First published: 5/7/22
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Finding appropriate manga for elementary readers can be difficult! Here's a quick list of all the manga I've reviewed that is appropriate for this age group and to which I gave a rating of 7/10 or more. I'll keep adding as I review more, so you might want to bookmark this page and check back to see what else I've found.

Additionally, you should definitely check out this list compiled by Ashley Hawkins, the Manga Librarian, which might have some overlap.

Note: These titles are listed in alphabetical order by title of series​.

This year, my reading challenge was a modest 200 books, a far cry from the heigh of 2020 where I had the goal of a book-a-day. But, this feels like a good balance between work, life, and reading! And, I still managed to find 15 great books with some honorable mentions while pumping out many reviews for Booklist  and the site, and even finding time to squeeze in School Library Journal this year. I hope you find some great books below to include in your collections!

(Note: any review marked with an * may require a Booklist​ subscription to read, or you might be able to find it among your favorite library purchasing software)

First published: 10/15/22
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Here's a quick list of all the manga I've reviewed that is appropriate for this middle school libraries and to which I gave a rating of 8/10 or more. As there are so many middle school titles to include, I also have a list of links to titles that received a rating of 7/10 at the end. I'll keep adding as I review more, so feel free to bookmark this page and check back to see what else I've found. 

I've also created a list of Good Manga for Elementary School Libraries. A lot of these titles would also be great for Middle School Libraries.

Additionally, you should definitely check out this list of manga and light novels, compiled by Ashley Hawkins, the Manga Librarian, which might have some overlap.

Note: These titles are listed in alphabetical order by title of series​.

This Spring, the New Jersey Association of School Librarians held a virtual mini-conference with the theme, "Hope and Healing." My presentation for this conference was "Manga that Heals the Soul." After all, there is an entire genre of manga, "iyashikei", that is meant to heal the reader. Many of these stories have something to do with animals and nature, so you'll find tons of cute animals all over my presentation. Check out my resources below:​

In 2022, I challenged myself to read 300 books, but that quickly became an unreasonable pace to keep with as I got more involved in things with my school. I re-set my sights on 250 books, and was ultimately successful.

From those 250, here are my Top 15, with 5 honorable mentions, and some shout outs to series I selected last year that kept churning out bangers in 2022.

(Note: any review marked with an * will require a Booklist​ subscription to read)

I had the pleasure of speaking at K.C. Boyd's Back-to-School professional development mini-con in August of 2022. I got to share about some must-buy titles for Fall of 2022, and hear from some folks from across the nation. This was a fantastic experience, and I'm so honored I was included! Below are the resources I shared with the audience. Hope you find some great titles to add to your lists this semester!

This February, I not only helped co-chair the CSLA 2022 Virtual Conference, I presented yet again! I love being able to share what I'm passionate about and to help others find great books to put on their shelves. Take a look at the resources below.

Title List

In 2020, I challenged myself to read a book a day and made my goal of 366 books (as it was a leap year!). This was made a little more possible by the state-wide shut-down in March of 2020, where California basically stopped operating and everyone stayed in their homes for months on end. In 2021, with going back to in-person teaching and a little bit of normal life, I brought that challenge down to 300. Then, a personal tragedy in November forced me well off my reading goal, so I *only* read 275 books in 2021. I'm still very pleased with how many books I was able to read. Here's to hopefully getting to 300 in 2022!

​Normally I like to limit my best books to 10, but this year, I just couldn’t bring myself to cut it down!

So that multiple volumes don't clog up this list, I have included all volumes of a series as one item. To be fair to everything I've read this year, I haven't included my personal favorite series that were being re-released this year, such as Fullmetal Alchemist, which received a beautiful hardcover edition, The Fullmetal Edition, or Sailor Moon, which is being republished in a really hefty Eternal Edition. 

I attended AASL in October of 2021, and had MANY titles to recommend. In this list, I have combined Elementary (ELEM), Middle School (MS), and High School (HS) recommendations but have notated on the list which would be appropriate for each age group. I also book-talked most of these titles and explained the rationale for each age group rating, so let me know if you have any questions!