Title: Heart of a Samurai
Illustrator: Margi Preus
Genre: Chapter book
Sub Genre: Historical/ Realistic Fiction
Theme: Dreams can come true
Primary and Secondary Characters: Manjiro
Award(s) date of publication: 2011 Newbery
Brief Summary: Manjiro is a 14 year old boy from Japan. One day when his ship wrecks, he and the others are forced to live in New England. This story takes place in 1841. Everyone is going to California to look for gold. Manjiro decides to go there, too. He ends up in San Francisco trying to make a fortune. Things don't go as he planned and he ends up going back to Japan. There, he is sent to prison. They don't consider him as one of them. Although this is very bad situation for Manjiro, he is only able to see the positive. He has always wanted to be a Samurai. That was his dream. Because of his gained knowledge of the west, his dream just might come true.
Used in the Classroom: This would be a great book for older students to read. This is something that could be presented and introduced in the class, but I think that students should read this on their own time. I think that it should be available within the classroom library maybe. Students could frist write how they think things will turn out for Manjiro. They could learn more about that specific culture and other related topics.
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