The choice of Delphine Lebrec, Foreign Rights "Young heroes, blossoming friendships, betrayals and secrets.... The Noh Mask is the first book of a immersive series set in 17th-century Japan."

Decades after a devastating war reshaped Japan, a mysterious samurai takes in an abandoned child named Ichirô, raising the boy as his own son. Ichirô learns the way of the sword while living in seclusion amid the mountains. His days are cadenced by the passing seasons, blissfully carefree yet rigorously structured by the discipline of a warrior’s training. But one terrible night, Ichirô's life is turned upside down, and he is forced to leave his childhood behind. Lost and alone, he eventually finds refuge in an unexpected—and illegal—place: a hidden theater.