Books with author Thomas Hoobler

The emperor of Japan is refusing to carry out his duties. Since everyone expects him to ask his ancestor, the sun goddess Amaterasu, for a successful growing season, his refusal creates a crisis. The shogun sends Seikei to solve the problem--since the emperor, like Seikei, is a 14-year-old boy. Things grow worse when the emperor is kidnapped and the 5000-year-old sacred sword is stolen, and Seikei is suspected. He has only two people to help him: a servant girl who thinks Seikei is actually the emperor, and a mysterious old man who has hidden powers. It's Seikei's most difficult task yet.

Adopted samurai Seikei goes to the shogun's palace to view a demonstration of European medicine. Instead, he sees a murder as one of the foreigners dies of poisoning. Another of the foreigners wants to take away the young nephew of the dead man, but the boy is reluctant. He does not speak Japanese, so to keep him out of harm's way, Seikei's foster father tells Seikei to take him to the foreigners' base at Nagasaki. What seems like a simple task soon turns into a dangerous one, for many people seem to want the boy for their own peculiar purposes. Seikei has to use all his ingenuity and daring to carry out his mission and find the murderer as well.

Open this book to all the joys and troubles, the triumphs and disappointments, of being an American girl. Here is the chance to read selections from private diaries and look at the portraits of real girls across two centuries. From best friends to boyfriends, hair problems to homework problems, it seems there will always be some things only girls can understand.Maybe you'll be surprised at how similar these girls' diaries are to your own. They took walks in the woods and read novels, had trouble learning English as a second language, wrote essays about George Washington for history class, experienced their first kisses and first periods, and struggled to prove they were just as good as boys.But you'll probably also find that a lot of things were very different for girls who lived a century or more ago. For instance, have you ever named your bedposts after boys you like? Is the word pants considered improper at your school? Do you wear a skate key around your neck on a string, or shop for calico at a dry goods store?In these excerpts and images, girls of all ages will find surprises and revelations and meet some new friends along the way. Here are American girls from a vast array of backgrounds: wealthy and poor, from urban and rural areas, both famous and not-so-famous. Be there as they share friendships, school days, get into mischief, have fun, fall in love, and become real American women.

When a man with a tattoo covering his back is found in a village rice paddy, Seikei and Judge Ooka know it is a bad omen. But what they don't know is just how bad--or how deeply dangerous--the mystery behind it is. As Seikei and the Judge investigage further, they find that there are seven of these men, each with similar tattoos on their backs. And they are starting to turn up--dead. The Judge soon realizes that these men are all carrying part of a treasure map--but to what? And why is someone killing the men. Seikei must find all seven tattoos and put them together to find the answer--and the path to a secret and terrifying destination.

The beautiful, mysterious women of Japan are being killed one by one. The famous samurai Judge Ooka knows he will need help to solve the crimes, so he turns to his newly adopted son, fourteen-year-old Seikei. Determined to prove his worth as a samurai, Seikei goes undercover as a teahouse attendant in the exotic "floating city" of Yoshiwara, where demons lurk among the pleasure seekers and no one is safe-not even a samurai.

Sixteen-year-old Seikei, now a full-fledged samurai, travels to Osaka, the city of his birth. While attending one of the city’s famous bunraku theaters, in which life-size puppets are performed by men in black hoods, he is witness to a murder. To his horror, Seikei discovers that his own brother and sister may be involved. Tracking down a lead, he is kidnapped by pirate smugglers. Will Seikei be able to escape, save his family, and find out the dark secret of the puppet theater? Read on to find out.