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Historical Fiction by Alan Gratz

The Brooklyn Nine

From baseball’s beginnings in old New York through the Civil War, the birth of professional baseball, the women’s league of the 40s, the Cold War, and into the 2000s, The Brooklyn Nine follows nine generations of kids in one family as they experience the ups and downs of baseball and American history.

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Samurai Shortstop

Tokyo, Japan. 1890. When his beloved Uncle Koji commits ritual suicide, 16-year-old Toyo Shimada must learn to blend bushido — the samurai way of the warrior — with his baseball practices to prevent his father from following in Koji’s footsteps, all while navigating his first year at the punishing First Higher School of Tokyo.

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“Okiku and the Nine Plates”

A re-imagining of the classic Japanese ghost story of the same name. In this version, a samurai “Special Investigator” with a knack for dealing with yōkai — Japanese spirits — is sent by the Shogun to deal with a mysterious phenomenon menacing one of his faithful daimyo.

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“To Honor Ichiko and Defend Japan”

Welcome to Ichiko, the First Higher School of Japan, where life is so difficult in the Meiji period that a number of students die at school each year. Fatal Accidents, illnesses, and suicides are all common—but what if the latest student death was a murder? With no teachers or administrators overseeing the dorms, one boy takes the investigation into his own hands.

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