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The Best Beginner Book
If it wasn´t for learning japanese, there was no way in hell i would have read this kind of novel - ever. So color me surprised when i say that i actually came to enjoy it more than i thought.
This story is told by a child, but neither its themes nor its writing style is particularly chilidish. Meaning it can very well be enjoyed by an adult and doesn´t leave a lot to be desired kanji-wise compared to many actual children books.
I´ve conquered a few books before this one, all of which were recommended as "beginner books" to start reading real native content. But i gotta say... this one takes the cake. The language is "simple" (relative to other real books for natives!) and repeats quite often because of many similiar situations - which makes for a great learning experience!
Apart from a few serious topics, content-wise this novel consists of the daily life of the main character visiting her friends, a few references to other literature from all over the world as well as weird analogies to life as seen by an elementary student and finally a few dramatic moments towards the end.
Overall, i have to agree. This is probably the best native beginner book out there. Especially considering there is a manga adaptation! I highly recommend reading parts of the novel, then catching up with the same content in manga form (english). It really helped my comprehension doing that since the manga is pretty close (at least the main points) and visualizes things obviously. The only real downside is that the book is rather long. Though, depending on your learning style and your enjoyment, this might actually be an advantage!