The Sign of the Chrysanthemum (Harper Trophy Book)

Required for 8th grade, good story

Needed book for second copy and home.. Great condition!

We read this book because it was part of a 6th Grade Ancient Japanese History unit. The publisher lists the book as appropriate for ages 8-12 / grades 3-7. While the writing is simple enough for that range, parents and educators should be aware that prostitution and sex trafficking are part of the story.These are not topics I appreciated being included so nonchalantly in a children's book. The rest of the story is neither interesting nor redeemable enough to make it worthwhile. I do not recommend this book, especially for younger children. If parents or teachers chose or are required to use this book with older students, they may want to give trigger warnings and discuss current issues of safety, consent, coercion, exploitation, abuse, rape, and sex trafficking, and how to obtain help if in or aware of such situations.*spoilers* After his mother's death, the boy Muna (which means "No Name" because he is illegitimate) heads to the city to search for the samurai warrior father who spent a few days in their village and left his mother pregnant. When Muna enters the city, he sees "painted ladies" calling to men and enticing them to spend a few coins for a night they won't forget and teasing him for being too young for their business. It's mentioned several other times about men enjoying the brothels on a particular street and later a street where "the women are cheaper." After Muna's friend Akiko's father dies, her uncle sends (sells?) her to a brothel. As the uncle and his cronies are laughing and partying, the uncle tells Muna that Akiko (a girl previously described as about Muna's age and "who appeared surprisingly young") is now "well situated" in a big house and that her beauty was wasted working in her father's shop. Muna wants to rescue her, but isn't allowed into the brothel without paying. He calls out for Akiko and when he sees her dressed and made up as a prostitute, he prays to the goddess of compassion asking "what had they done" [to Akiko]. She begs him to leave. He is dragged out and beaten severely by the brothel guards who tell him if he tries again to see or rescue her, they'll not only hurt him, they'll beat Akiko as badly as they did Muna. He is devastated and says to himself that she has been destroyed. He never returns for her. At the end of the book, as he is reflecting on events in his life, he thinks to himself that he knows "what happened to beautiful girls who were orphaned."

Great quality; just what my daughter wanted.

Boring

I really enjoyed this book and read it in about two hours (it is a short book). I am a Chinese lady teaching 12th grade English and I am sure all my students will enjoy this book, and also any grades from 9th onwards, because of its universal themes of search for identity, how it encapsulates the adventurous spirit of Feudal Japan, and its simple language which manages to be so evocative at the same time. For all those who didn't enjoy reading or teaching the book, may I suggest that you let your students watch some extremely popular Japanese Animation series about Feudal Japan like Rurouni Kenshin and Inuyasha before reading this book. Katherine Paterson's book reads exactly like a a great Anime series and I could picture the whole thing in my mind, background music and scenery included, and it was beautiful. So beautiful. Anyone with even a vague knowledge of feudal era Anime, or Japanese Culture and History of the Heian period will realise how accurately Paterson has portrayed the Japanese ideals of 'honour' and 'family'. She also deliberately tones down her writing style to match the simple sentence structures and restrained style of many East Asian writers, and this would be useful to know when comparing this book stylistically with her other works.

Back when we knew very little about Japanese historyof culture this was a very good introduction.Shogun was new and ideas of how this culture was just another culture.The Rape of Nanking seems to have these innocent dreams about Japanese being "like" us? This book gives a good introduction to the Samurai based society of medieval Japan at a time when Knights roamed England on deeds of chivalry and cathedrals were being built. A system based on Christian ethics is very different than one based on Bushido. But the societies are surprising alike on the surface.

The Sign of the Chrysanthemum is a book about a boy named Muna. Muna is a name that people would laugh about; some might say, "What kind of name is that?" People teased Muna because of his name. Muna doesn't want to be tease anymore and wants to be a man, so he would try to find his father, who is a warrior. Muna used to lived only with his mother and him, without a father with them. Then Muna's mother died and decides to find his father, so people won't tease him. But before Muna's mother died, she said some descriptions about his father. His father is a warrior and has a chrysanthemum tattoo. But that is the only things that Muna knows about his father. So the journey begins with some adventures.I think that this book is okay, but it isn't really that good. I wanted to give the rate to be 3 and a half, but it doesn't have it. But in the other hand, it was a little bit good. Muna had some dreams about his father. This book was kind of boring, but there are adventures that are exciting. This book has some pictures in it and is kind of short. I enjoy reading part of the story, it is a good book.

A gift that is still being enjoyed