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Summary: A Really Exciting Book
Review: (Review by a nine-year-old third-grader, who read this book for a home school assignment)The Samurai's Tale is about a boy who lives in the country of Japan when there were samurai. The boy's father has been killed. Now he and his family have to hide because the people that killed his father are trying to kill them too. But the boy survives and grows up to become a samurai. I think that The Samurai's Tale is a very exciting book! The samurai has lots of adventures. One of his adventures is when he dresses up as a ninja and runs to a castle to give a message. That is one of the exciting parts in the book. He has many more adventures as well. I like this book because it tells about a person growing up to become a Samurai. I recommend this for people 10 and older.
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Summary: Throughout the rather gruesome decades of the 16th century
Review: ...a 4-year-old samurai's son, Taro, lives through the horrifying experience of losing his family. He is picked up by some other lord's raiders and sent to serve under the warlord that slaughtered his family. At first, he would have had an honorable future with a samurai's title. That fateful day would change his life FOREVER!! Will Taro ever reach his life-long goal to become a samurai? Read and find out! We strongly recommend this book for people interested in the feudal period in Japan, and people who like wars and action, death and blood, love and faith. Read this book for your enjoyment.
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Summary: JUSTINS REVIEW
Review: A SAMURAI'S TALE IS ABOUT A YOUNG BOY WHO'S VILLIAGE AND FAMILLY IS DESTROYED LEAVING HIM ALMOST 4 YEARS OLD AND HIS MOTHERS SERVANT GIRL 11 YEARS OLD THE SAMURIA AKIYAMA SPARES THIER LIVES AND HAS TARO WORK IN THE KITCHEN. AS TARO GROWS SO DOES HIS RANK UNTILL HE BECOMES A SAMURAI, AND LEARNS WHAT IT REALLY MEANS TO BE LOYAL, TO LOVE, AND TO LOSE A FRIEND. THE BEST AND GREATEST BOOK IVE EVER READ, AND I WOULD PAY TWENTY DOLLORS TO BUY IT. IT TRULY IS A GREAT BOOK, AND I WOULDN'T BE SUPRISED IF IT LEFT A TEAR IN YOUR EYE
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Summary: An Excellent Tale of Determination
Review: An Excellent Tale of Determination
The Samurai's Tale by Erik Christian Haugard, is an adventurous story about the son of a dead samurai, who works his way from being a lowly servant, to becoming one of the very honorable samurai. He faces hardships such as cruel samurai, and being captured and made a servant for Lord Takeda. He befriends a cook named Togan, and for about seven years he grows up with Togan. Togan teaches the boy, who was given the slave name of Taro, important values of life, and Zen Buddhism. However in a fight with the same samurai who taunted Taro when he was a boy, Togan dies. Taro is sent to work on Lord Takeda's horses. Taro shows great determination to become a samurai, in this wonderful first person narrative.
I would recommend this book to an audience that really likes to get absorbed into the main character and setting. There is a lot of character development in this book. The reader can actually feel like he is Taro. For example, when his best friend Togan died, the author really vividly describes Taro's emotions, a reader can always know how Taro feels. The setting of medieval feudalist Japan is a hard setting to read about. Yet the author captures everything perfectly, the corrupt lords and the dishonorable samurai were all put into the story excellently. With all of the strong points in this book, some sentimental readers might find a thing or two wrong with the book. The beginning goes a bit slowly, and some people might find it a bit depressing because so many people die. Some readers may think that Togan would be a main character of the story, yet when he dies, this might confuse some people. However, the many good parts make up for this one flaw. This book is a definitely a must read.
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Summary: Imagine being a son of a high ranking samurai...
Review: and suddenly becoming the servant of the murderer of your family. A samurai's son, who happened to be four, witnessed the murder of his family. He was then taken by some men to a castle to work as a cook's helper. There they named him Taro. The young boy's dream was to become a samurai, as his father once was. Many years passed, and Taro changed in many ways, not just physically but mentally. Cleverness made a big difference in his life. The book 'Samurai's Tale', which we read in English class, kept us very interested. It made us want to read it all at once. If you like suspense, tragedy, adventure and mystery, this is the perfect book for you.
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Summary: The compelling story of a young Japanese boy.
Review: At age 4, a young boy named Taro was sent to live as a servant due to the death of his father, the samurai. The only one who cares for Taro now is Togan the servants' cook. His lord, Akiyama, goes to battle, making Taro a messenger. As a messenger, he meets his new best friend, Yoshitoki. The two bond and become very close. Finally, Taro's wishes come true, and he goes to battle. During battle, Taro gradually gains a higher rank. In a plot to raid a castle, he fights in his first battle. All the while, Harutomo is fancying someone named Aki-hime. The end is fascinating, therefore, we cannot give it to you. The majority of our group of (we are students in a 6th grade English class) reached the conclusion that this book was interesting and unique. Although this book had many long names, it was still a great book. We recommend this book to all people who enjoy adventure, death, and like reading raw emotional parts of a book. This book, we feel, is for many people, but for those over a sixth grade reading level. "A true prize winner," says the group.
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Summary: Good book READ IT!
Review: Good, but slacks off in the middle for a chapter or two
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Summary: Great for Teens
Review: I found this book to be a beautifully written tale of the life of an orphaned son of a samurai. One of the aspects I enjoyed the most about Erik Haugaard's Samurai's Tale is that the novel's story line is deeply sub-merged in war, friendship, love and death. I especially liked all of the various morals found within the novel's text. For example, one of the morals was "no one wins a war, just one side losses less." There were also dramatic changes of fortune that are common place in time of war, such as death. This is an excellent adventure book because of its enormous amount of suspense, that is the main reason why I like this novel so much. For example there is one scene where 10,000 samurai charge an enemies castle, the author does an exquisite job on making you want to find out what happens next. Erik Haugaard's novel does an excellent job of exposing its readers to the lives and culture of the upper classes of ancient Japan. This novel offers a window to the alien values and atmosphere of ancient Japan.
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Summary: The Samurai's Tale, an epic story of war and honor.
Review: I found this book to be one of the best I have ever read. A young boy's family is killed. He is spared by his family's killer, and made a servant at his palace. We watch this boy grow and advance until he is granted a chance among the ranks of the samurai. Anyone who likes Akira Kurosawa samurai films, Japanese history, swordsmanship, and a beutifully woven story will enjoy it.
Rating: 
Summary: So-so
Review: I had to read this book for an 8th grade book critique. This book was BORING. So boring that in the end i skipped 4 chapters just to be done with it. I dont know why everyone else thought it was good but MAN, it isnt. didnt even know what was going on half the time cause it was so bad.
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