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Title: Moribito: Guardian of the Spirit

Author: Nahoko Uehashi

Publisher:  Scholastic

ISBN: 9780545005432

May Contain Spoilers

Balsa is a traveling bodyguard, accepting jobs for pay, and also to redeem herself for a past that continues to haunt her.  When she saves Chagum, the Second Prince, from an assassination attempt, she is thrust into a world of danger that even she hadn’t anticipated.  Chagum is the Moribito, the Guardian of the Spirit, and if the egg of the Water Spirit that lives within him is destroyed, the horrible draught will befall the land.  With the terrifying monster Rarunga intent on eating the egg, and the Prince’s own father trying to kill him, the odds of delivering the egg to the sea seem slim.  As they negotiate a path of treachery, and are hunted by the hungry demon, they also uncover secrets from the past.  The King is determined to keep the past under wraps, even if it means killing his second son.  Will Balsa find the cunning and the strength to successfully  complete her mission?

I really liked this book.  Balsa is a wonderful heroine.  She’s tough yet compassionate, brave but not foolhardy.  Once she accepts a job, her pride demands that she will protect her ward regardless of the cost to herself. With Chagum in tow, she allows herself only a brief moment to feel that she’s been hoodwinked by his mother, and despite her charge’s inability to care for himself, she never takes her resentment out on him.  That must have been tough, because the young prince has been raised to expect people to care for him, he’s a little spoiled, and he has never had to do anything for himself.  Once they flee the capital, he is completely helpless, and when Balsa realizes that he wouldn’t be able to fend for himself if something were to happen to her, she begins to teach him how to be self-sufficient.

Over the course of the book, a bond forms between Balsa and Chagum.  When Balsa was a girl, she was put in the same position as the prince: her father, a physician, was forced by the king to carry out a loathsome task, and even though he knew it would cost him his life, his sense of duty compelled him to do it.  First, though, he made arrangements to ensure the safety of his daughter.  Sending her into the care of his friend, a soldier, Balsa and her new protector were forced to become fugitives.  With a price on their heads, they were never allowed to relax, and Balsa, once helpless herself, was honed by Jiguro into a fearsome warrior.  The irony isn’t lost on her, and during her adventures with Chagum, she comes to a even greater appreciation of Jiguro.  He gave up his life for her, he left his friends and family behind, all so that Balsa could live.

When Balsa is injured, she is reunited with Tanda, a magic weaver and her friend from childhood.  It’s obvious that that they love each other, but with her guilt and the ghosts of her past, Balsa won’t let herself be happy.  Instead, she feels that she must atone for the lives that were lost to ensure her survival.  As the years have passed, she begins to admit that there’s more to her reluctance to settle down.  Her true motives aren’t as noble – she has lived a life of fighting and struggling to survive, and she is afraid to leave it.  Tanda is patient and supportive during Balsa’s struggle to reconcile herself with her past, but even his patience has an end.  This subtle injection of romance gave Balsa a softer edge, and added a compelling subplot to the story.

Through their adventures, Balsa and her friends must evade palace soldiers who have been ordered to kill the Second Prince, and they must also uncover the secret to the spirit egg within Chagum.  As mid-summer approaches, which, according to legend, is the time the egg will hatch, the spirit egg evolves, taking more control of its host.  With Rarunga, a monster from the spirit world constantly at their heels, they never have a chance to rest and catch their breath.  Magic, monsters, and swordplay are all seamlessly meshed to yield an engrossing, exciting read.  Moribito will appeal to both teens and adults, and it’s fast pacing makes it hard to put down. 

Moribito is available in hardcover and trade paperback.  There is also an anime series available from Media Blasters.

Suggested for Grade 5 & up.

Grade:  B+

Review copy provided by Scholastic