Theme: Samurai

Shaolin Tiger

The unlikely heroes of the Cockroach Ryu face their greatest danger yet — a warrior seeking revenge against his former teacher, Sensei Ki-Yaga.The White Tiger Temple is under threat. To help the Shaolin monks, Sensei KiYaga and the whole gang of samurai kids— from Niya Moto, the boy with one leg to Taji, the boy [...]

Descriptors: Asia, China, Fantasy, Intermediate (ages 9-14), Japan » Other Themes: , , , » Leave a comment

Young Samurai: The Way of the Dragon

June 1613.  Japan is threatened with war and Jack Fletcher is facing his greatest battle yet. Samurai are taking sides and, as the blood begins to flow, Jack’s warrior training is put to the ultimate test. His survival – and that of his friends – depends upon him mastering the Two Heavens, the secret sword [...]

Descriptors: Asia, Fiction, Japan, Young Adult (ages 14-18) » Other Themes: , , , , » Leave a comment

Owl Ninja

Sensei Ki-yaga leads Niya and the other students of the Cockroach Ryu on a journey to beg the feudal Emperor to stop war from breaking out between the mountain ryus, putting to the test the firm friendship and unusual skills of these physically-disabled samurai-in-training.

Descriptors: Asia, Fiction, Intermediate (ages 9-14), Japan, Young Adult (ages 14-18) » Other Themes: , , , , » Leave a comment

Maneki Neko: The Tale of the Beckoning Cat

This book retells the Japanese folktale about how the beckoning cat became a symbol of luck and prosperity in Japan.

Descriptors: Asia, Folklore, Japan, Picture Book, Primary (ages 6-9) » Other Themes: , , , , » Leave a comment

Across the Nightingale Floor (Tales Of The Otori, Book 1)

This is the first book in a new epic trilogy that has already become a bestselling sensation in England and Australia, earning comparisons to The Lord of the Rings. It begins with the legend of a nightingale floor in a black-walled fortress-a floor that sings in alarm at the step of an assassin. It will [...]

Descriptors: Asia, Fantasy, Japan, Young Adult (ages 14-18) » Other Themes: , , , , , , , , , , » Leave a comment

The Samurai’s Daughter

A Japanese folk tale about the brave daughter of a samurai warrior and her journey to be reunited with her exiled father. When Tokoyo’s father, a samurai nobleman, is sent into exile on a lonely island in a distant sea, his young daughter is determined to join him. Despite her noble birth, Tokoyo has spent [...]

Descriptors: Folklore, Japan, Picture Book, Primary (ages 6-9) » Other Themes: , , , , , , , , » Leave a comment

The Endless Steppe: Growing Up In Siberia

During World War II, when she was eleven years old, the author and her family were arrested in Poland by the Russians as political enemies and exiled to Siberia. She recounts here the trials of the next five years spent on the harsh Asian steppe.

Descriptors: Biography, Europe, Russia, Young Adult (ages 14-18) » Other Themes: , » Comments closed