By Thomas B. (AKA, Only Mentions the Book's Title at the Very End)
In this historical fiction sports book, by author Alan Gratz, main character Toyo. Toyo's family has a long history of being samurais and has to figure out whether he wants to continue passion, which is baseball, or continue the family's legacy, being a samurai.
Toyo attends one of the most prestigious high schools in Japan during the 1890's. Toyo must put up with the pressure from his family pushing him to be a samurai and the guilt of not due to the recent suicide of his uncle through way of samurai tradition. He must also put up with being a freshman in a school filled with bullies and baseball players and coaches who do not give him the kind of attention he deserves with his skill level due to his age and size.
Toyo's peers show no respect for him until he can prove his worth on the baseball diamond. The only issue is that one of the boys who hazes him the most is the starting shortstop which is Toyo's best position. This puts him in a sticky situation where he can't feel he can prove himself and might not earn the respect of his teammates and his classmates but even worse he might not make the baseball team and have to continue his samurai training with no hope of playing baseball until next year.
This is a very good novel for anyone who is interested in Japanese history or baseball. I felt that the story was very accurate to the time period and showed very little historical flaws. It was a nice story which I learned some new things about both baseball in Japan and the history of the samurai culture. I recommend that you check out this book.
Samurai Shortstop, by Alan Gratz, Originally Published, 2006, 270 pages
Toyo's peers show no respect for him until he can prove his worth on the baseball diamond. The only issue is that one of the boys who hazes him the most is the starting shortstop which is Toyo's best position. This puts him in a sticky situation where he can't feel he can prove himself and might not earn the respect of his teammates and his classmates but even worse he might not make the baseball team and have to continue his samurai training with no hope of playing baseball until next year.
This is a very good novel for anyone who is interested in Japanese history or baseball. I felt that the story was very accurate to the time period and showed very little historical flaws. It was a nice story which I learned some new things about both baseball in Japan and the history of the samurai culture. I recommend that you check out this book.
Samurai Shortstop, by Alan Gratz, Originally Published, 2006, 270 pages
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