Sailor Moon: A Scout Is Born

Sailor Moon: The Novels #1

by Stuart J. Levy, Naoko Takeuchi

Serena, an ordinary fourteen-year-old girl, finds a mysterious talking cat called Luna, who enables her to become the superhero Sailor Moon, who must save her friends and her community from a jewelry shop, a psychic, and a late-night radio program that are trying to steal people's energy to power the forces of evil.Serena finds a mysterious talking cat and becomes the superhero Sailor Moon

Genres: Manga, Fantasy, Young Adult, Childrens, Fiction, Romance, Middle Grade

125 pages, Paperback

First published April 1, 1999

Reviews

[Chris · Rating 3 out of 5]

lol

My favorite part was when the author thought Serena would analyze the political correctness of the phrase 'No way, José.'

I can't wait to read the rest of these.

[Holly Letson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Classic cheese for us Moonatics. But, I loved it. I really like the part when Serena as Sailor Moon wondered whether her SM suit has built-in underwear. But, I think I liked the part where Jedite has a loveletters-based radio show the best.

[Bree · Rating 2 out of 5]

Rating: 2/5 Stars!

I was originally going to make this a 3/5 stars, but changed my mind once I gave this book some thought. From what I understand, this book is meant for junior readers, which is good and all. I can excuse the less than desirable writing style because it is meant for a younger audience. I think this book was kind of boring, though. It took me a few days of reading to actually get through this 125 page book. Maybe a child would find this quite entertaining, but as much as I love and adore Sailor Moon, I just couldn't really get into this. I thought it was going to be a super quick read, but it took me forever. I would usually fly through a book like this in just under three hours. But I just dragged myself through it, honestly. I also just don't think the writer is very good at staying on topic. I think they were trying to get a bit of Serena's personality in there, but it didn't come across correctly. It just came across as bad writing. The writer would be in the middle of describing a scene and then, out of nowhere, Serena is talking about how she hates a certain thing about the scene and goes on a whole backstory of why she hates it. It just didn't seem like it actually fit into the story. It was a bad way to show that Serena was a bit of a goldfish sometimes. Otherwise, I thought the story was kinda cute and gave a bit more insight into Sailor Moon/Serena as a character. You got to see how absent-minded and dorky she was. One thing I didn't really enjoy and don't particularly remember from the anime series was the bullying Serena takes part in. She's rather cruel to Mervin, which was quite offputting and enjoyable. I believe it was added to make the book humorous, but it just came off as really pretentious and bratty. I didn't like it. I haven't watched the anime in a long time, but I just remember Sailor Moon being bratty, whiny, lazy, and just kind of a dork, but she also had redeeming qualities like she was funny and strong. In this book, though, I felt like she was just mean and stupid. There weren't very many redeeming qualities about her that made me like her as a character. If I had read this book without knowing anything about the anime, I probably would have hated her guts. I just don't think that they did a very good job at making her anything but a cutesy character with a bad personality.

[Bookich Store · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have a tremendous amount of respect for the purists where it comes to Sailor Moon, however, they do not leave room for the average Sailor Moon viewer Who watches the show on TV. I read this book to my five-year-old and we loved it. It was a way for her to get a little bit more information on the characters she loves, and a different medium in which to enjoy the tales. I would highly recommend this book to any young fan, especially those early in their Sailor Moon quest. The book helps to blend the Dic version of Sailor Moon with the more pure version my daughter is just beginning to learn about. GOOD READ!
Buy the ebook now:
Sailor Moon the Novel 1 - A Scout Is Born

[Erin Allen · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was the very first item I ever bought on Amazon. I love the story of Sailor Moon. This particular book was the beginning of the story, which we all know isn't the best parts. Some of it is a slog but not as bad as the original tv series that had episode after episode of monster of the day. It's a good read but be prepared for introduction after introduction.

[Librarian Jessie (BibliophileRoses) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ah, the beautiful world of Sailor Moon... and it's NOVELS?!

Yep, that's right an entire chapter book novel series based on the beloved sailor moon tv series, featuring the butchered effect you'd expect from English translation, all while offering a homey slice of remembrance as you delve into the story in a written format. Overall, it's fun and worth the time.

[pencil · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was an interesting read - as in, this book is so dated that it was kind of a fun throwback. As it is, though, this is mostly a retelling of the original, nothing new except some deeper insights into Serena's thoughts.

[Avery Talks · Rating 1 out of 5]

This was so inappropriate for kids wtf?? I didn't need to hear detailed descriptions of Sailor Moon's underwear....they also refer to her as sexy multiple times which given the fact that she's 14 makes me hella uncomfortable. Moonies just skip this one...yikes.

[Fhalene]

It was either me or my mom who found this in the library and this was one of my first introductions to Sailor Moon. I forgot this novel existed until I rewatched the first season of the animated series and remembered reading about the attack in the jewelry store.

[Ikayuro · Rating 3 out of 5]

Okay, I love this. It's cheesy, dumb, and just all around fun nostalgia. There's some inconsistencies with even the American version of the show, but I lost my shit at the Lestat cameo, so it was worth it.

[Caralyn Rubli · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not bad.

[Jessica Foster · Rating 5 out of 5]

So much nostalgia! This follows the first three episodes of the show and brought back all the memories. Written at a high elementary/low middle grade level.

[Ryofire · Rating 1 out of 5]

I read this years ago and tried giving it another shot, out of curiosity, and it's so terrible I can't even read it out of "this was written for young children but is still Sailor Moon". For the record, this will do nothing for you if you are reading this with your kids, because this is based on the Americanized Frankenstein's monster first US dub of the first anime, that pretends that the characters live in some vague version of 80s/90s America rather than Japan, and drastically changes just about everything about who they are and how the world works. Rather than help younger folks understand the characters, it will make them more confused, because it's likely that the most easy to reach version of the first anime for kids to watch these days is thankfully the uncensored, unmodified sub or dub of the show, which directly contradicts this in almost every way.

On the first page of this book, they have this sentence: "Serena's favorite animals were rabbits, which is why some friends gave her the nickname, "Bunny.""

Serena is the name the US dub company gave the protagonist because they tried to Americanize anime back then, and Serena is a more "familiar" name to presumably white audiences. The protagonist's name is Usagi. Usagi is the Japanese word for rabbit/bunny. That's why people call her bunny words. That's why she's got so much bunny stuff. On top of her hair style, which is two buns that lead into long tails on either side of her head, kind of like bunny ears. She's also Sailor Moon, which aligns with the moon rabbit folk tale (Makoto actually makes a joke about this when they go to the moon). This painful rewrite is just that: painful. There are multiple shows right now with "Usagi" in the title that star rabbits or are otherwise rabbit themed, including one show on Netflix that stars a samurai rabbit. This is not a difficult concept for children to grasp, and yet these "tweaks" and changes are endemic to this. Maybe Usagi's favorite animal is a rabbit, too, and that is actually why her friends go so hard on the rabbit stuff. But she's so buried in other rabbit stuff it's kind of unavoidable.

Don't read this to your kids. If you really love all Mooniebilia, sure, go for it. Maybe you can get through the cringe in a way I can't. The "GQ-looking henchmen" and Dennis the Menace reference were just too much for me.

[Janaye · Rating 3 out of 5]

I must credit the Sailor Moon manga series for getting interested in reading. As I started to branch out from manga I got into the books themselves and now I read anything that I can get my hands on.

I read this book many years ago but I still remember it and it is still on my shelf. Looking at it now it is obviously not that well written. The style of writing is extremely juvenile and not very good at all. However, at the time when I read it it was amazing.

Sailor Moon was the perfect thing for the little girl I was and her adventures were amazing. It was great watching her grow as a character along with every one else even if it wasn't a great improvement.

I would recommend this book to anyone who is trying to get their kids interested in reading.

[Edward Creter · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sailor Moon is unlike most hreoines in TV and movies. Unlike Scarjo of the Avengers and Carrie-Anne Moss of the Matrix, Sailor Moon is NOT A BITCH! (Sorry, ladies mentioned!) Sailor Moon has genuine fun with being a regular girl and taking on the responsibility of being a superhero. She's a genuine role model for boys as well as girls and kids of all ages will love her! (I wish the same can be said for Carrie-Anne Moss.) This book is a recap of thge first three episodes of the hit show from the Japanese shores and the adventures are real cool. Fans and initiates into Sailor Moon's world should really enjoy them.

[Vanessa · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a fun story for fans of the English Sailor Moon anime. I gave this book a full rating for nostalgia reasons, even though there are multiple typos. This is a great gift for kids and fans of the TV series, covering the first few episodes of Sailor Moon. The book series is quite short (around 130 pages each) with large text. Its fun, bubbly writing style made it seem like Serena (Usagi) herself wrote it.

[Natalia · Rating 4 out of 5]

Moon Prism Power . . . Make-Up!

Ahh, my childhood in one little book.

☆☆☆ .5

A Scout is Born has three Sailor Moon tales for your little heart's enjoyment! Though I must say, the book is a little cheesier than the show, but still something for fans of the series!

If you can get your hands on a copy of this, I'd totally give it a look if you're a Moonie. :)

[Leah · Rating 4 out of 5]

As a lifetime lover of Sailor Moon, I thought that this book was a fun way to revisit the beginning of the series. Even though I am now an adult, I appreciated imagining the story from Serena's point of view. I am excited to read the rest of the series!

[Drucilla · Rating 3 out of 5]

This review will be for the entire series (8 books). This series is a good novelization of Sailor Moon. It manages to keep the spirit and feel of the series.

[Tiffany · Rating 3 out of 5]

I have all of this series. It's a cute little series. However I didn't like how the author tried to "americanize" it, by have Rei listening to Nine Inch Nails, with their posters all over her room.

[Selena Pigoni · Rating 4 out of 5]

For what they were, these books were great. I read them in elementary school and loved them. It's a novelization of the American version of the series.

[Dana · Rating 1 out of 5]

These are fun for middle school.