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Secret of the Samurai Sword

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Product Description

When Celia and her brother Stephen arrive in Kyoto to spend the summer with their book-writing grandmother, they are only looking forward to a pleasant summer vacation abroad. But they soon find themselves involved in a strange Japanese mystery. Celia awakens one night to discover the ghost of an ancient samurai warrior haunting their garden. Is it a real ghost or an elaborate hoax? What is the phantom seeking? And why does its presence so upset the old Japanese artist who lives across the street? Celia is detemined to solve the riddle of the phantom warrior, but first she must uncover some long-forgotten secrets that were not meant for any American to know. . . .

When Celia and Stephen Bronson arrive in Kyoto, Japan, to spend the summer vacation with their vivacious book-writing grandmother, they find a strange mystery awaiting them. It seems that the agonized ghost of an old-time samurai has been haunting the garden of their grandmother's house at night. A distinguished Japanese artist, Gentaro Sato, who lives across the street, is sure that the spirit of one of his samurai ancestors is trying to get a message to him.

Gentaro Sato is very hostile to Americans, and does not like having them for neighbors. But Celia becomes acquainted with his granddaughter Surniko, a nisei (an American born of Japanese parents who are U.S. citizens). Sumiko has come to Japan with her widowed mother to stay in Gentaro Sato's house. The two girls become good friends-but Celia finds that Sumiko is terribly unhappy. Although she feels and acts completely like an American, her grandfather and her young cousin Hiro keep trying to make her conform to Japanese tradition.

One night Celia's brother Stephen persuades Hiro to wait up with him and watch for the ghost in the garden. The two boys actually see the figure, but it disappears before they can discover what it is. Celia, who is always being discounted by Stephen, decides that she herself will unravel the mystery.