Emily Crofford

Moving is usually difficult, especial if the transition is rural with very little to remind the family of the former place called home. In particular, in this story it is the mother who is depressed, leaving the children to fend for themselves. Moving at the end of a school semester means leavign friends behind, but with little time to make new friends.

The family is poor. They have one cow. And, when that asset disappears, they are left berift with no money to purchase another animal.

Grace show more Brower is one of the few girls that live nearby. Her father is an abuser, and prone to explosions of fits. When Meg witnesses the nastiness of the father, she is scared.

All too soon, their cow goes missing. When it is discovered at the Brower household, Meg tells her mother.

Withdrawn, afraid of many things, Meg's mother stands up for herself and her family and rescues the family cow.

A simple tale of days gone by when one simple act becomes a large event, leaving Meg and her siblings with a great deal of respect for their mother as together they lead their cow home. Meg witnesses a transformation of her mother from a shy person, to one who stands up for her family and what is needed.

Long a fan of the illustrations of Jim LaMarche, this small book has page after page of the flat plain, and a time when a small family must pull together in order to survive. show less

Based on the life of a real person, Born in the Year of Courage is the story of a poor, fifteen-year-old fisherman named Manjiro who, in 1841, was marooned on an island with his crewmates and later rescued by an American whaling ship. Since the American ship was not allowed to enter Japanese territorial waters, Manjiro and the others knew the only thing they could do was stay aboard the whaler.

When the whaler leaves Hawaii, the other fishermen choose to stay in that tropical paradise, but show more Manjiro follows Captain Whitfield. Manjiro is raised by the Whitfields as a son. He learns English, attends school, and signs on as second mate and navigator on board another American ship. Extremely hard-working and loyal, Manjiro remains true to both his Japanese and his American families, and as an adult works tirelessly to open Japan to contact with the rest of the world.

This book, geared towards pre-teens, is just as interesting to read for adults. Crofford shares much information into the lives of the Japanese in the first half of the nineteenth century as well as what life aboard a whaling ship was like. The chapters concerning the shipwreck and being marooned on a rather barren island are gripping.

Manjiro, a simple man whose culture didn't allow him to have a surname, is a truly inspiring person who believed that oceans link countries, not separate them, and he spent his life working for what he believed in. I am a long way from being a pre-teen, but I was very impressed with the power and insight of this book. show less

It is the mid-1800s and Manjiro, a young fisherman, is shipwrecked far off the coast of his native Japan. At this time in history, Japan is an isolated country that allows its citizens no contact with the rest of the world. Foreigners are called "barbarians"--and none are more despised than Americans. But when Manjiro and his fishing companions are rescued by an American ship, Manjiro makes some startling discoveries about the world of the barbarians--and about his own country. His dramatic show more rescue leads to a series of amazing escapades, and in the end Manjiro travels farther than he ever dreamed he would.

"Born in the Year of Courage" is based on the true story of Manjiro's remarkable life. It is both an exciting adventure tale and a fascinating look at a bygone world. show less