Samurai Shortstop

  Samurai Shortstop is my favorite book of 2014 because it is exhilarating. The story takes place in Tokyo in 1890. It is in a freshman boy's point of view. Toyo, the boy, comes from a samurai family. With the use of guns, samurai aren't really needed any more. Toyo's uncle commited honorable suicide at the beginning of the story and Toyo is wondering if or when is father will do the same. At Ichiko, Toyo's school, the freshman are treated very poorly. Toyo had a very hard time getting on the baseball team because the seniors ran it, and they believed that he was a girl. Toyo later made it onto the team and got his revenge.

  The author, Alan Grantz, vividly describes Tokyo and Ichiko during that time period. Although, Ichiko may be a fictional school. He also describes the people in the city. Some wore traditional attire while others wore suits with top hats. Toyo's father who is very traditional usually wore a kimono with sandals and had long hair which he tied up. The author describes how Japan is getting more modern due to western influence.

  This book made me think of the movie The Last Samurai starring Tom Cruise. I have not seen it, but I do know that it details how the samurai "died out" and how Japan modernized due to western influence.

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