In 1613 Japan, English orphan Jack Fletcher's determination to keep the rutter, his father's navigational logbook, safe at all costs places his friends, daimyo Takatomi, and others in great danger.

Orphaned by a ninja pirate attack off the coast of Japan in 1611, twelve-year-old English lad Jack Fletcher is determined to prove himself, despite the bullying of fellow students, when the legendary sword master who rescued him begins training him as a samurai warrior.

"Tree-ear, a thirteen-year-old orphan in medieval Korea, lives under a bridge in a potters' village, and longs to learn how to throw the delicate celadon ceramics himself"--Title verso page.