Risuko: A Kunoichi Tale

By David Kudler

Book Overview

Can One Girl Win A War? Tenth Anniversary Edition - with new author essays on the history behind the series

In the chaos of Japan's century-long civil war, young Risuko is sold to the legendary Lady Chiyome and taken to a remote mountain school. There she's trained alongside other girls in skills no one will explain - cooking, dancing, spying - for a purpose she's not meant to understand. But Risuko is a climber. She goes where she's not supposed to go. And what she discovers will thrust her into the heart of a conflict that could reshape a nation.

Book 1 of Seasons of the Sword - a complete four-book series: Risuko (Winter)Bright Eyes (Spring)Kano (Summer)Murasaki (Autumn)

Samurai, assassins, warlords - and a girl who likes to climb

It's 1570. Kano Murasaki - called Risuko ("Squirrel") - is a fatherless girl living in a ruined village, more comfortable in the treetops than on the ground. When the enigmatic Lady Chiyome purchases her from her desperate mother, Risuko is carried across a war-ravaged landscape to a mountain compound called the Full Moon.

There, she and two other recruits are trained by kunoichi - spies, bodyguards, assassins - in an education disguised as domestic service. Kitchen work becomes blade training. Dance becomes combat. And the women around her are far more dangerous than they appear.

But someone at the Full Moon is hiding a secret. When betrayal strikes at the heart of the compound, Risuko must decide what she's willing to become - and what she's willing to do - to protect the people she's come to love.

Risuko is the first book in Seasons of the Sword, a complete, award-winning, four-book series set during Japan's turbulent Sengoku period. Rich in historical detail, sharp with political intrigue, and driven by a heroine who keeps climbing higher than anyone expects.

What the Critics Say:

"Tight, exciting, and thoughtful... The characters are nicely varied and all the pieces fit into place deftly." - Kirkus Reviews

"A powerful and relentless coming-of-age adventure... Risuko's development and evolution are fascinating to watch." - Foreword Reviews (spotlight review)

"Vividly portrayed, flush with cultural detail, and smoothly written." - BookLife

BAIPA Book Award Winner

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1938808762
• ISBN13: 9781938808760
• Release Date: June 2026
• Publisher: Stillpoint/Atalanta
• Length: 238 Pages
• Weight: 1.08 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.7" x 6.0" x 9.0"
• Age Range: 13 to 18 years
• Grade Range: Grade 8 to Postsecondary