The Samurai's Tale
10 best books like The Samurai's Tale (Erik Christian Haugaard): The Shakespeare Stealer, The Golden Goblet, Mara, Daughter of the Nile, A Proud Taste for Scarlet and Miniver, Angel on the Square, Black Horses for the King, I, Juan de Pareja, Hittite Warrior, Adam of the Road, Shadow of a Bull
| Author | Gary L. Blackwood |
| ISBN | 0141305959 |
Widge is an orphan with a rare talent for shorthand. His fearsome master has just one demand: steal Shakespeare's play "Hamlet"--or else. Widge has no choice but to follow orders, so he works his way into the heart of the Globe Theatre, where Shakespeare's players perform. As full of twists and turns...
| Author | Eloise Jarvis McGraw |
I really liked this book when I was 11, and I really liked this book twenty-one years later. Somehow Eloise Jarvis McGraw makes Ranofer, the main character, easily relatable without turning him into a kid that thinks, talks and acts like a twentieth century American kid who happens to be living in ancient...
| Author | Eloise Jarvis McGraw |
| ISBN | 0140319298 |
Mara is a proud and beautiful slave girl who yearns for freedom. In order to gain it, she finds herself playing the dangerous role of double spy for two arch enemies - each of whom supports a contender for the throne of Egypt.
Against her will, Mara finds herself falling in love with one of her masters,...
A Proud Taste for Scarlet and Miniver
I especially anticipated reading this book for a couple of reasons.
1 - I love other books by this author especially From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler and Jennifer, Hecate, McBeth, William McKinley and Me, Elizabeth.
2 - The book tells the story of Eleanor of Aquitaine,...
| Author | Gloria Whelan |
| ISBN | 0064408795 |
In the fall of 1914, safe behind palace walls, Katya Ivanova sees St. Petersburg as a magical place.The daughter of a lady-in-waiting to the Empress, Katya spends all her time with the Grand Duchesses; the royal family feels like her own. But outside the palace, a terrible war is sweeping through Europe,...
| Author | Anne McCaffrey |
| ISBN | 0345468635 |
"This fast-moving historical fantasy by bestselling author Anne McCaffrey traces the beginnings of the British cavalry, as recounted by a boy growing up in exciting and perilous times.
"After his father's death, young Galwyn Varianus is apprenticed to his uncle, who puts the boy to work on the...
| Author | Elizabeth Borton de Treviño |
| ISBN | 0374435251 |
**3.5 stars**
Juan de Pareja's portrait by Velázquez is my favorite painting (every time I see it, it makes me cry) so it was with trepidation and excitement that I started this audio.
The book follows the story of Juan de Pareja and his life as the slave of Diego de Velázquez, the leading...
| Author | Joanne Williamson |
| ISBN | 1883937388 |
When Uriah Tarhund's Hititte home is destroyed by invading Greeks, his dying father tells him to go seek a Canaanite named Sisera. "He will help you. For my sake...." When Uriah reaches Judea and saves a young boy from being sacrificed to Molech, he is given succor for a time by the Hebrews. Later, he finds...
| Author | Elizabeth Gray Vining |
| ISBN | 0142406597 |
Awarded the John Newbery Medal as "the most distinguished contribution to American literature for children" in the year of its publication.
"A road's a kind of holy thing," said Roger the Minstrel to his son, Adam. "That's why it's a good work to keep a road in repair, like giving alms to the poor or...
| Author | Maia Wojciechowska |
| ISBN | 1416948309 |
Manolo Olivar was the son of his father. Which may not seem like a necessary thing to say. But in Manolo's case it is. For his father had been Juan Olivar, the greatest bullfighter in all Spain. And Manolo was his son in two special ways: one, he looked just like his father; and two, everyone expected that...
| Author | Hilda van Stockum |
| ISBN | 1883937078 |
This acclaimed story of World War II is rich in suspense, characterization, plot and spiritual truth. Every element of occupied Holland is united in a story of courage and hope: a hidden Jewish child, an "underdiver," a downed RAF pilot, an imaginative, daring underground hero, and the small things...
| Author | Elizabeth Enright |
| ISBN | 0805070613 |
Following on from the first book, the Melendy family move from the city to the countryside to live in a house called The Four-Story Mistake. Some of the family were sad to leave New York but soon they all discover the space and the freedom and a whole new load of adventures.
We loved following the...
| Author | Howard Pyle |
| ISBN | 0486217841 |
A rich and engrossing thread of Romance runs through this tale of the motherless son of a valiant robber baron of Medieval Germany. Young Otto, born into a warring household in an age when lawless chiefs were constantly fighting each other or despoiling the caravans of the merchant burghers, is raised...
| Author | Frances Temple |
| ISBN | 0064406695 |
When she and he were only babies, they were pledged in marriage. Now Atiyah has been sent away -- a political pawn in a war between the Beduin tribes in the year 1302. He vows to return to her as soon as he can.But while Atiyah is studying at the great university in Fez, Halima is lost in a sandstorm. Rescued...
| Author | Eloise Jarvis McGraw |
| ISBN | 0140322558 |
Normally, I would not have bought, on impulse, a book with the boring title of "Master Cornhill." However, Eloise Jarvis McGraw just so happens to be a favorite author of mine. I am so glad that I "didn't judge a book by it's cover" and gave this novel a chance. Master Cornhill was beautifully written, with...
| Author | Caroline Dale Snedeker |
| ISBN | 0966706722 |
Young Theras, born an Athenian, is taken to Sparta by a relative when his father is lost at war. He is forced to live like a Spartan, a brutal life with no pity for those who are not physically perfect and totally obedient to Spartan control. After enduring rigorous training and repeated cruel incidents,...
I first read The Great and Terrible Quest by Margaret Lovett at the age of around 11 or 12, and a friend inspired me to re-read it this month. I remember liking it at that age and being very impressed by the characters, plot, and ending, but I regret that I didn't fully appreciate it back then. I very vaguely...
| Author | Olivia E. Coolidge |
| ISBN | 0618154256 |
From the terror of Medusa and the Minotaur to the Labors of Heracles and journeys of Theseus, the stories in this collection have thrilled and enthralled people for centuries with their high drama, hazardous quests, and unforgettable characters (both mortal and immortal). Under Olivia Coolidge’s...
| Author | Barbara Willard |
| ISBN | 1883937302 |
The year is 781 A.D. King Charles of the Franks is crossing the Alps with his family and court on a journey to meet with Pope Hadrian. One frosty night he speaks to his young son Carl of his plans for the future: "When we come to Rome you will know that I am naming you my heir. One day you will rule over all my lands..."...
| Author | Donna Lynn Hess |
| ISBN | 0890845956 |
3.5 stars. Somebody told me I should read this, so I did...and I actually really enjoyed it!
It's not anything spectacular, but I love books about the French Revolution and this one was especially interesting because it's told by the perspective of someone who was actually a follower and revolutionary...
| Author | Madeleine A. Polland |
| ISBN | 1887840559 |
Macha drove me insane. There I've said it. Yet I'm still able to call this book 4 stars.
Like most of what we do for Sonlight I start a lot of these books with a great deal of skepticism. I think, "This seems wordy and dull and way too detailed with the history to be any good."
Then I get through...
| Author | E.L. Konigsburg |
| ISBN | 1416903429 |
THE GREATEST ARTIST OF HIS TIME
AN APPRENTICE WITH A LARCENOUS HEART AND AN AVERSION TO THE TRUTH
A YOUNG DUTCHESS WHOSE PLAIN FACE BELIES HER BEAUTIFUL SOUL
Could the complex ways these three lives intertwine hold the key to a historical riddle as enigmatic as the Mona Lisa's smile...
| Author | Henry Winterfeld |
| ISBN | 0152162682 |
In these two delightful history-mysteries, seven boys in Ancient Rome solve strange crimes . . . thanks to some help from their cranky teacher, a little bit of logic, and a lot of amusing misadventure.
It seems the boys can get nothing right: Their teacher's fiftieth birthday is long past (they...
| Author | Mary Ray |
| ISBN | 1883937434 |
Hylas is young Greek slave in the household of Caius Pomponius, a Roman Senator involved in political schemes. When the senator is found mysteriously murdered, the household slaves (including Hylas and his mother) fall under suspicion. Hylas escapes capture long enough to enlist the aid of a young...
| Author | Kathleen Karr |
| ISBN | 0374427984 |
Yeeeeeee-haw! Git along, little . . . turkeys?
Big, brawny Simon Green, who's just completed third grade (for the fourth time), may not be book smart, but he's nobody's fool. When it's time to be done with school and make his way in the world, Simon hatches a plan that could earn him a bundle. He...
| Author | Gloria Whelan |
| ISBN | 0064408191 |
Like many girls her age in the India of her time period, thirteen-year-old-Koly is getting married. Full of hope and courage, she leaves home forever. But Koly's story takes a terrible turn when in the wake of the ceremony, she discovers she's been horribly misled about exactly what she is marrying into....
