If you head over to www.bookcloseouts.com, they have a very large range of manga at bargain prices.

You can also get Shakespeare, Dickens, Austen, a lot of the classics in fact, as manga.

Thanks everyone...we are heading to the book store tomorrow and I will update on what she picks!

For an 11 year old girl I'd recommend my personal favorites- Pita Ten and Strawberry Marshmallow.

Nothing racy, that I recall. Pita Ten has a sweet but sad storyline, Strawberry Marshmallow is random fun. Both are drawn in a way I think girls would find appealing. I know I do =)

http://www.amazon.com/Pita-Ten-1-Koge-do...

http://www.amazon.com/Strawberry-Marshma...

If you don't think something like these will work, just remember the age ratings are always on the back.
Hope this helped =)

I just thought of one more. It's an American series, but heavily influenced by japanese manga. I started reading it when I was 12 and still have a soft spot for it all these years later :) It's called Elfquest by Wendy and Richard Pini. The series has been re-released in the Manga format within the last five years.

Thank you so much for the recommendations...I will be taking her to the book store this weekend and with luck we will find something good=)

Tsubasa is my favorite.

I heartily reccommend CLAMP and Yuu Watase, though there are some by them that are probably closer to the 15+ age range, both authors create great stories that aren't too violent or sexual. I personally love Cardcaptor Sakura, Tsubasa, Angelic Layer and Magic Knight Rayearth by CLAMP and Alice 19, Fushigi Yugi(Mysterious Play), and Imadoki by Yuu Watase. These are all adventure and/or light romance type stories. CLAMP has quite a few other series as well, but they definitely have a more adult streak (for instance stay away from XXX Holic, Chobits, X, and maybe Ceres until at least 15-17).

Maybe something by Rumiko Takahashi? I'm thinking Inuyasha or Ranma 1/2, neither of which I think would be out of an 11 year old's league. Inuyasha is about a girl who goes back in time to feudal Japan and ends up on a quest to reunite the pieces of a mythical jewel that grants wishes (and that she caused to be shattered by coming back in the first place). Ranma is a genderbender, which maybe you wouldn't find appropriate, but from what I've read, it's a lot of fun antics. The main idea is that this guy (Ranma) fell into a cursed hotspring, so that whenever he's hit with warm water, he turns into a girl.

I don't know, it's hard to recommend things for other people's children, especially since I was a bit older when I started reading manga. :-/

Not a problem. ;)

As a side note, if she wants to start watching anime, go with videos of what you have already approved as reading material. Most anime series follow pretty closely as far as over-all content goes.

I agree re: looking at the age range printed at the back, it's a good indicator most of the times (I say most of the time because I heard there's this one manga that's coming out in omnibus format and for some reason the publishers decided to put 12+ as the range when there's some pretty racy stuff at the beginning of the series xD).

I also second the recommendation for Fruits Basket. If your daughter enjoys that series, I also recommend Ouran High School Host Club; there's also some cross-dressing involved but it's harmless fun.

Can't think of anything else at the moment (need caffeine) but I'll post again if a title comes to mind =)

Thank you so much!!

Most manga has an age range and content symbols printed on the back. Another good way to check is to flip trough it real quick. If you see lots of blood or panties, it's probably not good for kids. Also a lot of the mature content books will be wrapped in plastic at the store. Good reads has a good list of manga, so do a quick search on whatever she asks for.

Some I can suggest are Marmalade Boy and Oh! My Goddess. Both are romantic comedy/dramas that have little or no fan service or sexy bits.

Fruits Basket is a good one for kids. There is some martial arts and cross-dressing, but nothing really sexy.

One that is marketed for children, but has a lot of adult content is Sailor Moon. There are lesbian/gay relationships, major cross-dressing and hermaphrodites. So you do have to be careful. An 11 year old could probably handle it though, it's not terribly overt and the English translation has covered most of it up. The images are still there though. But the sexiest it gets a little kissing.

Yeah I have been warned about that. That's why I'm hoping for a little input...lol. Sometimes I just don't have the answer...lol. Thanks for the input. Maybe she would like those...she keeps mentioning Fruit Baskets?? and Miki Falls??

My kids like the Legend of Zelda series. It's based on the old video games, but it's kid-friendly. My kids are 7 and 9.

You have to be careful because many of them are for grown ups and therefore have pretty racy stuff. Apparently it's called "fan service" in Japan.

My 11 year old daughter would like to start reading Manga. I have never read any and was wondering if anyone in here could give me some suggestions for her.