Cover Image

Shipwrecked! : the true adventures of a Japanese boy

by Blumberg, Rhoda.

Format: Print Book 2001
Availability: Available at 12 Libraries 12 of 13 copies

Available (12)
Location Collection Call #
Bethel Park Public Library Juvenile Nonfiction J BIO j92 NAKAHAMA Manjiro
Location  Bethel Park Public Library
 
Collection  Juvenile Nonfiction
 
Call Number  J BIO j92 NAKAHAMA Manjiro
 
 
CLP - East Liberty Children's Non-Fiction Collection qj DS881.5.N3 B58 2001
Location  CLP - East Liberty
 
Collection  Children's Non-Fiction Collection
 
Call Number  qj DS881.5.N3 B58 2001
 
 
CLP - Squirrel Hill Children's Non-Fiction Collection qj DS881.5.N3 B58 2001
Location  CLP - Squirrel Hill
 
Collection  Children's Non-Fiction Collection
 
Call Number  qj DS881.5.N3 B58 2001
 
 
Carnegie Free Library of Swissvale Teen Non-Fiction YA 952 Blu
Location  Carnegie Free Library of Swissvale
 
Collection  Teen Non-Fiction
 
Call Number  YA 952 Blu
 
 
Carnegie Library of McKeesport - White Oak Children Biograpghy J B M314
Location  Carnegie Library of McKeesport - White Oak
 
Collection  Children Biograpghy
 
Call Number  J B M314
 
 
Community Library of Allegheny Valley - Harrison Children Non Fiction J 952 BLUMBERG
Location  Community Library of Allegheny Valley - Harrison
 
Collection  Children Non Fiction
 
Call Number  J 952 BLUMBERG
 
 
Mt. Lebanon Public Library Children's Non-Fiction j 952.025 Blu
Location  Mt. Lebanon Public Library
 
Collection  Children's Non-Fiction
 
Call Number  j 952.025 Blu
 
 
North Versailles Public Library Juvenile Nonfiction J 952.02 BLUM
Location  North Versailles Public Library
 
Collection  Juvenile Nonfiction
 
Call Number  J 952.02 BLUM
 
 
Penn Hills Library Juvenile Oversize j q 92 NAK
Location  Penn Hills Library
 
Collection  Juvenile Oversize
 
Call Number  j q 92 NAK
 
 
Pleasant Hills Public Library Juvenile Juv 952 B65
Location  Pleasant Hills Public Library
 
Collection  Juvenile
 
Call Number  Juv 952 B65
 
 
Shaler North Hills Library Juvenile Non-Fiction j 952.025 B
Location  Shaler North Hills Library
 
Collection  Juvenile Non-Fiction
 
Call Number  j 952.025 B
 
 
Springdale Free Public Library Childrens Biography C 92 NAKA
Location  Springdale Free Public Library
 
Collection  Childrens Biography
 
Call Number  C 92 NAKA
 
 
 
Unavailable (1)
Location Collection Status
Northland Public Library Children's Biography CHECKED OUT
Location  Northland Public Library
 
Collection  Children's Biography
 
Status  CHECKED OUT
 
 

Summary
In the 1800s, the Japanese government had strict isolation laws. By decree, foreigners and ideas from outside Japan were forbidden. So when fourteen-year-old Manjiro and four other fishermen were shipwrecked on a small rocky island three hundred miles from shore, they wondered if they would ever be allowed to return home! Celebrated author Rhoda Blumberg regales us with Manjiro's exciting true story. He was the first Japanese person to come to the United States, and his impressions of the country give us vivid glimpses of midnineteenth-century American life. He even took part in the Gold Rush! In a surprising twist of fate, Manjiro became a hero in Japan, playing an important role in opening his country to westerners. Told here by a brilliant storyteller with a passion for history, Manjiro's biography is a fast-paced, historically accurate, inspiring true-life adventure.
Published Reviews
Booklist Review: "Gr. 5^-9. Blumberg learned about Manjiro, the first Japanese person to live in the U.S., when she wrote the Newbery Honor Book Commodore Perry in the Land of Shogun (1985). Now she devotes an entire volume to his remarkable life, beginning with his childhood as a fatherless boy working as a fisherman to support his family. A shipwreck strands Manjiro on an island, where he is rescued by a passing whaling ship. He works with the crew, learning the particulars of whaling, and eventually becomes a surrogate son to the ship's captain, who takes Manjiro back to Massachusetts and to an education. After another stint at sea, Manjiro joins the gold rush and makes enough money to return to Japan. He avoids imprisonment and even death (the xenophobic era's sentence for Japanese who returned from foreign countries) by instructing the country's top officials about American customs and policies. He eventually becomes a samurai, helping broker the opening of Japanese ports to the rest of the world. Exemplary in both her research and writing, Blumberg hooks readers with anecdotes that astonish without sensationalizing, and she uses language that's elegant and challenging, yet always clear. Particularly notable is the well-chosen reproductions of original artwork, including some sketches by Manjiro himself, which help illustrate Japanese culture and viewpoints of the time, the whaling industry, and nineteenth-century America. An author's note, bibliography, and suggested Web sites conclude this outstanding biography. --Gillian Engberg"
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Publisher's Weekly Review: "From 14-year-old castaway to honored samurai, Manjiro Nakahama (1827-1898), the first Japanese person to come to the United States, had more adventures than the hero of many a swashbuckler. With insight and flair, Rhoda Blumberg relays Manjiro's life story in Shipwrecked!: The True Adventures of a Japanese Boy. Handsomely illustrated with period drawings, sketches and woodblock prints, the text also explains such historical elements as 19th-century Japan's carefully enforced isolation from the Western world, the importance of the American whaling industry and the enormous cultural gaps between Japanese and American societies. ( Feb.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved"
(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Additional Information
Subjects Nakahama, Manjirō, -- 1827-1898 -- Juvenile literature.
Nakahama, Manjirō, -- 1827-1898.
Japan -- History -- 19th century -- Juvenile literature.
Japan -- Relations -- United States -- Juvenile literature.
United States -- Relations -- Japan -- Juvenile literature.
Japan -- History -- 19th century.
Japan -- Relations -- United States.
United States -- Relations -- Japan.
Publisher New York :HarperCollins,2001
Edition 1st ed.
Language English
Description 80 pages : illustrations, map ; 29 cm
Bibliography Notes Includes bibliographical references (pages 78-79).
ISBN 0688174841 (hc)
0060293659 (library)
Other Classic View