Island in a puddle vol 1 by kei sanbe

Minato is a dedicated big brother who takes care of his younger sister, Nagisa, for the long stretches when their mom leaves them alone. He stretches what little money they have to make as many meals possible and plays make-believe with Nagisa so she doesn’t notice how long it’s been since their mom’s been home. One day, she picks them up from school unexpectedly and takes them to a theme park. It starts raining, but she insists they ride the Ferris wheel. As she walks away, lightning strikes the car with the children in it, and Minato wakes up in presumably in another car in another person’s body, with a dead woman at his feet, and his situation could not be more precarious. Now, he has to find his sister and save her while avoiding danger himself.

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So far, this story isn’t as amazing as Erased, but that’s a high bar to set, and it's possible that now I know to expect a twist that was fresh when I read Erased. The twist in this brings a bad person into the mix immediately, so there's a lot more tension right at the beginning that will keep readers engaged. Sanbe does a lot of great character work and builds a foundation in this volume that is already beginning to pay off. Most readers will be drawn in by these two young kids who have a really hard life, and their separation provides heightened anxiety that drives the narrative forward.

Sanbe has a pretty distinctive art style, and that's present again in this title. Girls have overly large lips, while everyone has the same eye structure and hair style. It's hard not to look at some of the characters and immediately see others from other Sanbe titles.

There is violence and murder on the page, as well as smoking and alcohol drinking from the adults in the story.

Sara's Rating: 8/10
Suitability Level: Grades 9-12

Publisher: Kodansha
Publication Date: March 15, 2022
ISBN: 9781646514519 (Paperback)

​Tags: Rating: 8/10, Suitability: High School, Manga, Suspense, Mystery, Family, ​Kodansha