Toyo begins
his secondary schooling in 1890 at the elite boarding school Ichiko shortly
after the Japanese emperor has decreed all countrymen to be commoners,
doing away with the samurai class. His uncle has been permitted to commit
seppuku after a failed uprising, and his father, a conservative journalist,
wishes to do the same. While Toyo struggles with adapting to the new school
and brutal upperclass hazing, his father trains him daily in the samurai
code of bushido so that Toyo can eventually assist in his ritual suicide.
What the young man draws from these lessons, though, is an appreciation
of the same balance between warrior's heart and scholar's mind that Ichiko
holds to be the path for Japan's future in a rapidly modernizing world.
Toyo applies his insights to besuboru-baseball-instructing his team members
in the rigors of bushido physical training and demonstrating the advantages
of team coordination over individual skill. When the baseball team commits
a faux pas that turns into a diplomatic incident involving the American
consulate, Toyo suggests that the breach might be healed through a baseball
game-Americans vs. the Ichiko nine. But the question of whether it is
more noble to throw the game in deference to the affronted Americans or
to play their best against a worthy rival challenges the team to think
beyond sport and sportsmanship to the broader implications of their decision.
Debut novelist Gratz adroitly balances a provocative exploration of honor
with the excitement of a full count, bases loaded baseball book. Ritualized
school brutality and even the graphic opening depiction of seppuku are
clearly portrayed as harsh but valued components of a culture that places
a high premium on social cohesion. Fast moving, culturally respectful,
and flat-out engrossing, this should lead off the next booktalk on sports
or historical fiction.
Bulletin
of the Center for Children's Books
July 2006
Growing up
in Tokyo in the 1890s, after the Emperor outlawed the samurai tradition
of his ancestors, Toyo was not trained in the old disciplines. He must
find his own path between the old ways and the new ones, which are symbolized
for Toyo by the sport he loves: baseball. In the riveting opening scene,
Toyo watches his father help Toyo's beloved uncle Koji perform seppuku,
a samurai suicide ritual involving disembowelment and decapitation.
Soon after this disturbing event, Toyo becomes a boarder at the most
esteemed high school in Tokyo. His high hopes are tempered by a brutal
hazing inflicted on the entering class and the ongoing cruelty of the
students in power. Under his father's tutelage, Toyo's growing understanding
of traditional samurai arts enables him to grow in skill and self-discipline
both on and off the playing field. An engaging protagonist in a harsh,
difficult situation, Toyo must work to earn the respect of his father
and his teammates, but he will have readers' sympathies from the beginning.
Unfolding through the convincing portrayals of individuals in turmoil,
the story culminates as most baseball novels do-in the big game. An
appended author's note discusses Gratz's research and lists his sources.
A memorable chronicle of boys' inhumanity to boys, and a testament to
enduring values in a time of social change.
Carolyn
Phelan
Booklist, Starred Review
It is 1890, and 16-year-old Toyo Shimada is uniquely poised to witness
the clash of old and new ways in his native Tokyo. Emperor Meiji has
instituted a series of radical reforms; one of them requires that all
samurai hang up their swords. In the hypnotic opening scene, Toyo and
his father assist as his Uncle Koji commits ritual suicide or seppuku.
Toyo's father, Sotaro, is a scholarly samurai whose weapon has always
been his ink brush, but he too has decided that he cannot live in this
new Japan. He tells Toyo that once he has taught him the ways of bushido,
or the warrior's code, he, too, will take his own life. Meanwhile, Toyo
begins his studies at an elite high school where the hazing by the senior
students makes the first-year students miserable. Eventually, the teen
and his friends are able to stand up for themselves, and Toyo wins a
place on the school's besuboro or baseball team. His lessons in bushido
include meditation, balance, and swordplay, and Toyo finds in baseball
a way to make the connection between both modern and ancient, mental
and physical. Gratz's concluding notes offer more on the period as well
as sources for more information. This well-written tale offers plenty
of fascinating detail, a fast-paced story, and a fresh perspective on
America's pastime. It should delight baseball fans and win a wide audience.
Marilyn
Taniguchi, Beverly Hills Public Library, CA
School Library Journal
Alan Gratz combines the Eastern world's philosophy of the samurai with
the Western world's love of baseball and creates a heart-pounding, gut-wrenching
novel that will have even the most reluctant readers asking for more.
From its first pages, where the main character witnesses the death of
his uncle, to a climactic real-life international exhibition game at
its end, Samurai Shortstop never disappoints. A coming of age
story, the book follows main character, Toyo Shimada, and his classmates
as they, their fathers, and their country struggle to find their place
in the world of the 1890s. Samurai Shortstop is about fathers
and sons, but mostly it's about baseball, the love of which has traditionally
helped them find common ground in their efforts to understand one another.
Reading
Today, April/May issue
International Reading Association
A diehard baseball fan, I picked up Samurai Shortstop by Alan
Gratz and was soon plunged into late 19th-century Japan. Yes, baseball
plays a big part in this novel, but it is the clash of modern Western
culture with ancient Japanese life that captured my attention. Gratz
writes fluidly about a boy, son of a samurai, who begins his term at
an elite boarding school in Tokyo in the late 1800's. He is caught between
loyalty to his father's way of life, the samurai code, and the modern
ideas flooding into Japan as a result of the new empire's interest in
the West.
Life is
very harsh for the youngest students at the school. Seniors inflict
physical and mental torment on them, and any weakness is exploited cruelly.
Finally Toyo proves himself on the baseball field, but then has to deal
with his father's scorn for the Western game. In fact his father is
so disgusted with the emerging culture that according to the samurai
code, he can only remain honorable by committing suicide. So he asks
Toyo to assist him with his seppuku. Surprisingly, baseball itself provides
the means for Toyo to convince his father that he has value in the new
order.
This gripping
and satisfying novel is rich with the details of an ancient culture,
yet contemporary in its exploration of the struggle to grow and change.
Teens, even reluctant readers, will quickly be caught up in the story.
Carol
Moyer
Quail Ridge Books and Music, Raleigh, NC
Publishers Weekly Children's Bookshelf
Commodore Perry sailed into Yokohama harbor in 1853, and only a few
years later, in 1870, baseball was introduced into Japan, along with
many other Western influences. Out of this clash of cultures comes this
story of 16-year-old Toyo, making his way in an elite boarding school,
trying to get over the ritual suicide of his old samurai Uncle Koji,
fearing his father may be next and eventually seeing baseball as a way
to meld East and West, traditional samurai values and the game of "besuboru."
Debut novelist Gratz covers much ground in this baseball story that's
really about the transition of Japan from a feudal society to a westernized
industrial power. The graphic opening chapter makes this for older readers,
who will find it an unusual take on the American (and Japanese) pastime.
Kirkus
Reviews
A great "baseball novel" is about more than hits and outs,
winners and losers. It is about choices made - whether good or bad -
and the resulting impact on the novel's characters. In other words,
it's about life. Using that criterion, Samurai Shortstop is an
outstanding story. Not only does Gratz craft a story about making "impossible"
choices and taking responsibility for those decisions, he invites the
reader to see and learn about another culture. For that reason alone,
middle school and high school teachers could do far worse than recommending
Samurai Shortstop to their students. [. . . ]
If you are an adult, don't be afraid to read a "Young Adult"
book. It may not be Shoeless Joe, but it is still an enjoyable
way to spend a Saturday morning. Turn off the TV, brew some tea, sit
outside, and enjoy baseball in a different culture while you listen
to the breeze in the trees (even if they're not cherry trees).
Randy
Merritt
108 Magazine, "Extra Bases"
Meet Toyo. As the book opens, Toyo has to attend his Uncle Koji's suicide.
Koji has decided to end his life rather than live without being able
to be a samurai. Toyo's family has a long history as samurai and this
is the only way for Koji to save face. Toyo leaves home after this incredibly
difficult time and heads off to Ichiko Academy. There he is less than
thrilled to learn that the new students are subject to abuse at the
hands of the upper classmen. To make matters worse, he is not permitted
to play baseball with the team despite his talent at shortstop. Events
conspire to bring Toyo to the coveted position and to lessons in bushido
from his father. Bushido will help Toyo and his team play as one, a
unit.
I
must admit that I enjoyed this book more than I thought possible from
the title and cover. It is absorbing and the details about samurai and
Japanese history and besu boro (baseball) help the reader enter
fully into Toyo's world.
Teri
Lesesne
Goddess of YA Literature Blog
Toyo goes to an exclusive Japanese boys' school in 1890. There the students
play besoburu; a ball that goes out of the park is called a homu ran.
This
book is targeted for middle school and up, although even I, a jaded
47-year-old, found myself drawn to the story line after a somewhat disturbing
opening chapter.
The
book starts out with a ceremonial suicide of the hero's uncle, precisely
rendered. This is a bit off-putting in a story about Japanese students
playing baseball. But a number of bigger ideas find their way into this
young adult title: assuming the responsibilities of adulthood, learning
the traditions of your elders, leadership, generosity toward outsiders
-- and bit of cynicism about the motivations of Americans.
Samurai
Shortstop is better written than many adult novels. For older children,
it can be a read-aloud if they don't mind a bit of gore and some raucous
hazing and can catch oblique humor.
Cheryl
Truman, Books Editor
Lexington Herald-Leader
Samurai Shortstop was riveting from the first line - and what
a line! Like country western songs, it had me at the first look. Though
the back cover and title led me to believe it was just a book about
baseball, I was quickly drawn into the novel for its multiple themes.
The political tensions between Japan and the U.S., the timeless confrontations
of the traditional and the modern, the generational turmoil between
parents and children, and the internal struggles of self combined to
make Samurai Shortstop more than just another novel about baseball.
With sensitivity and insight, Gratz breathes life into the characters
and times.
Tena
Litherland
Library Director, Webb School of Knoxville, Tennessee
Could any 13 year old boy resist a book about baseball that starts with
the first sentence, 'Toyo watched carefully as his uncle prepared to
kill himself.' ?!? And which takes place at a prep school (a 19th century
Japanese boarding school)? Where there is hazing and rivalries and fathers
with old-fashioned ideals and boys sneaking out at night to visit girls
and a lot of humor to leaven the story? You gotta read this book!
Amy
Rosenfield
Joseph-Beth Booksellers, Cleveland, Ohio
Magnificent! Purely magnificent, that is all I have to say about this
book. Kids all ages will love it if they like sports. I would highly
recommend this book to any kid. Samurai Shortstop is about a
Japanese kid who loves baseball and when he is accepted to 1st higher
school shortly after his uncle's seppicue. [sic] To help his son understand
his brother's death he teaches him the samurai way. And suprisingly
it helps him improve his baseball.
Seth
B., Age 12
Southern Pines, North Carolina
If I was a librarian, I would have great difficulty choosing how to
file Samurai Shortstop …definitely not away, at least! It
combines the elements of my two favorite genres—the murder mystery
and the historical fiction piece—all into one classic coming of
age novel. After finishing, I turned the book over in my hands realizing
that I was lucky enough to encounter a book of substance, the type that
didn’t just make me laugh or keep me busy for a few hours but instead
made me both connected to it and mystified by it at once. Samurai
easily merits a second reading. Though the storyline almost exclusively
follows males—and accordingly includes some male humor (“dormitory
rain”)—it entertained this 17-year-old female more than most
other novels I’ve enjoyed this year. Great work, Mr. Gratz!
Katherine
R., Age 17
Knoxville, Tennessee
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