Book excerpt: Samurai, assassins, warlords -- and a girl who likes to climb A historical coming-of-age tale of a young girl who is purchased away from her family to become an assassin. Can she come to terms with who she must be? Though Japan has been devastated by a century of civil war, Risuko just wants to climb trees. Growing up far from the battlefields and court intrigues, the fatherless girl finds herself pulled into a plot that may reunite Japan -- or may destroy it. She is torn from her home and what is left of her family, but finds new friends at a school that may not be what it seems. One of the students — or perhaps one of the teachers — is playing the kitsune. The mischievous fox spirit is searching for… something. What do they want? And what will they do to find it? Magical but historical, Risuko follows her along the first dangerous steps to discovering who she truly is. The first volume of the Seasons of the Sword series! Can one girl win a war? Kano Murasaki, called Risuko (Squirrel) is a young, fatherless girl, more comfortable climbing trees than down on the ground. Yet she finds herself enmeshed in a game where the board is the whole nation of Japan, where the pieces are armies, moved by scheming lords, and a single girl couldn't possibly have the power to change the outcome. Or could she? Historical adventure fiction appropriate for teen readers As featured in Kirkus, Foreword, and on the cover of Publishers Weekly! Tight, exciting, and thoughtful... The characters are nicely varied and all the pieces fit into place deftly. -- Kirkus Reviews Risuko is an artfully crafted novel that evokes a heavy sense of place and enchantment.... Risuko's development and evolution are fascinating to watch in this powerful and relentless coming-of-age adventure. -- Foreword Reviews (spotlight review) Vividly portrayed, flush with cultural detail, and smoothly written. -- BookLife