Wandering Son 1

The fifth grade. The threshold to puberty, and the beginning of the end ofchildhood innocence. Shuichi Nitori and his new friend Yoshino Takatsukihave happy homes, loving families, and are well-liked by their classmates. Butthey share a secret that further complicates a time of life that is awkward foranyone: Shuichi is a boy who wants to be a girl, and Yoshino is a girl who wantsto be a boy. Written and drawn by one of today’s most critically acclaimedcreators of manga, Shimura portrays Shuishi and Yoshino’s very private journeywith affection, sensitivity, gentle humor, and unmistakable flair and grace. Book One introduces our two protagonists and the friends and family whose lives intersect with their own. Yoshinois rudely reminded of her sex by immature boys whose budding interest in girls takes clumsily cruel forms. Shuichi’ssecret is discovered by Saori, a perceptive and eccentric classmate. And it is Saori who suggests that the fifth graders puton a production of The Rose of Versailles for the farewell ceremony for the sixth graders — with boys playing the roles ofwomen, and girls playing the roles of men.

Wandering Son is a sophisticated work of literary manga translated with rare skill and sensitivity by veteran translatorand comics scholar Matt Thorn.