No Fairy Tale: Manga Illustrations Attack Your Teen with Sexually Provocative Images

I was not going to write any negative blog posts but today I feel the need to break my resolution to warn parents after a shocking discovery.

We all know a picture speaks louder than a thousand words. Does your teen read manga or graphic novels.? Does he or she read the Fairy Tails series by Hiro Mashima. If yes, have you ever looked closely at the illustrations? If not, please take a look at the cover of Volume 45. Volumes 9, 12 and 42 are also pushing boundaries. Mark, my artist husband, will not allow our children to read mangas because of the demonic form of the modern Japanese manga style. After discovering the sexually provocative cover of Fairy Tails Volume 45, our decision has been confirmed. And yes, these books are on the shelves of your local library. They get rave reviews on Amazon and Goodreads and not a single mention of the questionable illustrations. Perhaps the reviews are all written by the young readers. Perhaps the parents never look at them thinking it’s just another comic, just harmless drawings. Some parents or teachers argue that manga are a way to engage reluctant readers: " At least they read." Reading is very important for our kids but not at any cost. It is the aim of Books For Catholic Kids to offer alternatives. I just added a manga/graphic novel section to our Young Adult Book List. There are not many choices yet but I discover more as I search for them. Take a look and check back for updates.And please contribute any wholesome manga you may know of.

Watch what your kids read and look at!