New York Times Bestseller!
Winner, John Newbery Medal
NPR Backseat Book Club pick
"A terrific biographical novel" --Wall Street Journal
In 1841 a Japanese fishing vessel sinks. Its crew is forced to swim to a
small, unknown island, where they are rescued by a passing American
ship. Japan's borders remain closed to all Western nations, so the crew
sets off to America, learning English on the way.
Manjiro, a 14-year-old boy, is curious and eager to learn everything he
can about this new culture. Eventually the captain adopts Manjiro and
takes him to his home in New England. The boy lives there for some time
and then heads to San Francisco to pan for gold. After many years, he
makes it back to Japan, only to be imprisoned as an outsider.
With his hard-won knowledge of the West, Manjiro is in a unique position
to persuade the emperor to ease open the boundaries around Japan; he may
even achieve his unlikely dream of becoming a samurai.
Filled with international adventure, a look at cultural differences, and
both American and Japanese history, this award-winning adventure novel
will thrill and enrich every young reader who picks it up.
*"It's a classic fish-out-of-water story (although this fish goes into
the water repeatedly), and it's precisely this classic structure that
gives the novel the sturdy bones of a timeless tale. Bracketed by gritty
seafaring episodes--salty and bloody enough to assure us that Preus has
done her research--the book's heart is its middle section, in which
Manjiro, allegedly the first Japanese to set foot in America, deals with
the prejudice and promise of a new world. By Japanese tradition, Manjiro
was destined to be no more than a humble fisherman, but when his 10-year
saga ends, he has become so much more." --Booklist, starred review
*"Illustrated with Manjiro's own pencil drawings in addition to other
archival material and original art from Tamaki, this is a captivating
fictionalized (although notably faithful) retelling of the boy's
adventures. Capturing his wonder, remarkable willingness to learn, the
prejudice he encountered and the way he eventually influenced officials
in Japan to open the country, this highly entertaining page-turner."
--Kirkus Reviews, starred review
*"Stunning debut novel. Preus places readers in the young man's shoes,
whether he is on a ship or in a Japanese prison. Her deftness in writing
is evident in two poignant scenes, one in which Manjiro realizes the
similarities between the Japanese and the Americans and the other when
he reunites with his Japanese family." --School Library Journal,
starred review
*"Preus mixes fact with fiction in a tale that is at once adventurous,
heartwarming, sprawling, and nerve-racking in its depictions of early
anti-Asian sentiment. She succeeds in making readers feel every bit as
"other" as Manjiro, while showing America at its best and worst through
his eyes." --Publishers Weekly, starred review
