Showing results for "The Samurai" in Growing Up & Facts of Life

With feudal wars raging through the Japanese countryside, it is no place for children, particularly homeless orphans like six-year-old Saru, who grow up fast and hard in the cold city. When begging does not fill his stomach, stealing and cunning do the trick. The only warmth Saru knows is from a kindly priest who allows him to sleep under his little Shinto shrine in the winter, and Neko, his adopted kitten. Living day-by-day, Saru gives little thought to the future or the course his life might take.

Tommy has given himself a new name - Kenny - from the Japanese ken, meaning sword. It’s a good samurai name. A warrior’s name. This summer at camp - a camp for kids who are not wanted at home - Kenny and his friends need all the samurai cunning and strength they can muster. They have declared a war - between themselves and the camp’s sadistic overseer, Matron, and her adult son, Christian, who secretly stalks one of the girls. Covertly building a samurai castle in the woods, Kenny and his motley band of warriors strategize their attack and eventual escape. But then things go horribly wrong.