Heart of Thomas

Format: Hardcover Language: English ISBN: 1606995510 ISBN13: 9781606995518 Release Date: January 2013 Publisher: Fantagraphics Books Length: 515 Pages Weight: 3.15 lbs. Dimensions: 1.7" x 6.9" x 9.5" Age Range: 16 years and up Grade Range: Grade 11 and higher The setting: A boys' boarding school in Germany, sometime in the latter 20th Century. Fourteen year-old Thomas Werner falls from a lonely pedestrian overpass to his death immediately after sending a single, brief letter to a schoolmate: To Juli, one last time This is my love This is the sound of my heart Surely you must understand Thus begins the legendary and enigmatic Heart of Thomas, by Moto Hagio. Inspired by Jean Delannoy's 1964 film, Les Amiti s Particuli res, The Heart of Thomas was nearly cancelled early in its serialization, in 1974, until Hagio's first trade paperback, The Poe Clan, Volume 1, sold out in a single day, giving her new series a new lease on life. The result was a story more complex, less accessible, and yet so compelling it can be found near or at the top of any list of classic shojo manga. Translated by manga scholar Rachel Thorn and packaged with the same loving attention to detail as Hagio's Eisner Award nominated A Drunken Dream, The Heart of Thomas is one of the most eagerly awaited manga translations of the decade.