14 year old Mexican American Lincoln Mendoza and his friend Tony are going to do a switch program. They will each visit a Japanese family while the the other kids from Japan visit Linconís and Tonyís family. Their Lincoln, will start "kempo" a martial art.

One of the things I found similar both in Japan and America, is how Japan also has a big interest in Baseball. Another thing I found was in Japan they had a place called a hot room, which is like a big room with lots of Jacuzzis. Two things that were different were how in Japan they had a different religion, and their traditions are different.

I thought the book was good. One thing that I liked about it was how the author explained the smells, for example when Lincoln and Mitsu were walking in the streets of Tokyo. One thing I didnít like was how Lincoln explained the principal of the school, he said the principal always said "wise guy, eh". It was so stupid. Something I liked was how he explained the way the Kempo teacher flipped him by using her feet and one arm. One thing that I found very interesting is when you look at the back of the book the author put different Japanese words and phrases, and then said what the meant in English. He did the same thing for the Spanish language. For example, in Spanish Viva Raza means hooray for the Mexican people! And in Japanese Katana means sword.