The Prince’s Keeper, Vol. 1

Gr 8 Up–This fairy tale about a shy witch and a cursed prince is the manga equivalent of comfort food, with familiar ingredients and a cozy setting. Miranda makes her living selling potions to the local villagers with the help of her familiar Bern, a cat who can take the form of a young boy. One day she is invited to a tea party at the royal family’s greenhouse, where a cat takes a liking to her and hides under her skirts. The cat turns out to be a prince who is under a spell; Miranda can’t break it, so she makes him her familiar while she tries to figure out who cursed the prince. As often happens in manga, the prince is naked when he first takes human form, but this volume is anything but steamy; there’s always a bit of fabric floating around to cover him, and Miranda gets flustered every time. Even kissing him on the forehead to turn him back into a cat is an emotional journey for her. The characters are drawn deftly, and the cats have a real presence. As with many fantasy titles, the important bits of the world, such as hair, clothing, and interiors of the shop and the greenhouse, are drawn with considerable detail. But aside from that, the backgrounds are simple, allowing characters to stand out during emotional scenes and making the story easier to follow.