So, if my post on tween manga club crafts got you all fired up and ready to start your own tween manga club, one of the first things you’ll want to do is starting picking out some great titles to booktalk with your new group. Manga, or Japanese comics, can have a very broad audience spanning all ages, and some series might not be all that suitable for a 9-12 year old group.
To help get you started, here are a few manga series that your tween enthusiasts might love, and which are perfect for even your youngest tweens.
Chi’s Sweet Home
Chi is a tiny kitten with a great big personality! Follow along with Chi as she explores her new home with the Yamada family, and gets to know all the other animals in her neighbourhood.
Yotsuba&!
Yotsuba is an enthusiastic and precious five year old who throws herself into every situation with her customary gusto, much to the chagrin of her long-suffering father, friends and neighbours!
Hikaru No Go
Chances are you might not be familiar with go, but this ancient strategy game has a passionate following in Japan. When ordinary schoolboy Hikaru discovers a haunted go board, his consciousness is invaded by the spirit of a long-dead go master who cannot rest until he’s played the perfect game.
Pokemon
Yup, it’s still a thing! Follow along as Pokemon trainers train their “pocket monsters” and compete to be the best.
Yo-Kai Watch
Nate’s ordinary life is turned upside when he’s given a watch that allows him to interact with yo-kai (magical creatures from Japanese folklore).
FukuFuku Kitten Tales
Putting aside the awkward title for a moment, this is another story of an adorable kitten and their precocious antics, only this time around the kitten is adopted by a sweet elderly lady.
Happy Happy Clover
Prepare for cuteness overload! Clover is a mischievous little bunny who is always getting into silly antics with her fluffy forest friends.
The Boy & The Beast
A young boy runs away to escape his unhappy home, only to somehow end up in the magical world of beasts! There he’s taken in by a gruff bear warrior, and together the boy and the beast help one another learn to forgive and to heal. Note – this series does contain stylized scenes of hand to hand combat, but not gore.
Naruto
A classic shonen (boy’s manga), this long-running series also happens to be one of my personal favourites. Be warned that Naruto does contain violence (it is a story about ninjas after all) and some suggestive scenes, and might be better suited for your older club members. But readers looking for action, adventure, friendship and humour might just love the story of the young ninja Naruto and his friends. There are 72 volumes in the series, and fans can keep the adventure alive with the companion series Boruto, which follows Naruto’s son!
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Obviously these are just a few of the many manga titles available for younger readers. If you come across a title you’re unfamiliar with but think might work well for your club, I highly recommend doing a quick Google search to see if there’s any content in future issues of the series that you might want to be aware of, particularly sexual themes and/or scenes of violence. Many manga titles seemingly aimed at younger audiences do contain more mature themes than North American audiences might be expecting, and you don’t want to be in for any surprises later down the road! Of course this doesn’t mean you can’t share these titles with your group, I just always believe that forewarned is forearmed, and the more information you have at your disposal, the better.
And the next time your co-workers question why you’re reading “comic books” at work, you can honestly tell them it’s for research purposes!
Now go start that tween manga club, and have fun!
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