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Title details for Festival of Shadows by Atelier Sento - Available

Festival of Shadows

A Japanese Ghost Story

by Atelier Sento
Cecile Brun
ebook
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**A Junior Library Guild Gold Standard Selection
**Recommended by the New York Public Library among its list of '50 Best New Comics for Adults' in 2023
What happens when the living risk their lives to save the souls of the dead?
Every summer, in an isolated Japanese village, a celebration known as the Festival of Shadows takes place. The villagers are entrusted to assist the troubled souls or "shadows" of those who died tragically, and to help them come to terms with their deaths and find eternal peace.
Naoko, a young girl born in the village, is given a year to save the soul of a mysterious young man. She develops strong feelings for her shadow—a handsome young man, an artist—but he seems haunted by a terrible secret. She has a year to find out what happened to him, to help him come to terms with his past, and if she fails, his soul will be lost forever...
As the year goes by, Naoko finds herself teetering between the worlds of the living and the dead. What is the terrible secret that seems to be haunting her shadow? And could she be risking her own life to help someone who has already lost his?
Naoko puts her own life on the line to save the soul of this man she loves, in an exciting, moving and beautifully drawn story that takes the reader on a journey from the beautiful Japanese countryside to glamorous Tokyo art world.

  • Creators

  • Publisher

  • Release date

    April 4, 2023

  • Formats

    • Kindle Book

    • OverDrive Read

      • ISBN: 9781462923922
    Kindle restrictions

  • Languages

    • English

  • Reviews

    • Publisher's Weekly

      April 10, 2023
      A teen participating in her small village’s annual spiritual festival has a year to help her assigned spirit cross over to the afterlife in this bittersweet graphic novel of star-crossed love set in contemporary Japan. Every year, in preparation for the Festival of Shadows, lost and confused spirits appear in Naoko’s mountain village. Naoko, who is a shadow caretaker like her late mother, is entrusted by elders to help a soul accept their death and find peace. If they don’t, they risk becoming permanent specters haunting the village. Since her first shadow failed to progress, Naoko worries that her second one will meet the same fate. But this year’s spirit, a skilled painter who is afraid of cars, intrigues her, and she slowly develops feelings for him. Hyper-detailed watercolor and ink art by Sentō (Onibi: Diary of a Yokai Ghost Hunter) painstakingly reproduce traditional Japanese elements such as shoji screens, tatami mats, kimonos, and housecoats, and portrayals of the shadows evoke a dreamlike blur. Via Naoko’s romantic and intimate voice, Sentō explores themes of grief, heartache, and loss, coalescing into a sensitively told supernatural tale. Ages 14–up.

    • Booklist

      May 15, 2023
      Grades 9-12 Can the power of love and friendship break down the boundaries between the worlds of the living and the dead? Naoko resides in a rural village in Japan whose inhabitants include childhood friend Katsu, an elderly neighbor, and the shadows. She and her fellow villagers are burdened with caring for these shadows and uncovering why some spirits are not ready to pass on. As Naoko lives beside her shadow, and autumnal landscapes transform into vernal views, the possibility of love after death blossoms. Atelier Sentō, French duo C�cile Brun and Olivier Pichard, have once again delivered a beautifully illustrated tale of Japan, commenting on the power of place and intergenerational trauma whilst reminding readers of the consequences of rural depopulation and modernity. Influenced by the flow of frames and iconography of manga, the watercolor illustrations draw readers into the story and aestheticize the four seasons while also solidly establishing the volume as an example of international manga. Well suited for high-school and college readers interested in traveling to rural Japan with a brief stop in Tokyo.

      COPYRIGHT(2023) Booklist, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

Formats

  • Kindle Book
  • OverDrive Read
Kindle restrictions

subjects

Languages

  • English

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