Summary:
In this installment of the Time Warp Trio, we follow Sam, Fred, and Joe to Ancient Japan during the height of the time of samurai warriors after an accidental haiku activates the familiar green mist. As the boys search for The Book, they learn about ancient Japanese culture, gain new friends (and enemies), and see some familiar faces from the future. By the time they arrive back at home, they are masters of the art of haiku, and Sam is in for a surprise.
My Evaluation:
I absolutely love the Time Warp Trio. Their funny and clever titles draw your eye, and the fast paced action of the books make it easy to learn the cleverly weaved history lesson. These books are a kid's (and teacher's) dream with wonderful and engaging stories that teach important history lessons. They also avoid the curse that many series books face in that they do not stagnate. With so many series books they all start sounding the same after a while. Each story is fresh and new with the same well loved characters. Jon Scieszka hit another home run with this installment. The information about the origins of haiku poetry was fascinating, and the boys antics kept me in stitches. I enjoyed getting to see their great-granddaughters again because they always add so much to the story.
Reviews:
Amos, B. (n.d.). Sam Samurai The Barnes and Noble Review. Retrieved from http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/sam-samurai-jon-scieszka/1100311533?ean=9780142400883
Writer Jon Scieszka, creator of a time-traveling trio of boys who get to see history (and sometimes the future) firsthand, teams up with illustrator Adam McCauley to take readers along on an adventure-filled trip to ancient Japan in Sam Samurai, the tenth book in the Time Warp Trio series.
Time travel and trouble are ordinary fare for Joe, Sam, and Fred, whose reading material -- a deceptively ordinary-looking book given to Joe by his magician uncle -- keeps transporting them through time. Not only has the trio faced down fire-breathing dragons, black knights, evil Egyptian priests, wicked pirates, battling gladiators, and noisome Neanderthals; on one trip -- into the future, for a change -- they met their great-granddaughters and namesakes: Jo, Sammie, and Freddi. This time it's a bit of haiku that sends the boys tumbling through time from their 21st-century classroom to 17th-century Japan, where samurai warriors reign supreme.
As with previous adventures, the boys must focus on keeping their heads on straight -- in this case, in a most literal sense -- while they scramble to find the magical book that will allow them to return to their own time. Sword-wielding samurai, a faulty Auto Translator, and the boys' inability to adapt quickly enough to this strange new culture combine to make their journey a hair-raising adventure. But with a bit of fast thinking, a trick that passes for magic, and the help of their great-granddaughters, the boys will make it out in time to anticipate their next adventure.
The action is fast and furious, with wordplay and swordplay going hand in hand. An encounter with a samurai named Owattabutt (oh-what-a-butt) is guaranteed to generate giggles even as it creates a tense moment for the time-traveling trio. And as a side benefit, young readers will not only have fun while learning tidbits of history; they can also learn some Japanese, including the words for "noodle," "chopsticks," and the numbers from 1 to 10.
Hughes, P. (n.d.). Sam Samurai Amazon.com Review. Amazon.com. Retrieved from http://www.amazon.com/Sam-Samurai-Time-Warp-Trio/dp/0142400882
Between hightailing it down the Tokaido Road, eluding a hot-tempered samurai named Owattabutt, and trying to fix their malfunctioning Auto-Translator, the Time Warp Trio may never get out of 17th-century Japan alive. Especially with all those razor-sharp katanas poised and waiting to lop off their heads.
Joe, Sam, and Fred were working on a haiku homework assignment when they somehow triggered the mystical Book again, only to find themselves--thanks to some nearby books on Japan--summarily "flushed down four hundred years" and far from their native Brooklyn. And even if they can overcome the language barrier, our time-hopping pals will soon discover that they need to learn a thing or two about Japanese culture if they want to make it out alive. ("Our daimyo is Rudy Giuliani," while hilarious, isn't going to cut it.)
Jon Scieszka's traveling companions are in fine form, as ever, alongside the occasional illustration by Adam McCauley. Readers should love learning about ancient Japan with the boys, and Time Warp Trio fans in particular will get a kick out of the fact that a certain other trio--do you remember any great-grandaughters from the year 2095?--ends up saving the day. (Ages 8 to 11)
My Suggestions for Use in a Library Setting:
I would use this book and the other Time Warp Trio books as the catalyst for a contest in the library entitled "If I could go back in time I would go....". The winner would have their story displayed in the library and would win a $50 Barnes and Noble gift card.
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