The
Boy and the Beast, Vols. 1-3 by
After
he runs away from home, 9-year-old Ren stumbles onto the Beast Kingdom, a world
parallel to our own that is populated by anthropomorphic beasts. The Kingdom’s old
Grandmaster is about to go into retirement, so now two kendo masters are vying
for the position: kindly, well-liked Iozen, who has trained many pupils, and Kumatetsu,
a gruff, unlikable warrior with a terrible track record for teaching. Hoping
that the newly arrived Ren will become his first successful apprentice,
Kumatetsu takes the boy under his wing, and the two form a tempestuous but
close master/pupil bond. Years pass, and just as Ren is finishing his training,
he suddenly finds himself thrust once more into the land of humans. Can he successfully
readjust to life in the human world, and bridge the gap between human and
beast, boy and man? Recommended for Gr 7 Up for fantasy violence.
Delicious
in Dungeon, Vols. 1-2 by Ryoko Kui
Determined
to save their friend after she’s eaten by a dragon, a team of adventurers must
once again brave the dungeon where the dragon lives. When they realize that
they’ve run out of money for food, one of them comes up with a brilliant, if
slightly strange idea: why not eat the monsters they slay? This delightfully
odd-ball comedy is a clever fantasy for foodies, and for those looking for
something different but light-hearted. Recommended for Gr 7 Up for fantasy
violence.
Wolf
Children: Ame & Yuki by Mamoru Hosoda
Hana,
a lonely student, meets her kindred spirit in a man who reveals himself to be
the last of the wolf-man clan. They fall in love and have two children, but
their idyllic family life is torn apart when the children’s father is killed. Determined
to raise her wolf children in an environment where they can embrace their dual
natures, Hana moves them to the countryside. Ame and Yuki thrive as both cubs
and human children, but as they grow older, they come to the realization that they
can only choose one path to follow. Recommended for Gr 7 Up for brief suggestive material.
Your
Name, Vols. 1-2 by Makoto Shinkai
Taki
is a part-time waiter who lives in Tokyo with his single dad. Mitsuha is a girl
from rural Itomori who’s being raised by her grandmother. Thanks to the
mysterious influences of a comet that passes over Earth every 1,000 years, the
two teens wake up to realize that they’ve swapped bodies. During a month-long
interlude of intermittent body-swapping, much comedy ensues as the two sheepishly
learn to navigate each other’s lives, becoming less combative towards each
other and more understanding as they learn to communicate through written notes.
When the body-swapping suddenly stops, Taki decides to reach out to Mitsuha, only
to realize that their lives are separated by a substantial time gap: Taki is
living three years after the comet’s passing, while Mitsuha’s existence is
poised just days before the comet crashes into her hometown and kills everyone.
Despite this, Taki becomes determined to find a way to save both Mitsuha and
the town of Itomori from a terrible fate. Recommended for Gr 7 Up for brief suggestive material.
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