Book cover of Daughters of the Samurai: A Journey from East to West and Back

Book description

In 1871, five young girls were sent by the Japanese government to the United States. Their mission: learn Western ways and return to help nurture a new generation of enlightened men to lead Japan.

Raised in traditional samurai households during the turmoil of civil war, three of these unusual…

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Why read it?

1 author picked Daughters of the Samurai as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?

Janice Nimura has uncovered a marvelous and strange tale of five Japanese girls selected by the Meiji Restoration government to travel to the United States to learn Western ways during a period of modernization. Three of them remained through their school years, their lives entwining with host families and new friends as they overcame prejudice and proved themselves bright, eager learners. Yet they returned with their new knowledge to a Japan once again suspicious of outside influence, their lives forever altered by their time away as the human subjects of a grand social experiment with unintended consequences. I loved getting…

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December on 5C4 by Adam Strassberg,

Magical realism meets the magic of Christmas in this mix of Jewish, New Testament, and Santa stories–all reenacted in an urban psychiatric hospital!

On locked ward 5C4, Josh, a patient with many similarities to Jesus, is hospitalized concurrently with Nick, a patient with many similarities to Santa. The two argue…

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