Margi preus biography of william

2011 Newbery Honor
2010-2011 Asian/Pacific American Award for Literature (children's literature)

In Heart of a Samurai, Margi Preus tells a fictionalized story of Manjiro, a Japanese teen who, with four fishing companions, became shipwrecked on a rocky island and was rescued by an American whaling ship in the mid-1800's. Save for the addition of a couple of characters and some little details, the story is mostly true. Manjiro journeys to America as the adopted son of Captain Whitfield, learns English, and gains knowledge of American life and seafaring. He goes on to play a key role in the opening of Japan to the West and the dawn of the Meiji Era.

The book was pretty well-written, especially for a first novel, and I liked the addition of illustrations, many of which were drawn by Manjiro himself. The author included extensive glossaries for the Japanese language and whaling terms she used in the book, along with sources under different categories such as Manjiro himself, whaling, and the Gold Rush.

Manjiro's story is a fascinating one, but there were some things about the book that annoyed me, particularly in the first half. The author has Manjiro calling his friend Goemon "Goemon-chan." To be honest, I don't know how people referred to each

•