Sisters of the Sword by Maya Snow

My name is Kimi. My father, the Jito, was visciously murdered by his brother. My uncle then killed my brothers, so my sister and I had to find somewhere safe to hide. We've disguised ourselves as boys and are now working as servants at a dojo. We learned samurai skills from our father, but we hope to improve them enough to rise up and get revenge against our uncle. Keeping our identities a secret has become harder, since our cousin is also at the dojo. He's become a bully, and I suspect the path to our uncle will pass through my cousin.


Children vowing to kill an adult is pretty uncommon for middle grade fiction, and using female characters to do it is even rarer. It's unbelievable to think the young girls will become skilled enough to kill an experienced, ruthless samurai, but the plot is still entertaining. The first part of the book started quickly with the father's murder, but the middle portion of the plot slowed down. I was surprised with the conclusion of the book and don't understand how the conflict merits a sequel. There must be big changes in store.