Risuko: A Kunoichi Tale. David Kudler. Stillpoint Digital Press. June
2016. 234 pp. ISBN#: 9781938808326.
Kano
Murasaki is called “Squirrel” (Risuko) by family and friends. Obviously, she has received this name because
she loves to climb houses and trees with a nimbleness and quickness few others
possess. She knows Japan has been torn
apart by civil war in the year 1570; Risuko knows that her father was a famous
samurai warrior who was told to complete a mission but refused and so is no
longer a samurai. However, he has taught
Risuko the “dance” of sword play which she never realizes will later save lives
around her.
For
now, Risuko is devastated to find she has been “sold” by her mother to Lady
Chiyome to become a Kunoichi which Risuko will not be able to translate or
understand for quite a while (although she is bright enough to figure it out
earlier than the other characters thought possible). After a very cold and difficult journey,
Risuko arrives with other females and little by little learns their
stories. She has not realized how
important her father was until now, and she begins to display the skills others
deem as exceptional but which are normal to her. Risuko is given mundane tasks in the kitchen
but also begins training in sword, music, cooking, and other skills.
While
Risuko makes quick friends with some of the girls, others seem bent on being
perpetual enemies. However, Risuko
doesn’t realize that she’s not the one targeted to be killed and certainly
doesn’t know why someone (called a “ghost” or “spirit fox” in ancient Japanese
tales) wants to kill them all. She will
be called upon to be the one called upon to do more than she realized she could
do.
The
story is also replete with information about Japanese dress and mixed (Japanese
and Korean) food that makes for enjoyable reading.
Read
this delightful story with the gorgeous cover and enjoy the adventure, wisdom
and light spirit threading its fascinating pages. Delightfully told and crafted!
