Ninja Baseball Kyuma!

Title: Ninja Baseball Kyuma

Bibliographic information:

Author, Illustrator: Shunshin Maeda

Translator: Unknown

• Series: Ninja Baseball Kyuma! (Book 1)
• Paperback: 200 pages
• Publisher: Udon Entertainment (June 9, 2009)
• Language: English

Reader's Annotation:

Can the last ninja - and his dog - adjust to life in the baseball diamond?

Interest Level: Ages 7-13

Lexile level: Not Calculated

Awards, if applicable: Not Applicable

Plot summary: Kyuma and his dog Inui have been happy, living on their ancestral mountain and training in the ninja way.  When the captain of the local baseball team sees him, he recruits him to join the team.  Kyuma recognizes him as a training master, and follows  him down in the village to join his army… or is it a baseball team?  Can a boy who lives a feudal lifestyle ever adjust to the expectations of life in modern Japan?

Critical review:  What happens when two radically different worlds collide?  Much of the humor in this charming manga arises from the conflict between Kyuma’s expectations and his reality.  Kyuma wants to fight to defend his teammates from their enemies - when those enemies are merely opposing baseball players.  This central conflict drives the plot, and exposes the characters to the possibilities of the world.

Why include it?

How can you not adore a sports story about baseball and ninjas? This Japanese manga series is a wonderful story about honor and finding your way in the world.  Under Maeda’s deft pen, the reader sees that even the most skilled individual will stumble sometimes, but friendship and honor will always be worthwhile.