--- product_id: 4495877 title: "The Samurai's Tale: A Historical Adventure for Kids (Ages 10-12) About a Boy's Journey to Warrior and a Redeemed Legacy" price: "$46.18" currency: USD in_stock: true reviews_count: 9 url: https://www.desertcart.us/products/4495877-the-samurais-tale-a-historical-adventure-for-kids-ages-10 store_origin: US region: United States of America --- # The Samurai's Tale: A Historical Adventure for Kids (Ages 10-12) About a Boy's Journey to Warrior and a Redeemed Legacy **Price:** $46.18 **Availability:** ✅ In Stock ## Quick Answers - **What is this?** The Samurai's Tale: A Historical Adventure for Kids (Ages 10-12) About a Boy's Journey to Warrior and a Redeemed Legacy - **How much does it cost?** $46.18 with free shipping - **Is it available?** Yes, in stock and ready to ship - **Where can I buy it?** [www.desertcart.us](https://www.desertcart.us/products/4495877-the-samurais-tale-a-historical-adventure-for-kids-ages-10) ## Best For - Customers looking for quality international products ## Why This Product - Free international shipping included - Worldwide delivery with tracking - 15-day hassle-free returns ## Description Taro will become a samurai and redeem the family legacy that has been stolen from him. A classic tale of adventure. When the powerful Lord Takeda’s soldiers sweep across the countryside, killing and plundering, they spare the boy Taro’s life and take him along with them. Taro becomes a servant in the household of the noble Lord Akiyama, where he meets Togan, a cook, who teaches Taro and makes his new life bearable. But when Togan is murdered, Taro’s life takes a new direction: He will become a samurai, and redeem the family legacy that has been stolen from him. " The Samurai's Tale , poetic yet unflinching, is excellent." — Boston Herald Review: A Personal Childhood Favorite, but also a Perfect Read as an Adult - This is the type of childhood book that flies under the radar. Told succinctly without overly romanticizing the location or period. That's not easy to do, given the richness of the setting. But the story flows and connected very strongly with me as both an adolescent and adult. Review: Book - Good book club book for 6th graders ## Technical Specifications | Specification | Value | |---------------|-------| | Best Sellers Rank | #131,627 in Books ( See Top 100 in Books ) #115 in Children's Historical Fiction on Military & Wars #133 in Children's Books on Violence #159 in Children's Asia Books | | Customer Reviews | 4.6 out of 5 stars 222 Reviews | ## Images ![The Samurai's Tale: A Historical Adventure for Kids (Ages 10-12) About a Boy's Journey to Warrior and a Redeemed Legacy - Image 1](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51AKnPveHxL.jpg) ## Available Options This product comes in different **Media Format** options. ## Customer Reviews ### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ A Personal Childhood Favorite, but also a Perfect Read as an Adult *by R***G on December 22, 2025* This is the type of childhood book that flies under the radar. Told succinctly without overly romanticizing the location or period. That's not easy to do, given the richness of the setting. But the story flows and connected very strongly with me as both an adolescent and adult. ### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Book *by T***S on June 11, 2026* Good book club book for 6th graders ### ⭐⭐⭐⭐ Review for adult readers *by C***M on December 7, 2010* A Samurai's Tale is a juvenile novel that has the potential to please adults. It is not really a coming-of-age story, but does trace the life of an orphan from a boy to a young adult. Events in the boy's life are set against and entwined with the historical background of the samurai of Kai province during the last years of Takeda Shingen's life, and so covers some of the same ground as the Kurosawa film Shadow Warrior. The character is the son of one of Uesugi Kenshin's samurai and is brought to work in the stables of a Takeda clan general following a battle. Eventually, the boy works up from the stables to become one of the general's trusted samurai, and the book ends on something of a cliff-hanger after the famous battle of Nagashino. The book is unquestionably a juvenile novel and lacks graphic violent or sexual content. The storyline is essentially episodic and lacks complexity, such as subplots, beyond the historical background material. The writing is mostly centered on action and dialogue without much attention to description, and the prose is slightly simplistic. However, despite all that, it turned out to be a fairly engaging book. The author lived in the area where the events are set, and an attempt was clearly made to keep the story grounded in time and place. Written in the first person in the form of a memoir, it might have been easy to lapse into anachronism, but instead the author has done a good job of creating a believable character who has reactions and outlook appropriate to (a) a relatively sensitive and reflective boy, living in (b) feudal Japan. To me, the book feels like the kernel of a great epic story. The boy's inner life, judgement, and narrative voice are balanced and appealing enough that a great number of scenes, plot elements, and descriptive passages could have been kneaded in. The negative reviews of this book on Amazon are mostly from young students who found the end particularly boring. This is interesting because the latter part of the book is where historical events come to the fore, and the author spends more time on the character's attempts to navigate the labyrinth of manners and duties expected of him due to his social position. For me, this was where the book became most interesting, and it was the beginning chapters, recounting friendships and adventures, that left me cold. No one would mistake this book for great literature, and it's also not vapid entertainment. So, what is the point? I'm not sure. As the boy attempts to become worthy of being appointed as a samurai, he idealizes and adopts the mores of his culture, in turn developing into an honest and self-reliant, yet not naive or shallow, adult. Despite this moralistic bent, I am interested enough in the characters and plot to coninue with the sequel, The Boy and the Samurai. Also, one can never have enough versions of Chushingura, so the author's will get added to my collection. Of note, before the 2005 Sandpiper edition of this book, there was a 1984 paperback edition by Houghton Mifflin that I can't find now son Amazon. As some childrens' books are revised (i.e., censored) these days for ideological reasons, I would try to get the 1984 version if possible. I can't imagine what would be objectionable in the original, but I can't imagine changing objectionable books to begin with, so who knows. ## Frequently Bought Together - The Samurai's Tale - King Arthur and His Knights of the Round Table (Puffin Classics) - Adam of the Road (Puffin Modern Classics) --- ## Why Shop on Desertcart? - 🛒 **Trusted by 1.3+ Million Shoppers** — Serving international shoppers since 2016 - 🌍 **Shop Globally** — Access 737+ million products across 21 categories - 💰 **No Hidden Fees** — All customs, duties, and taxes included in the price - 🔄 **15-Day Free Returns** — Hassle-free returns (30 days for PRO members) - 🔒 **Secure Payments** — Trusted payment options with buyer protection - ⭐ **TrustPilot Rated 4.5/5** — Based on 8,000+ happy customer reviews **Shop now:** [https://www.desertcart.us/products/4495877-the-samurais-tale-a-historical-adventure-for-kids-ages-10](https://www.desertcart.us/products/4495877-the-samurais-tale-a-historical-adventure-for-kids-ages-10) --- *Product available on Desertcart United States of America* *Store origin: US* *Last updated: 2026-10-16*