Samurai Shortstop

A BBYA top ten book, Samurai Shortstop is a stunning work of fiction. It is a book about baseball, it is historical fiction about the Japanese samurai, it is the archetypal generation clash, and it is a beautifully written book for the ages. This book is one of a very small number of books that

Show More

sailed through our BBYA straw poll votes without a single no vote, time after time. The discipline that allows a warrior to engage in the seppuku ritual is the benchmark for evaluating a samurai warrior. When the Emperor institutes reforms that require the samurai to hang up their swords, Toyo watches his beloved uncle Koji perform seppuku, with the help of his father, Sotaro. Sotaro schools Toyo in the law of bushido, the warrior code so that, once schooled, he will assist Sotaro in his own seppuku. Toyo is sent to a school that will prepare Toyo mentally. This Japanese version of an American prep school, however, is a place, like prep schools or fraternities, which allows hazing and bullying. The bushido that this school and Sotaro instill in Toyo, however, manifests itself in a devotion to baseball. American students will relate to the clash between a father’s wishes and a son’s desires. The way Toyo and Sotaro learn to really talk and listen is shown beautifully. The historical details are described in the end matter. This well-researched, magnificent book is sure to be around for many, many years. Highly recommended for both middle school and high school students.

Show Less

“Samurai Shortstop” by Alan Grats was an interesting book for me. The story revolves around a boy named Toyo Shimada. He is part of the generation which is between the “Old Japan” and the “New Japan” where there are no samurais allowed. The story is about how he tries to become the link

Show More

between the both worlds. I think that the story is interesting because of the amount of detail in the book. The author uses many Japanese words to explain certain parts of the story but they are used in such a way that people like me who know nothing about Japanese can understand important words in their culture. The author’s attention to detail makes it feel like a movie is being played in front of you. From this book you can also learn the culture of Japan in the 1890s. I would recommend this book to people of all ages who are either interested in the transition between the “Old Japan” and the “New Japan”, Baseball or Baseball in Japan.

Show Less

Enjoyed this encounter with turn-of-the-last-century Japanese high school baseball--the novel provides a look at the evolution of Japanese school culture (complete with hazing) as well as the transition from samurai ideals into Western-influenced modernism.

I didn't find the family relationships

Show More

entirely convincing and I would have liked more focus on the classroom experience, but I was fascinated with the boys' struggles between yearning for life beyond the "Wall" and dedication to building their own society within it.

Show Less

Spoilers

This is a "YA" book & tells about a young man in Japan in the 1890s. He is from a samurai family. His uncle took part in a revolt against the emperor and his father writes anti-government stories for the newspaper & opinion pieces. The uncle is given permission to kill homself. The hero

Show More

goes to a top Japanese boarding school. He and his fellow first-year students are brutally abused by the older boys. But they learn a lot and the bravest (like our hero) impress the old students. The school has a baseball team. Our hero teaches the team how to be like a samurai. Even the teammate who is not from a samurai family. And so they become a great basketball team. Meanwhile the father wants to kill himself too, but the son tells him that the Emperor wants him to live and to kep promoting his agenda.

Show Less