The kids had promised each other that they'd all attend school on January 10th, but when the day finally comes, the seven kids fail to meet up. With the key still missing, the month of Ookami-sama's deadline finally arrives. The kids decide to treasure the time they have left, but on their final day in the castle, something shocking happens at the very last moment!
Kokoro is a junior high school student--but after years of bullying, she's become so anxious that she no longer goes to school. One day, she's pulled through her full-length mirror into a castle in another dimension by a girl in a wolf mask. The mysterious girl tells Kokoro and six other kids that they will compete in a scavenger hunt. If one of them finds a key that unlocks a secret room, that person will get one wish granted. As long as they observe the rules of the world, they can come and go as they please. The seven kids gradually grow closer as they explore the castle, but the scavenger hunt is never far from anyone's mind. After all, only one can win their heart's desire.
The kids realize that, aside from Rion, they are all students at Yukishina Junior High No. 5. After an eventful Christmas party, Masamune plucks up his courage to suggest that the kids help each other out with their problems and maybe even start attending classes again. They all agree to go to school on January 10th. Will Kokoro finally be able to face her bullies?
Seven junior high students are granted access to a mysterious castle. The only thing connecting the kids is that none of them go to school during the day. Kokoro sees the castle as the only place where she truly belongs, but not everyone feels that way. Ureshino announces one day that he's going back to school, but as summer vacation comes to an end, Ureshino returns with mysterious injuries. As it becomes clear that everyone in the castle has their own hidden secrets, Ookami-sama announces a new rule that will change everything.
STRONGER TOGETHER The kids realize that, aside from Rion, they are all students at Yukishina Junior High No. 5. After an eventful Christmas party, Masamune plucks up his courage to suggest that the kids help each other out with their problems and maybe even start attending classes again. They all agree to go to school on January 10th. Will Kokoro finally be able to face her bullies?
INTERNATIONAL BESTSELLER! A Studio Ghibli-esque work of Japanese translation “that lays bare the anxieties and desperation—and the small triumphs—of adolescence” (Locus), for fans of Mieko Kawakami’s Heaven. Seven students find unusual common ground in this warm, puzzle-like Japanese bestseller laced with gentle fantasy and compassionate insight. Bullied to the point of dropping out of school, Kokoro’s days blur together as she hides in her bedroom, unable to face her family or friends. As she spirals into despair, her mirror begins to shine; with a touch, Kokoro is pulled from her lonely life into a resplendent, bizarre fairytale castle guarded by a strange girl in a wolf mask. Six other students have been brought to the castle, and soon this marvelous refuge becomes their playground. The castle has a hidden room that can grant a single wish, but there are rules to be followed, and breaking them will have dire consequences. As Kokoro and her new acquaintances spend more time in their new sanctuary, they begin to unlock the castle’s secrets and, tentatively, each other’s. Lonely Castle in the Mirror is a mesmerizing, heart-warming novel about the unexpected rewards of embracing human connection.
A fantastical coming-of-age drama based on the critically acclaimed novel with an anime film! Kokoro is a junior high school student--but after years of bullying, she's become so anxious that she no longer goes to school. One day, she's pulled through her full-length mirror into a castle in another dimension by a girl in a wolf mask. The mysterious girl tells Kokoro and six other kids that they will compete in a scavenger hunt. If one of them finds a key that unlocks a secret room, that person will get one wish granted. As long as they observe the rules of the world, they can come and go as they please. The seven kids gradually grow closer as they explore the castle, but the scavenger hunt is never far from anyone's mind. After all, only one can win their heart's desire.
We Have Always Lived in the Castle is a deliciously unsettling novel about a perverse, isolated, and possibly murderous family and the struggle that ensues when a cousin arrives at their estate.
On a snowy school day like any other, classmates and childhood friends Hiroshi and Mizuki arrive at school to find the campus eerily empty. Before long, they find themselves trapped inside with six other friends, and even stranger, all the clocks have stopped at a very specific moment–the exact time when a former classmate jumped off the school roof to their death three months earlier. It turns out that this departed friend is their way out of their current predicament and may even be among their group…but no one can remember who it was that took their life on that sad day. The students must face themselves and their past memories to piece together the identity of this suicide victim or risk a similar fate–with their lives lost and forgotten inside these frigid school walls.
Elin's family has an important responsibility: caring for the fearsome water serpents that form the core of their kingdom's army. So when some of the creatures mysteriously die, Elin's mother is sentenced to death as punishment. With her last breath, she manages to send her daughter to safety. Alone and far from home, Elin soon discovers that she can communicate with both the terrifying water serpents and the majestic flying beasts that guard her queen. This skill gives her great power, but it also involves her in deadly plots that could cost her life. Can she save herself and prevent her beloved beasts from being used as tools of war? Or is there no escaping the terrible battles to come?
