28 Nov / Wandering Son (vol. 7) by Shimura Takako, translated by Matt Thorn
Here’s lucky number seven of this internationally lauded, gender-bender series starring two sensitive, searching middle schoolers navigating through the challenges of gender-fluid adolescence. To catch up, click here – this is most definitely a multi-volume narrative that requires careful sequential attention.
Shuichi, the boy who wants to be a girl, confronts his first cosmetic hurdle: a pimple (oh, no!) on that surprised, perfect face, right on the middle of his nose. Of course, it’s not nearly the eruption he thinks it is, but it’s enough to make him worry. When his older sister’s products don’t zap his zit, he asks her friend Anna for advice since she’s a professional model. Surprisingly, their surface exchanges quickly develop into something more. Who woulda thunk it?!
Meanwhile, Yoshino – the girl who wants to be a boy – is facing her own dramas, ironically over someone else’s gender-bending dramatic success. When she tries to compliment Saori for her work with Shuichi in the recent cultural festival, Saori’s reaction is unexpectedly bitter and dismissive. When Yoshino reveals to Saori that Shuichi has chosen Anna, Saori disappears from school and refuses to return.
An upcoming class ski trip brings everyone back together in one place … but each of the maturing friends and their continually evolving relationships remain unpredictable, moving targets. Creator Shimura Takako offers no obvious, easy answers: who’s who, who’s what, who’s with whom … all such adolescent mysteries remain yet to be solved.
Tidbit: Volume 8 hits shelves next spring, egads! For those of you who are without patience (I know not what that means, hahaha!), the anime version of the series is available here.
Readers: Middle Grade, Young Adult
Published: 2014 (United States)