    Heart of a Samurai

    Written by Margi Preus

    Narrated by James Yaegashi

    4.5/5

    ()

    About this audiobook

    Praised as "a timeless tale" by Booklist in a starred review, this Newbery Honor book by Margi Preus explores the cultural divide between the East and West circa 1841. When Manjiro, a Japanese teenager, is thrown from his fishing boat during a storm, he's rescued by an American whaling ship. Befriending the ship's captain, Manjiro decides to travel with the crew to Massachusetts. But years later, when Manjiro attempts to return to his homeland, he's imprisoned as an outsider. "Preus mixes fact with fiction in a tale that is at once adventurous, heartwarming, sprawling, and nerve-racking ."-Publishers Weekly
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherRecorded Books, Inc.
    Release dateJun 3, 2011
    ISBN9781461804352
    Heart of a Samurai

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    Reviews for Heart of a Samurai

    4.5/5

    26 ratings15 reviews

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    • 5/5
      Fourteen-year-old Manjiro is full of questions, questions that the elder fishermen he is with get irritated with. Manjiro must learn his place, but Manjiro dreams of one day becoming a samurai. That dream is impossible though, because he comes from a family of fishermen and that's all he ever be.It's 1841 and Japan is the greatest country in the world, so they say. Stories are told of the horrible beasts that inhabit the West. When Manjiro and his fellow fishermen are swept out to sea in a great storm, they are fearful of not being able to go home and worst of all...meeting the barbarians. They eventually get stranded on Bird Island, so named for the thousands of albatross that nest there. For six months they are stranded on this island with no hope in sight, until one day a monstrous ship appears on the horizon. The barbarians have come.Manjiro is more curious than afraid of these strangely dressed and unclean people of the John Howland. They are taken on board, but Manjiro's companions want nothing to do with these people who will corrupt thier ways. Manjiro soon joins the crew and finds out that the John Howland is an American whaling ship. Because he is different and speaks differently there is prejudice on board, however most become friends with him. His greatest relationship is with the Captain, who later becomes a father figure to him.Eventually he comes to America to live with the Captain and his wife. There he meets even greater prejudice, but he has a samurai's spirit and forges ahead, eventually going to school and learning a trade. However, the sea calls to him as does his homeland. Bound for home on another ship, he makes his way to the growing gold rush in California. From there he makes his way home after ten years away.Stepping on the shores of Japan and making his way home to his village is not an easy journey for Manjiro. It'll be two more years before he's allowed home due to suspicion as a spy. Still regarded suspiciously for the remainder of his life, Manjiro did become a samurai and was instrumental in bringing change to the very isolated Japan.This is a great adventure from start to finish. Based on actual events about a boy named Manjiro who grew up to be a samurai. He played a huge part in ending Japan's 250 year isolation, with his understanding of the West. His imagination and courage are what caught me the most. You can see the world as he saw it for the first time. Despite what his countrymen thought, he was able to see the world as a bigger, fascinating, beautiful place. My favorite line in the book is what he tells his mother as he gifts her with shells from all the places he's been. "These shells are like the people of the world, Okachan. They come from many different places. They come in many different colors and sizes. But they are all beautiful."2011 Newbery Honor Award WinnerAges 10+Publisher: Amulet Books (August 2010)ISBN: 9780810989818Available as an eBook.
    • 4/5
      A fictionalized history of John Mung, the Japanese boy who "discovers" America in the late nineteenth century. Japan will soon close the chapter of their 250 year isolation, a society so closed that foreigners can be put to death merely for appearing in Japanese ports. But as the story opens, this isolation rules the day and the Japanese native Manjiro, later named John Mung by his whaling ship rescuers, is shipwrecked off the Japanese coast beyond the point of return. He and his castaways find brief refuge on a deserted island and, despite their fear of barbarians speaking weird languages, succumb to their rescue by the "blue-eyed devils." The Western whalers, aboard a masted multi-sail vessel, are embarked on a multi-year commission of their funders back home. Upon their return to Massachusetts, Mung, now barely 17, is adopted by the ship’s Captain. This curious kid learns all he can of this American culture. Through Mung’s experiences the reader laughs about cultural differences revealed through daily living. Mung clearly appreciation of this American culture but longs to return home. Whaling in late 19th century America is a source of energy and a staple of the western economy. American ships, wanting places for resupply, long for open Japanese ports. But Japanese boundaries are closed. Concerns about political meddling from outsiders predominates the ruling classes. Meanwhile, the geopolitical threats, real or perceived, impact every leg of Mung's voyages. This Japanese native son's accidental shipwrecking forces him to consider the punishment of death upon his return versus a lifetime of exile in the Americas. Mung reflects on two cultures which share at least one perspective: both cultures have a ruling class that considers itself superior while conversely considering foreigners as barbarians -- Mung's American family has to leave two churches before they can worship in peace with their foreign adoptee.Can Mung go home again? The tale is a fascinating cultural exploration, a coming of age story, and an historical glimpse into a past world where energy-technologies are different but have similar political and commercial characteristics with the present day. Differences in political structures, technological utility, communications, transportation and commerce vary not just between countries of that era, but also between that era and the present. Interpersonal and cultural exchanges abound. Japanese isolationism lasted 250 years. Less than 250 years later, change seems both surprisingly swift and uncompromisingly still.
    • 4/5
      Book: Heart of a Samuri Author: Margi PreusCharacters: ManjiroSetting: Pacific ocean, America and Japan Theme: Returning Home, Assimilation Genre: Historical/ Multicultural Audience: Ages 9 + Curriculum: I can definitely see this used in language arts or English class for multicultural literature and maybe even some history class in reference to other countries and the relationships they had with the US. Summary: Young boy and his friends are shipwrecked and faced with few options, they can struggle to survive where they were deserted or make the most of the “barbarians” that sale by because Japan, their home country, will not accept them back. Their boarders are closed to all outsiders and returning residence. Manjiro takes the risk and tries to learn all he can from the “barbarians. Becoming familiar with American customs and traveling the world with hopes of one day returning home and one day become a Samuri. Personal Response: Very interesting book that takes on the role of when someone who does assimilate how they return to their culture and other like them are treated. This is a social issue that often occurs in many minorities but is seldomly discussed. I did notice that the main character seems to remain constant in his maturity, which leaves to question how much growing did the reader see? But all in all, it is a book that takes into account the aother aspect of immigration and assimilation.
    • 3/5
      This is an interesting take on the life of a Japanese sailor who joined an American whaling crew, but I felt as if I didn't understand the cultural perspectives of the Japanese characters. A good example of an author who did the research but missed the authenticity.
    • 5/5
      Historical fiction, based on the true story of the first Japanese person to arrive in America! Manjiro is 14, and is shipwrecked with four friends on a rocky deserted island far off the Japanese coast. Japan's borders are closed to all foreigners, and any Japanese person who leaves the country is not allowed to return, no matter the circumstances. Thus, they are willing to accept help from an American whaling ship when it arrives and rescues them from starvation. The Americans are not the evil monsters that Manjiro was always told foreigners were, and he decides to stay on the ship and work with the childless captain and crew, assisting with the bloody and brutal work of killing whales and harvesting their blubber for whale oil. Eventually the crew returns to Massachusetts, where Manjiro is adopted by the captain and his wife, but still the only Japanese person in America. The people there know as little about Japanese culture as Manjiro knew about non-Japanese cultures, and prejudice is everywhere. Lots of hand-drawn sketches of Manjiro's view of people and places will attract readers, and his ideas and experiences will ring true for anyone who has ever moved to a brand new place. 6th grade and up.
    • 3/5
      After being shipwrecked right at the opening of the story, Manjiro and his friends are rescued by the John Howland. The John Howland was a whaling vessel. It hunted whales for their blubber, baleen, and the spermaceti in the heads of the especially lucrative sperm whales. The descriptions of the hunting, killing, and butchering of the whales is not overly graphic, but as someone who grew up with an uncle down the street from Sea World (back when it was still an educational park rather than the kind of place that has roller coasters) and my own yearly unlimited pass, it was hard for me to read.But whaling is an important part of this book. It is Manjiro's quick thinking during a kill, along with his ability to quickly pick up the English language, that earned him his American name, John Mung, and a permanent place among the crew. At the end of the John Howland's time at sea, the captain even adopts Manjiro, now John, and raises him as his own, providing him with the best schooling Massachusetts could offer, an apprenticeship, and even his own pony. John's time in Massachusetts is fraught with prejudice. He's certainly not warmly welcomed by the whole of his new community. He faces taunts and bullying, and the captain and his wife even have to change churches twice before finding one that will accept their adopted son.John's maturity and nobility when dealing with all of this seems to stem from his desire to live up to all that the captain has given him. While this is wonderful and may even be true, I wish that John had more faults that just the propensity to bounce right off his pony. Throughout the book he has fears and hesitations and the story definitely has conflicts, but John Mung never really does. I didn't feel like he was a realistic character who showed growth as a person rather than a historical figure.But my biggest problem with Heart of a Samurai isn't a problem with the book at all; it's a problem with how it was described to me (and to everyone else on the front cover of the finished copy). Manjiro's life was clearly an adventurous one, but only because it actually happened. This is not an adventure book, and I think we're doing it and its readers a disservice by describing it that way. For an adventure book, it drags in places, like most of John's time in Massachusetts and the various points in his life when he's sitting around waiting to starve to death. The actual "high seas adventures" don't take up a lot of the text. Instead, it's rich with historical details and based on the life of a real mover and shaker in the international politics of the mid-1800s. Don't give this to your adventure lovers. Give it to your history buffs instead.Book source: ARC picked up at ALA
    • 4/5
      Manjiro is the poor son of a Japanese fisherman, who can expect no more than to become a fisherman. One day, a fishing trip with friends goes wrong, leaving Manjiro and his fellow fisherman marooned on an island. Manjiro's life changes forever when they are rescued by American whaling men and brought onboard. Manjiro's curiosity helps him pick up the foreign language and ways of ship life quickly, allowing him to break out of his pre-determined rank and excel in the life of a whaler. As John Mung sets sail for America to earn money to return to Japan, he finds himself an alien in an alien world. An outcast both in Japan and America, Manjiro/John Mung tries to carve out a life for himself and decide where he truly belongs. Eventually returning to Japan, John Mung simultaneously receives accolades and faces suspicion from his homeland. He is a crucial element in opening Japan to the West and starting commercial whaling in Japan.Based on a true story, this book provides interesting insight into Japanese Isolationism, whaling in the 19th century, prejudice, and perseverance. I loved the fast-pace and detailed descriptions in this story as well as the pictures, many of which are drawn by John Mung.
    • 5/5
      I read this book aloud to my seven-year-old, and we were both so engaged by Manjiro's story of adventure and the unique point of view he gave us of Japan's historical isolation from the West. We both learned a lot from the book, while still greatly enjoying the story itself.
    • 4/5
      Manjiro was only fourteen years old and working on a fishing boat when a freak storm cause them to be marooned on an island. This is where I learned something interesting. The law of that time siad anyone leaving the country and returning would be put to death. Manjiro is reminded of this. Later they are rescued and taken to Hawaii. The captain takes a liking to Manjiro and takes him home with him. Manjiro finds out first hand about prejudice. However, he doesn't let it get in his way. Later on he goes to California for the Gold Rush. He makes enough money to buy his own ship and sails back to Japan where his is captured and imprisoned. About this same time the Americans start entering the Japanese ports and Manjiro plays an important role in bringing the two countries together. I was so amazed to find this was a true story. This would make a wonderful addition to my book shelves at school.
    • 5/5
      This is an excellent story, I definitely recommend it!
    • 4/5
      Based on the life of Manjiro, the first Japanese person to visit America this book is a great mix of adventure, history, and thoughtful considerations about "foreigners" and cultural differences.
    • 4/5
      Shipwrecked on a deserted island with his friends, Manjiro is faced with certain death when a passing American whaling vessel happened to cross their path and fate would so have it that this Japanese teenager would live to see another day. A world of new possibilities and dreams are presented to Manjiro as Captain Whitfield adopts him as his very own son, but with all the luxuries and privileges Manjiro also faces unending racism and ostracization in the New World. Neither belonging to this foreign world and forbidden to return to his homeland, he must now forge a new way of life, a new way of thinking, and perhaps through it all a new dream to call his very own. To say that I enjoyed this book would be an understatement. Based loosely on true historical figures and events, Manjiro could very well be the first person of Japanese descent to step upon American soil. His story of courage, honour, and loyalty despite the odds being stacked against him sets up a dramatic and endearing story for the ages. His journey to find home, a place of belonging is a sentiment that we can all relate to at some point in our lives. With a colourful cast of characters, a heartwarming adventure, and descriptive illustrations, Heart of a Samurai is well worth the read. A very enthusiastic recommendation!
    • 4/5
      I quite enjoyed this book. I had no idea it was based on a true story (even though it says so on the cover-oops). Anyway, it is a fictionalized account of the story of what may have been the first Japanese person in the United States. I also learned a lot about Japan and it's isolationist policies.
    • 5/5
      Exceptionally well-written historical fiction and a great adventure story! An excellent book to pair with Rhoda Blumberg's Shipwrecked! The True Adventures of a Japanese Boy or Jim Murphy's Gone A-Whaling.
    • 5/5
      Manjiro is just a humble fisherman from a small village in Japan. One day, a storm sends the vessel on which he works and his companions out to sea. They manage to wash up on an island, but in the 1840s, Japan is a closed country, and no one can come in - including Japanese fishermen who have washed up away from home. Will he ever return to his country?I found this historical fiction about the first known Japanese person to come to the United States absolutely fascinating. You can't help but cheer for Manjiro as he learns to navigate a new way of life, a new language, and the prejudices of his new country. Though I listened to the book and enjoyed the narration, I highly recommend checking out the paper copy for the illustrations, some of which are copies of Manjiro's own drawings.