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Summary:

Voume 1. "The fifth grade. The threshold to puberty, and the beginning of the end of childhood innocence. Shuichi Nitori and his new friend Yoshino Takatsuki have happy homes, loving families, and are well-liked by their classmates. But they share a secret that further complicates a time of life that is awkward for anyone: Shuichi is a boy who wants to be a girl, and Yoshino is a girl who wants to be a boy"--Publisher's description.
Volume 2. "In the second volume of Shimura Takako's superb coming-of-age story, our transgendered protagonists, Shuichi and Yoshino, have entered the sixth grade. Shuichi spends a precious gift of cash from his grandmother on a special present for himself, a purchase that triggers a chain of events in which his sister Maho learns his secret, and Shuichi inadvertently steals the heart of a boy Maho is interested in. The woman who showed so much interest in Yoshino (when she was wearing a boy's school uniform) in Volume One reappears with her boyfriend, and, after discovering the important secret they have in common, becomes a mentor and friend to the two children. And the kids go on a class trip that is a rite of passage Shuichi would rather pass up. Shuichi is called a 'faggot' by another boy, and the dramatic nature in which Saori comes to Shuichi's defense leads the two to discover a shared fondness for Anne of Green Gables. But despite his propensity to cry (a propensity noted repeatedly by his more outgoing sister), Shuichi finds strength and courage he didn't know he had"--Publisher's description.
Volume 3. "As shown in the first two volumes of this acclaimed series, Shuichi and his friend Yoshino have a secret: Shuichi is a boy who wants to be a girl, and Yoshino is a girl who wants to be a boy. But one day, abruptly, their secret is exposed, and the two find themselves the target of sixth-grade cruelty. Their friendship is strained, as Yoshino makes a half-hearted effort at being a normal girl and their mentor, Yuki, reveals the harder reality of being transgender. Meanwhile, Shuichi's sister, Maho, realizes her dream of becoming a model, and drags Shuichi along for the ride. Shuichi meets another boy who wants to be a girl, and finds himself on an arranged date with a boy who doesn't know that the girl he has a crush on was born a boy"--Publisher's description.
Volume 4. "In this latest volume, love is in the air. It's in the trees and on the streets. It's hanging on the walls and piled in great heaps on the floor. Or is it really love? These sixth and seventh graders don't really know. But something is definitely amiss. They can't sleep, and when they do sleep they have strange dreams. They get angry and cry, they blush and grin like idiots, for no reason. And it isn't even spring. But the standard rules apply: If A is in love with B, B is certain to be in love with C, and C is likely to be in love with D, or possibly A. And now it seems a good third of the alphabet is in love with our shy protagonist, Nitori-kun. But the flip-side of love is jealousy, and hate. The simple friendships of childhood develop into the complex, tense relationships of adolescence. Friends become strangers, or worse. But while everyone seems to have caught the bug, Volume 4 revolves solidly around the triangle of Nitori-kun, Takatsuki-san, and Chiba-san. Yet centrifugal force seems to push the three away from each other, and there is a certain grimness as they say goodbye to elementary school, and put on the (highly gendered) uniforms of junior high school"--Publisher's description.
Volume 5. "In this volume of the acclaimed series about transgendered kids exploring their unfolding identities, we've reached a big event; the junior high school entrance ceremony. The boys wear black uniforms with stand-up collars based on mid-19th century European military uniforms and the girls wear navy blazers, tan skirts, and red ribbon neckties. Enter our heroes; Nitori-kun is forced to wear a boy's uniform while Takatsuki-san has to wear a girl's! Yet one girl--Sarashia Chizuru--draws stares, whispers, and pointed fingers, because this long-haired beauty is wearing a boy's uniform. Both Nitori-kun and Takatsuki-san are awed by the girl's courage, but Takatsuki-san is particularly vexed by their own faintheartedness. They envy more than a few other students who experience such liberty in wearing either uniform and ponder what it ultimately means about themselves. Envy and jealousy are prominent themes in Volume 5: Chiba-san is jealous of Takatsuki-san, for whom Nitori-kun still carries a torch. Maho envies Anna-chan's professionalism as a model. And Chii-chan's loyal sidekick, Shiri Momoko, is intensely jealous of anyone in whom Chii-chan shows the slightest interest. And so our protagonists set off on the journey to adolescence...."--Publisher's description.
Volume 6. "Shimura Takako's sensitive and charming manga series about two middle-schoolers wrestling with their gender identities continues. Faced with unwanted changes to their growing bodies, male-identified Takatsuki-san discovers the wonders of "breast binders," and female-identified Nitori-kun explores the limits of his ability to "pass." Also: the success of their performance of The Rose of Versailles in the fifth grade - in which the boys played the women and the girls played the men - inspires our protagonists to put on another gender-bending play for the junior-high school festival. They riff on Romeo and Juliet. Nitori-kun and his friend Chiba-san write the script together, but Chiba-san has an agenda: She wants to play Romeo, with Nitori-kun in the role of Juliet. But Nitori-kun wants Takatsuki-san to play Romeo... Chiba-san forces Nitori-kun to confront a question he's been avoiding. Are his feelings for Takatsuki-san those of a boy for a girl, a girl for a girl, or a girl for a boy? Meanwhile, Maho plans a trip to the beach with her boyfriend, and Nitori-kun must chaperone"--Publisher's description.
Volume 7. "Nitori-kun gets his first signs of acne. This may well be the end of the world. But when he turns to nationally famous model Anna-chan for help, events take an unexpected turn. Meanwhile, Nitori-kun and Chiba-san are scouted by the theater club after the success of their gender-bending play, The Rose of Versailles. But when Takatsuki-san congratulates Chiba-san, Chiba-san calls her a hypocrite. If Takatsuki-san wanted to join the theater club, she wouldn't congratulate Chiba-san - she'd be jealous. So says Chiba-san, but what does she know?"--Publisher's description.
Volume 8. "In Volume 8, Nitori-kun, a boy who wants to be a girl, explores kissing with girlfriend Anna-chan; and Yoshino-san, a girl who wants to be a boy, finds the courage to go to school wearing a boy's uniform. Meanwhile, one of their male classmates, Doi-kun, who has caused our protagonists misery in the past, becomes intrigued with their grown-up friend Yuki-san, a transwoman. But Nitori-kun finds himself strangely drawn to Doi-kun..."--Publisher's description.

Table of Contents:

• v. 1. The boy who's a girl. The wandering son wanders on. Oscar and André. Wandering daughter. Nitori-kun's birthday. Friends and their words. Takatsuki-san's calamity. Everything I want
• v. 2. Love & (hair)piece. Dreams and desires and stuff. An unfortunate boy. An undaunted girl. The exchange diary. An odd pair. School trip : day 1. School trip : day 2.
• v. 3. Tagging along. A day of much ado. Half-crazed. A new friend. Sunday date. Takatsuki Yoshino's big decision. Stranger and stranger. A song for everyone
• v. 4. BIg sister's romance. Tragic princess. Romantic escape. Kissing incident. And it's not even Spring. Confessions of love. Cracks reappear. Ahh, Junior High
• v. 5. The curious Sarashina-san. The fresh-faced class number three. We're all friends in this class. Beautiful Monday. The teacher loves a mystery. Practicing being girls. The door to summer. Tensions build (again)
• v. 6. The start of summer vacation. The middle of summer of vacation. The end of summer vacation. Preparing for the festival : [parts 1-3]. Gather around! It's festival time! : [parts 1-2]. Bonus manga
• v. 7. How Makeo feels. A maiden's prayer. Yoshino in bad temper. The secret life of Nitori-kun. Ripples. A thaw? Take me out to the ski slopes (part 1). Take me out to the ski-slopes (part 2). Wandering Takako : observations on Shimura-san / by Ishide Den. My life of late
• v. 8. Spring. The opposite of "like". The measure of a big sister. Wavering. Live to sing. The morning of a new journey. The dam. The dam bursts.

Author/Creator:

Shimura, Takako, 1973- , author, artist

Contributors:

Thorn, Rachel , translator

Baresh, Paul , letterer

Burns, Ian , letterer

Miller, Priscilla , letterer

Languages:

English
Japanese

Language Notes:

In English; translated from the Japanese.

Main Work:

Hōrō musuko [by Shimura, T.] (English)

Subjects:

School children — Comic books, strips, etc.

Gender identity — Comic books, strips, etc.

Transgender people — Comic books, strips, etc.

Japan — Comic books, strips, etc.

School children

Comic books, strips, etc.

Gender identity

Transgender people

Young adult fiction

Japan

Genres:

Young adult fiction

Graphic novels

Bildungsromans

General Notes:

Manga format; reads from back to front, right to left.
"First published in Japan by Enterbrain, Inc., Tokyo."

Physical Description:

8 volumes : chiefly illustrations (some color) ; 25 cm

Physical Characteristics:

illustration

Call Numbers:

PN6790.J33 S5513 2011

ISBNs:

9781606994160 (v. 1)
1606994166 (v. 1)
9781606994566 (v. 2)
1606994565 (v. 2)
9781606995334 (v. 3)
1606995332 (v. 3)
9781606996058 (v. 4)
1606996053 (v. 4)
9781606996478 (v. 5)
1606996479 (v. 5)
9781606997079 (v. 6)
1606997076 (v. 6)
9781606997505 (v. 7)
1606997505 (v. 7)
9781606998311 (v. 8)
1606998315 (v. 8)

OCLC Numbers:

740865029