44 pages1 hour read

Margi Preus

Heart of a Samurai

Fiction | Novel | Middle Grade | Published in 2010

A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.

Generate discussion
questions about this title!

Try our Discussion Questions Tool

Part 3Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Part 3: “The New World”

Part 3, Chapter 15 Summary: “New Bedford and Fairhaven”

Two years after leaving Japan, the John Howland arrives in New Bedford, Massachusetts, with 2,761 barrels of whale oil. Manjiro is overwhelmed by the new sights (and smells) of the American city and realizes he has nobody waiting for him. The captain, who also has nobody waiting for him, tells Manjiro that they are a family. Manjiro is delighted when they set foot on land but is at once teased and mocked by boys his age; an older man promptly corrects them, to Manjiro’s surprise.

Manjiro and Whitfield return to his home, but it is in disarray, covered in cobwebs and weeds. They stay with the Akens, close friends of Whitfield. Mrs. Aken feeds them chowder and puts Manjiro to bed. The next morning, he eavesdrops on Whitfield talking to the Akens about his desire to run a farm with Manjiro. He decides that he needs a wife, and Manjiro needs a mother, and he leaves for New York to propose to Albertina, a woman he is fond of.

Part 3, Chapter 16 Summary: “Samurai Farm Boy”

Life changes drastically for Manjiro. Whitfield and Albertina marry and start a farm, and Manjiro gets a horse and plenty of farm chores alongside his new mother. His horse, Plum Duff, becomes his best friend, but he cannot seem to stay on her back.