Next week sees the release of Shy Ninja, a new all-ages graphic novel from Humanoids‘ BiG imprint. The book, which follows a girl who enrolls in a school for ninjas in an effort to overcome her anxiety, comes from the writing duo of Ricardo Sanchez and his teenaged daughter, Adara Sanchez, artist Arianna Florean, and letterer Tom Napolitano. Now The Beat has an exclusive five-page excerpt of the graphic novel.
Here’s how Humanoids describes Shy Ninja:
Young Rena suffers from a social anxiety disorder. It keeps her from engaging at school, from hanging out with her best friend in person, or participating in any sort of group activity. Pressed by her mother to find some social outlet, she enrolls in a School for Ninjas—and in an instant, her life changes. Rena’s instructor, the mysterious Dysart, tells her that her presence fulfills an ancient prophecy and that she will become the Ninja legend known as “The Ghost.” Assuming she can even get past her own anxieties, will she help Dysart return the Ninja to their former glory, or is Dysart planning to exploit Rena for his own cryptic aims?
The exclusive excerpt finds Rena’s expectations for what a school for ninjas will be like colliding with the realities of actually learning martial arts. The pages are a nice showcase for Arianna Florean’s artwork, which has a lightness and energy that draws the reader in, and which combines well with Sanchez’s charming and relatable script.
Check out the five-page excerpt of Shy Ninja below. The 128-page hardcover graphic novel is scheduled to arrive in bookstores next Tuesday, June 1st, and in comic shops on Wednesday, June 2nd.
