Japan
Moribito: Guardian of the Spirit
By Nahoko Uehashi, Cathy Hirano (Translator), Yuko Shimizu (Illustrator)
Moribito: Guardian of the Spirit. Nahoko Uehashi. Translated by Cathy Hirano. Illustrated by Yuko Shimizu. Arthur A. Levine Books, 2008. Originally published as 精霊の守り人 (Seirei no moribito) in Japanese by Kaisei-Sha Publishing Co., Ltd., in Tokyo, in 1996. ISBN 9780545005425. 272 p. (Ages 10-14). Fiction.
From the publisher: “Balsa was a wanderer and warrior for hire. Then she rescued a boy flung into a raging river -- and at that moment, her destiny changed. Now Balsa must protect the boy on his quest to deliver the great egg of the water spirit to its source in the sea.” Winner of 2009 Batchelder Award and selected for the 2009 ALSC Notable Children’s Book List. The sequel, Moribito II: Guardian of the Darkness won a 2010 Batchelder Honor. Author won the Hans Christian Andersen Award in 2014. [all]