UEHASHI Nahoko

From Scholastic: 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 - the Prince Chagum - on his quest to deliver the great egg of the water spirit to its source in the sea. As they travel across the land of Yogo and discover the truth about the spirit, they find…

Manga adaptation of the novel "Yami no Moribito", which is the second novel in the Moribito series after "Seirei no Moribito". All the Moribito novels have standalone plots. After the events of Seirei no Moribito, Balsa returns to her birthplace in Kanbal to revisit her past with Jiguro, the man who raised her. When she finds out that he has been implicated for the death of…

From Kodansha: Ten-year-old Elin loves her brave and beautiful mother, a gifted beast doctor charged with the care of the Toda. The fearsome giant serpents that the kingdom's warriors ride into battle. Their modest but happy life together is shattered when a mysterious illness falls the entire stable of the prized serpents overnight, and Elin's mother is saddled with the blame…