YA Materials, Literature Log, Book #3: Fruits Basket Volume One

 Title: Fruits Basket, vol. One

Author: Natsuki Takaya

Category: Manga


Teenage Tohru Honda has lost her mother - dead just this last summer. Until recently, Tohru was living with her father's father, but began living in a tent in a field when he decided to remodel his house to prepare for other family members joining him. Then, Tohru is discovered living in her tent by a boy who goes to her school and his older cousin. Her tent is on their property, and upon realizing that she could help them keep house - a task they are very bad at - and that she needs a proper home, the cousins offer Tohru a place to live. She isn't there long when she discovers a secret held by their whole family.


To be fairly honest, I didn't enjoy this book very much. However, I knew ahead of time that manga isn't a genre I am fond of, nor am I familiar enough with it to understand its conventions. This likely had impact on my reaction to this story. I did find the premise intriguing, however. For teens, I think this would be good for reluctant readers, especially if they are fans of anime, and could possibly be used in a program to show the sorts of stories popular in other countries.

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