Books with author Erik Haugaard

When the powerful Lord Takeda’s soldiers sweep across the countryside, killing and plundering, they spare the boy Taro’s life and take him along with them. Taro becomes a servant in the household of the noble Lord Akiyama, where he meets Togan, a cook, who teaches Taro and makes his new life bearable. But when Togan is murdered, Taro’s life takes a new direction: He will become a samurai, and redeem the family legacy that has been stolen from him.

On his own in the teeming city, orphaned Saru learns to survive. He begs, steals, and fights for what he needs. He finds danger in bandits and street gangs, charity in tentative friendships with a priest and a cook’s young daughter, and comfort from his little cat, Neko. But Saru trusts no one, until he meets a samurai and agrees to help in the rescue of his wife, held hostage in the castle. How can a street urchin and a lone warrior prevail

In the time when the Shogun ruled Japan, two hundred samurai suffered a grave insult—their master met an unjust death. Forty-seven of them are courageous enough to avenge him. Jiro is a lowly servant to one of the brave samurai. Chosen as his master’s unlikely spy during the planning of the great revenge, Jiro must learn when to talk and when to listen, or at any moment he could lose his head to a samurai’s razor-sharp sword. And even as Jiro plays his small part in the unfolding plot, he searches for the truth about his own identity.

In the days the shogun ruled Japan, two hundred samurai suffered a grave insult when their master met an unjust death. Forty-seven of them were courageous enough to avenge him. A lowly servant to one of the brave samurai is Jiro, who calls himself a "fly on the wall." Choosen as his master's unlikely spy during the planning of the great revenge, Jiro must know when to talk and when to listen lest he lose his head to a Samurai testing the sharpness of his sword. As Jiro plays his small part in the plan of the forty-seven samurai, he searches for his own identity in the barbaric society of feudal Japan.

When the powerful Lord Takeda’s soldiers sweep across the countryside, killing and plundering, they spare the boy Taro’s life and take him along with them. Taro becomes a servant in the household of the noble Lord Akiyama, where he meets Togan, a cook, who teaches Taro and makes his new life bearable. But when Togan is murdered, Taro’s life takes a new direction: He will become a samurai, and redeem the family legacy that has been stolen from him.