*Its not Easy Being A One-Legged Samurai*

 *Can A One-Legged Boy Become A Great Samurai Warrior? *

  Niya Moto is the only one-legged kid in Japan, Niya Moto is famous for falling flat on his face, and the only school that will accept him is Cockroach Ryu, which is led by the legendary sensei Ki-Yaga. Ki-Yaga may be an old man and overly fond of naps but Ki-Yaga is also known for taking in kids that the world has judged harshly:

 A boy who is blind, an albino girl with extra toes and fingers and also a big kid whose loath to fight.

 As Ki-Yaga was a warrior in his time. He demands excellence in everything from sword fighting to poetry.

 But can the rag-tag team of cockroaches make the treacherous journey to the samurai games, never mind taking on the all-conquering Dragons? 

In a action-filled, fast-moving story that draws on true details of feudal Japan, Niya and his friends find there’s no fear they can’t face as long as they are together. Their friendship is more powerful than any samurai sword.   Niya is a one-legged boy who is training with the sensei Ki-Yaga of the Cockroach Ryu. All of Niya’s samurai classmates have a disadvantage.

 I liked this book so much because some part were exciting and intense and when you weren’t in the intense exciting parts you were in a nice slow paced novel that you would love.

 I would love to recommend this story to kids from the age 8 to 13, but I would not only recommend this book to kids but people off all ages who love slow, intense books like this one

  ‘Toby M., Year 8’

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     ‘Samurai Kids: White Crane’ is about a one legged boy Niya who’s dream is to be a great samurai warrior, but no school will accept a deformed child. That is until he comes across a very old, well-respected and wise Sensei, who is the teacher for a Samurai school, with kids just like Niya, like the blind boy Taji or Mikkio, the one armed boy.

      So will White Crane be an awesome tale about a boy who works hard to chase his goals or will it be a massive waste of time? If you’re guessing the first one then you might want to look for another book. The story takes a while to get started and the first chapter mainly consists of Niya going on and on about how he has one leg and how his spirit totem, the white crane, is just like him because when it stands it tucks one leg behind itself. But once the story gets going it’s pretty average.

      When I say pretty average, I mean the story is very predicable and you can almost guess what’s going to happen next and be right nearly every time. There are so many things this book could have done right but has failed to do so, and it’s a shame because this book could have been so much better. For example the development of the main character Niya. The first chapter gives you a little bit of backstory on him but after that it abandons Niya and starts focusing more on Niya’s friends. This could have been pulled of better if the start of the story focused more on Niya.

    This is the first book of the Samurai Kids series, so maybe the others are better and this is the only bad one. The ending was ok but could have been pulled off better.  Maybe Sandy Fussell is saving a big, epic dramatic ending for the last book but that still doesn’t help this book. But I have to give this book a break as it is aimed more to 9-11 year old kids who are really into ninjas. But in the end, this review is about my opinion of the book, so I’m giving Samurai Kids: White Crane 2 out of 5 stars. Thomas, Year 8