Samurai Rising: The Epic Life of Minamoto Yoshitsune

by Pamela S. Turner, Gareth Hinds (Illustrator)

Overview

Minamoto Yoshitsune should not have been a samurai. But his story is legend in this real-life saga.

This epic warrior tale reads like a novel, but this is the true story of the greatest samurai in Japanese history.

When Yoshitsune was just a baby, his father went to war with a rival samurai family—and lost. His father was killed, his mother captured, and his surviving half-brother banished. Yoshitsune was sent away to live in a monastery. Skinny, small, and unskilled in the warrior arts, he nevertheless escaped and learned the ways of the samurai. When the time came for the Minamoto clan to rise up against their enemies, Yoshitsune answered the call. His daring feats and impossible bravery earned him immortality.


From the Hardcover edition.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781607348481
Publisher:	Charlesbridge Publishing, Inc.
Publication date:	02/02/2016
Sold by:	Penguin Random House Publisher Services
Format:	eBook
Pages:	256
File size:	5 MB
Age Range:	12 Years

About the Author

PAMELA S. TURNER is the author of Life on Earth—and Beyond, The Dolphins of Shark Bay (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt), and the Orbis Pictus Honor Book The Frog Scientist (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt). Pamela lives in Oakland, California.

Back in college GARETH HINDS sketched legendary scenes from Yoshitsune’s life—just for fun. Today he is the creator of highly acclaimed graphic-novel adaptions of Macbeth, Romeo and Juliet, The Odyssey, Beowulf, and other classics (Candlewick). Gareth lives in Washington D.C.

Read an Excerpt

Few warriors are as famous as the Japanese samurai. We rememberthose beautiful swords and those fearsome helmets. Werecall, with both horror and fascination, how some chose to endtheir own lives. But no one can understand the Japanese samuraiwithout knowing Minamoto Yoshitsune.Yoshitsune’s story unfolds in the late twelfth century,during the adolescence of the samurai. Yes, cultures have theiryouth, maturity, and old age, just as people do. During Yoshitsune’slifetime the samurai awakened. Their culture was bold,rebellious, and eager to flex its muscle. The samurai would ultimatelydestroy Japan’s old way of life and forge a new oneusing fire and steel and pain.Yoshitsune was at the very heart of this samurai rising.Hostage, runaway, fugitive, rebel, and hero, he became themost famous warrior in Japanese history. The reason is simple:Yoshitsune was the kind of man other samurai longed to be.

Editorial Reviews

Severed heads, engulfing storms, and whistling arrows—a samurai’s life was filled with violence from beginning to brutal end. Turner has lived in Japan and, intrigued by the late Heian period when Japan’s samurai were rising to power, she introduces teen readers to Yoshitsune (1159-1189), famous for his reckless, daring, relentless pursuit of enemies, and his obsession with personal honor. Rescued by monks when his father’s uprising failed, Yoshitsune taught himself swordsmanship and sought out his half-brother Yoritomo (head of the Minamoto family) to fight against the Taira, a rival clan. Despite his small size, the young samurai developed into a master tactician who could tackle overwhelming forces and win by astounding feats like charging down a cliff on horseback. (Four major battles are vividly described, accompanied by the illustrator’s maps.) Scheming Yoritomo barely rewarded Yoshitsune for his brilliance, eventually declaring him an outlaw to be hunted down. At this point, most readers (even those weary of the killing) will find Yoshitsune’s story irresistible as he and a few friends retreat into final exile to face his horrifying but supremely courageous death. Turner explains that some parts of the history are lost—researchers must consult evidence like brief official reports, letters, and a few surviving artifacts. She especially relies on Helen McCullough’s translation of The Tale of the Heike, an almost-contemporary chronicle that has, over time, made Yoshitsune an iconic hero. Filling gaps, Turner skillfully introduces information about weapons and armor, landscapes, customs, and cities such as the capitol, Kyoto, where a self-absorbed élite focused on poetry and sex. Hinds’ brooding ink-and-brushstroke illustrations evoke calligraphy, adding to both atmosphere and understanding. Captivated young historians will also want to explore Turner’s fascinating chapter notes and her extensive bibliography. Reviewer: Barbara L. Talcroft; Ages 12 up.

Children's Literature - Barbara L. Talcroft