Naruto was a young shinobi with an incorrigible knack for mischief. Then he channeled that energy into learning amazing ninja techniques and saving the world! Now Naruto has achieved his dream of becoming the greatest ninja in the village, and his face sits atop the Hokage monument. But new troubles may be bubbling up in the shinobi world… In the years since the great ninja war, peace has bloomed in the ninja world, and a new generation has begun to take root. Naruto’s work as Hokage seems to be pretty mundane, but his son, Boruto, is constantly demanding attention. Luckily for Naruto, he can make clones of himself to babysit his son. But Sasuke’s daughter, Sarada, could be the target of a mysterious figure who has connections to the Uchiha clan! Gr 6 Up-This stand-alone set in the "Naruto" universe focuses on an 11-year-old girl named Sarada who sets off on a quest to find more information about her father. She and her friend Cho-Cho go into the forest, where they find Lord Seventh (Naruto, the greatest ninja in the village). He rescues them from an attacker and then brings them to a tower where Sarada's father, Sasuke, has been staying. At times the plot moves quickly, with lots of action, fights, and magical ninja attacks. There are many clones and characters with ocular powers and a character who is kidnapped through teleportation. But sometimes, between the action scenes, the story slows down to focus on Sarada and the drama unfolding in her life. There are multiple flashbacks here, both Sarada thinking back to her childhood and Naruto thinking back to his own youth as he tries to connect to her search for her real parents. The artwork is filled with energy, from the dramatic close-ups of characters' faces during emotional scenes to blurs of motion during the fight scenes. This book would be most appreciated by fans of the "Naruto" universe, because they will understand the background of the characters and will enjoy the flashbacks to the earlier books in the series. VERDICT For Naruto fans and completists.-Andrea Lipinski, New York Public Libraryα(c) Copyright 2011. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted. Author/artist Masashi Kishimoto was born in 1974 in rural Okayama Prefecture, Japan. Like many kids, he was first inspired to become a manga artist in elementary school when he read Dragon Ball . After spending time in art college, he won the Hop Step Award for new manga artists with his story Karakuri . After considering various genres for his next project, Kishimoto decided on a story steeped in traditional Japanese culture. His first version of Naruto , drawn in 1997, was a one-shot story about fox spirits; his final version, which debuted in Weekly Shonen Jump in 1999, quickly became the most popular ninja manga in the world. The series would also spawn multiple anime series, movies, novels, video games and more. Having concluded the series in late 2014, Masashi Kishimoto has kept himself busy this year with the side story Naruto: The Seventh Hokage and the Scarlet Spring and writing the story for the latest Naruto movie, Boruto: Naruto the Movie , both of which will focus on the title character's son, Boruto.