Module 7- Informational Nonfiction/Biography: Manjiro: The Boy Who Risked his Life for Two Countries by Emily Arnold McCully

*Summary:

In this book, a young Japanese boy whose father has died goes on a fishing boat to earn extra income for his family. At the time, Japan has a creed that anyone who leaves Japan cannot come back. Manjiro and his stranded shipmates wait for a boat to save them, but they know they will not be able to return home. Instead, the crew is taken to America and the captain of the ship takes Manjiro as his own son. In the states Manjiro learns about ships and navigation; but all the while he dreams of being re-united with his mother in Japan. Manjiro eventually saves enough money to sail back to Japan, hoping that he will be allowed to re-enter the country. Manjiro teaches the Japanese the knowledge of technologies he has learned in America and helps Japan and America set up peaceful trades.

*Bibliography:

McCully, E. A. (2008). Manjiro: the boy who risked his life for two countries. New York: Farrar Straus Giroux.

*My Rating:

I thought this book was interesting. I'm not much of a history buff, so I had never heard of many of the concepts in this books. The book was well written, but honestly did not really catch my attention all that much.

*Reviews:

McCully traces the adventures of Manjiro, the nineteenth-century Japanese teen who went to sea on a fishing boat, was swept away in a storm with his comrades, and was stranded on an island until their rescue by a passing whaler. One might expect that a voyage home would be all that stood between the fishermen and a happy ending, but a Japanese edict dating from 1638 that made travel outside Japan punishable by death made the men fearful of returning. Manjiro, who was a quick study in both English language and the workings of a Western ship, chose to stay with his rescuer, Captain Whitfield, and relocate to America, where he overcame the suspicious, often bigoted attitudes of his new neighbors and became a respected member of the community. Homesickness finally drove him to make his way back to Japan, where he was imprisoned, interrogated, and eventually released to the family he left nine years before. A detailed note continues his story into adulthood, when Manjiro became an emissary between America and his Westernizing homeland, but McCully wisely focuses her picture-book text on the castaway adventure and risky journey home, leaving subsequent international matters for a later exploration. Text is lengthier and typeface smaller than one expects in picture-book format, but the narration is smooth and the watercolor scenes that span two continents and a roiling ocean are rendered in engrossing detail. A map, bibliography, and thumbnail photograph of adult Manjiro are inclusions that will make this title as welcome to social studies teachers as it will be to armchair adventurers.

Bush, E. (2008). Manjiro: The boy who risked his life for two countries. Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books, 62(2), 87. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/223697708?accountid=7113

*Uses in a library:

As a librarian I would probably not use this book in a story time as, in my opinion, there are more fast-paced books that kids might like better. If a librarian keeps a blog or suggest books on the web, this could be included as a suggested book. This would be a good way to introduce the topic of trading to young readers.