Margi Preus ist eine Kinderbuchautorin, deren Werke für ihre fesselnde Erzählweise und ihren aufschlussreichen Einblick in die Welt der Kinder bekannt sind. Sie befasst sich mit Themen wie Freundschaft, Mut und der Entdeckung des Unbekannten und bezieht oft historische Elemente und vielfältige kulturelle Traditionen ein. Ihre unverwechselbare erzählerische Stimme erweckt überzeugende Charaktere und abenteuerliche Reisen zum Leben, die junge Leser ansprechen. Preus' Schreiben lädt Kinder ein, die Welt mit Staunen und Empathie zu erkunden.
The story revolves around Francie, who discovers that a small, engraved silver box holds the key to her identity and the mystery of her missing mother. As she deciphers cryptic clues, she realizes that the box is so valuable that it attracts dangerous individuals willing to go to great lengths to obtain it. The tension escalates as she navigates the threats surrounding her, all while seeking the truth about herself and her family.
A red squirrel stows away on a canoe to fulfill his dream of joining a group of voyageurs--men who paddle canoes filled with goods to a trading post thousands of miles away. A Finalist for the Minnesota Book Award It is 1792 and unbeknownst to a group of voyageurs traveling from Montreal to Grand Portage, an intrepid squirrel, Jean Pierre Petit Le Rouge, sneaks onto their canoe. Le Rouge is soon discovered because he can't contain his excitement--mon dieu he is so enthusiastic. The smells! The vistas! The comradery! The voyageurs are not particularly happy to have him, especially because Le Rouge rides, but he does not paddle. He eats, but he does not cook. He doesn't even carry anything on portages--sometimes it is he who has to be carried. He also has a terrible singing voice. What kind of voyageur is that? When they finally arrive at the trading post Le Rouge is in for a terrible shock--the voyageurs have traveled all those miles to collect beaver pelts. With the help of Monique, a smart and sweet flying squirrel, Le Rouge organizes his fur-bearing friends of the forest to ambush the men and try and convince them to quit being voyageurs. Written by a Newbery honor author, the book has over 20 black-and-white illustrations.
In 1841 a Japanese fishing vessel sinks. Its crew is forced to swim to a small, unknown island, where they are rescued by a passing American ship. Japan’s borders remain closed to all Western nations, so the crew sets off to America, learning English on the way. Manjiro, a 14-year-old boy, is curious and eager to learn everything he can about this new culture. Eventually the captain adopts Manjiro and takes him to his home in New England. The boy lives there for some time and then heads to San Francisco to pan for gold. After many years, he makes it back to Japan, only to be imprisoned as an outsider. With his hard-won knowledge of the West, Manjiro is in a unique position to persuade the emperor to ease open the boundaries around Japan; he may even achieve his unlikely dream of becoming a samurai. <i>Heart of a Samurai</i> is a 2011 Newbery Honor Book. <b> <u> Accolades and Praise for <i>Heart of a Samurai </i></u> </b>2011 Newbery Honor Book<i> New York Times </i>Bestseller<i> </i>NPR Backseat Book Club pick "A terrifc biographical novel by Margi Preus." -<i>Wall Street Journal</i> <b>*STARRED REVIEW* </b>"It’s a classic fish-out-of-water story (although this fish goes into the water repeatedly), and it’s precisely this classic structure that gives the novel the sturdy bones of a timeless tale. Backeted by gritty seafaring episodes—salty and bloody enough to assure us that Preus has done her research—the book’s heart is its middle section, in which Manjiro, allegedly the first Japanese to set foot in America, deals with the prejudice and promise of a new world. By Japanese tradition, Manjiro was destined to be no more than a humble fisherman, but when his 10-year saga ends, he has become so much more." --<i>Booklist, </i>starred review<i> </i><b>*STARRED REVIEW* </b>"Illustrated with Manjiro’s own pencil drawings in addition to other archival material and original art from Tamaki, this is a captivating fictionalized (although notably faithful) retelling of the boy’s adventures. Capturing his wonder, remarkable willingness to learn, the prejudice he encountered and the way he eventually influenced officials in Japan to open the country, this highly entertaining page-turner."<b> </b>--Kirkus Reviews<i>, </i>starred review <b>*STARRED REVIEW*</b> "Stunning debut novel. Preus places readers in the young man’s shoes, whether he is on a ship or in a Japanese prison. Her deftness in writing is evident in two poignant scenes, one in which Manjiro realizes the similarities between the Japanese and the Americans and the other when he reunites with his Japanese family." --<i>School Library Journal, </i>starred review <b>*STARRED REVIEW*</b> "Preus mixes fact with fiction in a tale that is at once adventurous, heartwarming, sprawling, and nerve-racking in its depictions of early anti-Asian sentiment. She succeeds in making readers feel every bit as “other” as Manjiro, while showing America at its best and worst through his eyes." --<i>Publishers Weekly, </i>starred review "First-time novelist Preus turns the true story of Manjiro into an action-packed boy's adventure tale." --<i>Horn Book</i>
