Teach and learn using The Promised Neverland Vol. 1 by Kaiu Shirai and Posuka Demizu

As far as orphanages are concerned, Grace Field House appears to be a paradise with kind caregivers and a loving environment. That is, until the oldest children discover a dark, life-threatening secret. Can the children outsmart their captors and escape with their lives?

Pop Culture Classroom’s reading guide for The Promised Neverland is perfect for teachers, librarians, and parents looking to build upon reading experiences for middle and high school age youth.

Using the projects and discussion questions in this guide, readers will:

• Examine themes such as “Survival”, “Growing Up”, and “Hope”.
• Create their own survival guides for Grace Field House
• Design their own board games about escaping Grace Field House

Written by Kaiu Shirai and illustred by Posuka Demizu, volume 1 of The Promised Neverland follows Emma, Norman, and Ray; three intelligent children living at the Grace Field House orphanage with their 34 “siblings”. After they discover the grim fate of a fellow orphan who they believed to have been assigned to a foster family, the children embark on a daring plan to lead their housemates to freedom.

Readers will be drawn into a complex game of cat and mouse full of suspense and strategery, paired with a slow-drip of terrifying world-building as seen through the eyes of children. The painstakingly detailed artwork in The Promised Neverland expertly captures the mood and tension of the narrative, and it gives readers depth and complexity that invites a close read of each page. And, if readers look close enough, they’ll find a mirror to the near-universal experience of growing up and wishing to escape the confines and false safety of childhood, only to discover the truths of the often-cruel world outside.

This manga depicts demons, life-or-death situations, and the deaths of children. It is suitable for most readers ages 13 and up.