Sailor Moon Novel #1: A Scout Is Born

		""You're the chosen one. Don't you see? It's your destiny!" Between beauty sleep, boys, video games, and munching out, Serena barely had enough time to do her homework. So how could she be expected to become a Champion of Justice and fight agaainst evil? What if she actually got hurt? Was this talking black cat serious? Now this once-regular junior high school girl is in for the adventure of a lifetime. There's something weird going on in Crossroads and it's up to Serena, ahem, Sailor Moon to get to the heart of the matter. Based on the world famous blockbuster hit TV show, this book has it all : action, adventure, romance, comedy and fun!!" This is Sailor Moon the novel #1, titled "A Scout is born", written by Stuart J. Levy, based on the hit TV/anime/manga series which is created none other than Ms. Naoko Takeuchi, published by Mixx Entertainment, Inc, as Smile Books for next-gen girls!

Review: Mr. Levy wrote this story for those who had seen the American TV release, and used American names for this novel such as Serena, Molly, etc. (all characters names are Americans, for boys like Andrew, Melvin.) And in fact Mr. Levy's English usage is very Californian and I feel like a young girl is talking to me! Or, the black cat Luna in this novel is just as sassy as Salem from Sabrina the Teenage Witch. Writing a love-lettre to "the future boyfriend" gets Serena into the big trouble! It's a cute story for low-teen girls. In fact the usage of Mr. Levy's American English for practising would be a neat idea for Japanese English teachers in Japan, I think, to learn American idioms or even girl-talk like that. And if you have a little sister, neice or someone you know, this would be a cute gift for them to read. There will be more to come, so please stay tuned!

Sailor Moon Novel. Vol 1 : A Scout Is Born. By Stuart J. Levy. Los Angeles, Smile Books (Tokyopop), 1999. 125 pgs. $4.99 US . ISBN: 1-892-21311-7. Copyright 1999 Mixx Entertainment Inc. Naoko Takeuchi / Kodansha Ltd. / Toei Animation.

Reviewed by Miyako Matsuda