Reading Rants! Out of the Ordinary Teen Booklists!

In this oldie-but-goodie tale of adventure and intrigue set in 16th-century Japan, young orphaned Taro is taken under the wing of the great samurai Lord Akiyama, after his father is killed in battle and his mother slain in the aftermath. By using his wits and suppressing his fierce pride, Taro slowly ascends the ranks of his lord’s household until he achieves his greatest goal—becoming a samurai like his father and Lord Akiyama, whom he has come to admire. But the life of a warrior is not easy, and Taro finds himself sacrificing opportunities of love and friendship in order to gain honor and respect. Is Taro willing to give up all the comfortable trappings of hearth and home for the dubious privilege of living–and dying–by the sword? Full of period detail that immerses the reader in the everyday life of a samurai in training, this retro-read will appeal to fans of Lian Herne’s Tales of the Otori (Thanks for the suggestion, Harry!)

This entry was posted on Tuesday, January 1st, 2008 at 3:57 pm and is filed under Historical Fiction for Hipsters. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.