Samurai Shortstop

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About this item:

Tokyo, 1890. Toyo is caught up in the competitive world of boarding school, and must prove himself to make the team in a new sport called besuboru. But he grieves for his uncle, a samurai who sacrificed himself for his beliefs, at a time when most of Japan is eager to shed ancient traditions. It's only when his father decides to teach him the way of the samurai that Toyo grows to better understand his uncle and father. And to his surprise, the warrior training guides him to excel at baseball, a sport his father despises as yet another modern Western menace. Toyo searches desperately for a way to prove there is a place for his family's samurai values in modern Japan. Baseball might just be the answer, but will his father ever accept a Western game that stands for everything he despises?

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Alan Gratz was born and raised in Knoxville, Tennessee. After a carefree but humid childhood, he attended the University of Tennessee, where he earned a College Scholars degree with a specialization in creative writing and later a Master's degree in English education. In addition to writing plays, magazine articles, and a few episodes of A&E's City Confidential, Alan has taught catapult building to middle schoolers, written more than 6,000 radio commercials, and lectured as a Czech university. Currently, Alan lives with his wife Wendi and daughter Jo in the high country of western North Carolina, where he enjoys reading, eating pizza, and, perhaps not too surprisingly, watching baseball.

Review:

4.8 out of 5

95.56% of customers are satisfied

5.0 out of 5 stars Character, Setting, Baseball!

O. · November 22, 2011

I loved this book! The setting, Japan around 1890, was fascinating. The author made the city and the boys' boarding school come alive with selected details. I loved the character of Toyo, a boy who is coming of age at a time when the world is changing drastically. Toyo is under pressure from his father to reject the new ways (baseball, for one, introduced by the Americans) and respect and live up to the old ways (of the samurai), even though the old ways are dead or dying away. In addition to the stress of which path to choose, which kind of person to be, Toyo has to contend with his classmates in the boarding school -- and each and every one of us who has gone through school knows that this is not only not easy, it is often the most important conflict a young person faces before he or she leaves school and enters the larger world. Definitely worth reading!

5.0 out of 5 stars Classroom

L. · September 11, 2021

This was added to my classroom library. I have 7th and 8th graders so there are a few graphic scenes, I do watch who checks it out :)

5.0 out of 5 stars Good book for Gratz fans

A.C. · July 18, 2019

My son enjoys all of Gratz’s books & is a fan. He wasn’t sure when starting this one, but has reread it several times already.

5.0 out of 5 stars GREAT BOOK FOR ALL AGES!!!

L. · September 4, 2013

WOULD RECOMMEND THIS BOOK FOR MIDDLE SCHOOL AGE, MY 12 YEAR OLD SON LOVED IT ! I ACTUALLY READ IT AS WELL , AND I LOVED IT !!!!!!!

4.0 out of 5 stars Bushido lives on

M.H.W. · September 17, 2017

Bushido,-loyalty, courage, and compassion is at the very heart of this moving novel by Alan Gratz. Gratz focuses on Toyo and his classmates in an exclusive high school as they struggle to find themselves in the period following the end of the samurai. Baseball is what brings them all together, as the Japanese boys grow together as one.

5.0 out of 5 stars Son liked

j.m. · May 21, 2014

My son enjoyed it! He did his book report and then found other books by the same author. So check it out

5.0 out of 5 stars grandson loved it

B.K.M. · September 4, 2013

14 year-old baseball player actually read it. I know something about the Meiji period and this author is for the most part quite accurate

4.0 out of 5 stars Very interesting how quickly the change in Japan from the ...

S.L.M. · October 15, 2016

Very interesting how quickly the change in Japan from the Samurai culture to the modern culture. Little bit violent at the start but explanation at the end of what traditions were all about.

Great quality

A.C. · April 3, 2020

Quick shippingFantastic bookI'd order again

Samurai Shortstop

4.6

BHD8490

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Product origin: United States

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