Category Archives: ..Young Adult Readers
Vote for Me! by Ben Clanton
Given this is a presidential election year, I know you’ve been searching for the perfect (non-partisan!) political primer. Look no further … this is definitely it.
On the (left) blue pages, you have the Donkey grabbing your attention with a few compliments about your “great hair” and “dazzling smile.” On the (right) red pages, Elephant reminds you that “[y]ou’re too smart” to fall for such flattery, especially since he’s really the one who is so “adorable.”
The debate ensues as to who’s the very best candidate, complete with promises to voters for candy (“suckers”) and peanuts (although Uncle Sam is allergic). A cataloguing of various family connections on either side is also proffered, because knowing who’s who will surely help you get ahead in any race, right?
The mud-slinging proves inevitable, but both candidates soon enough see the error of their partisan ways. In a moment of wishful peace-making, blue and red literally become purple (oh, so very clever!) … at least until the independent little guy surprises everyone and becomes the Big Cheese.
According to his jacket flap bio, creator Ben Clanton “ALWAYS tells the truth”! Veracity notwithstanding, he certainly couldn’t have made up a more perfect name to author this truthfully delightful text. [Its deceptive simplicity, I must mention, is oh so wonderfully reminiscent of Lane Smith's fantabulous (and Luddite-friendly) It's a Book. Here's hoping the resemblance channels some bestselling sales figures for Clanton's menagerie, too.]
Go ahead, take a media break … not that politicking is ever a laughing matter (ahem!), but we’ll all be better citizens if we occasionally remember to indulge our sense of humor.
Readers: All
Published: 2012 Continue reading
The Book Thief by Markus Zusak
After two books on the horrors of North Korea, two memoirs about the Palestinian occupation, another about a Lost Boy of Sudan, still another highlighting Hindu/Muslim massacres in Kashmir – all one after the other (what was I thinking??!!) – I picked up Markus Zusak‘s The Book Thief, only because it came with my teenage daughter’s insistent recommendation. In spite of the Thief‘s countless (major) awards and accolades – it’s one of those rare titles with deservedly unanimous approval – I had managed to somehow bypass its celebrated pages for six years.
That the book is about a young girl during the Holocaust whose story is narrated by Death, gave me an initial shudder of terror, having already caused myself regular literary nightmares. But as read by Allan Corduner (who sounds uncannily like Jeremy Irons), the audible production is a transcendent experience of one of the best books I’ve encountered in years. And yes, I wholeheartedly endorse both handheld and stuck-in-the-ear formats together: if you choose only the not-to-be-missed audible route, you’ll miss the wrenching illustrations available only on the page. This is when the library comes in handy for experiencing both … how fitting as the book is so much about books, after all.
Liesel Meminger arrives in the small town of Molching, Germany, to become the foster daughter of Hans and Rosa Hubermann who live at 33 Himmel Street [Himmel means "heaven"; 33 is also deliberate]. The year is 1939, and Liesel is just about to turn 10. All around her, the Führer’s abominable doctrines are fueling what will be remembered as history’s worst war.
Hans, who plays the accordion like no one else, whom Liesel will love “the most,” will teach her to read, which will ultimately save her life. Rosa, who hides her enormous heart under impatient curses, will demand that Liesel call her new parents Mama and Papa and will love her unconditionally into forever. Rudy, her next-door neighbor and soon-to-be best friend, will finally get his kiss too late. And Max, who comes to live in the Hubermann basement, will give her the gift of writing … and of everlasting friendship.
In a book about the redemptive power of words, storytelling, and books, I can’t seem to find the right vocabulary to describe the utter brilliance of Thief. Just know that Zusack’s writing is so affecting and glorious that you’ll smile, hope, mourn, laugh, weep … and thoroughly, unabashedly, savor this extraordinary treasure.
Readers: Young Adult, Adult
Published: 2006 (United States) Continue reading
Filed under ...Absolute Favorites, ..Adult Readers, ..Young Adult Readers, .Audio, .Fiction, Australian, European, Jewish
Bakuman (vols. 3-5) by Tsugumi Ohba, art by Takeshi Obata, translated by Tetsuichiro Miyaki
Manga-maker wannabes: check out this illuminating insider look (but do start with volumes 1 and 2), then make sure to study every detail if you’re hoping to break into one of the toughest industries around. But before we talk story, … Continue reading
Dororo: Omnibus Edition by Osamu Tezuka, translated by Dawn T. Laabs
Oh, what a plethora of choices for accessing this swashbuckling series by the godfather of manga: you could go with the original 1960s manga series in Japanese, watch the 26-part anime from 1969 or the live-action film (available dubbed in English even!) from 2007, play the video game version titled “Blood Will Tell,” or read it in English translation in three volumes.
Starting tomorrow, you have yet another option: you can pick up this hefty omnibus version of the 2009 Eisner winner for Best U.S. Edition of International Material – Japan. Fair warning – the omnibus isn’t particularly portable being 2.5 inches thick (844 pages!), but it’s definitely the most convenient way to read the classic in a single setting (and you’ll want to, trust me).
Back in the feudal centuries (approximately 15th to 17th) of a Japan run amuck with warring samurai, Lord Daigo Kagemitsu makes an ugly pact with 48 demons: in exchange for complete rule of the land, he’s willing to offer 48 body parts from his about-to-be-born-son. Indeed, his newborn emerges unrecognizable as human – he’s little more than a limbless, blind, mute blob. The evil Lord forces his distraught wife to float the silent mass down river.
A brilliant, caring doctor rescues the partial boy, feeds and nurtures him, and even builds him prosthetic limbs (complete with hidden weapons!). Most importantly, the good doc gives the transformed boy a name, Hyakkimaru (meaning ‘a hundred demons’). When ghouls, ghosts, and goblins start to haunt the good doc’s home rather too frequently, Hyakkimaru realizes it’s time for him to venture out into the brave new world. On his first night alone, he’s warned by a mysterious voice, “you shall encounter forty-eight demons. Your body is missing forty-eight body parts. Vanquish those demons, and your body may return to normal.”
One demon, one body part at a time, Hyakkimaru embarks on his dangerous journey toward full-body reclamation. He’s aided (and occasionally hindered) by Dororo, an adorable orphan with a frightening past, who turns out to be quite a talented thief ["dororo," in Japanese, is a childish pronunciation for dorobō, meaning thief]. In spite of their bickering, the two misfits bond quickly, saving each other from one possessed adventure after another.
In spite of the high cute-factor (including Tezuka’s own signature self-insertions of comic relief), this is not a manga to take lightly. Death and destruction appears on nearly every page. Besides the bad parenting, you’ve got fratricide, countless traitors, careless murderers, not to mention the ungrateful villagers who keep throwing the dynamic duo out as soon as they vanquish their demons. That said, thanks to the original godfather, family dysfunction has never had (and most likely never will have) such exuberant, plucky presentation …
Readers: Young Adult, Adult
Published: 2008 (United States), 2012 (new omnibus edition) Continue reading
The Secret World of Arrietty (vols. 1-2) planning by Hayao Miyazaki, based on The Borrowers by Mary Norton, translated Rieko Izutsu-Vajirasarn and Jim Hubbert
The latest from Studio Ghibli, powered by the creative genius of legendary Hayao Miyazaki, introduces brave Arrietty, her auburn tresses pulled up by a tiny orange clothespin, ready to explore and conquer the “bean” world. Released by Disney in the U.S. last month, the animated film The Secret World of Arrietty reimagines Mary Norton’s classic children’s series, The Borrowers (the Carnegie Medal-winning debut title is already a half-century old!), with signature Miyazaki style (think My Friend Totoro, Spirited Away, and Ponyo). If you missed the film or want to enhance your Arrietty experience, fabulous Viz Media offers a richly-colored, seemingly frame-by-frame (complete with credits even!) manga version in two volumes – truly a visual masterpiece.
At 14, Arrietty is more than curious about the outside world. She’s a tiny “Borrower,” looking forward to joining her father for her “first borrowing”: venturing in the dark of night into the “bean” world – as in belonging to human beings – to “borrow” the small things they need (like a single sugar cube).
That day, Arrietty watches the arrival of a new addition to the bean household under which Arrietty and her parents live … but the young boy, who has come to visit his aunt, just might have seen Arrietty. By the end of volume 1, Arrietty’s burgeoning friendship with Shawn – a sickly boy who must spend most of his time resting in bed – irrevocably threatens the safety of Arrietty’s family’s secret home …
Volume 2 opens with Shawn’s aunt explaining how his mother and grandfather were so convinced of the little people’s existence that his grandfather had an intricate, miniature home (complete with working gourmet kitchen!) constructed in the hope that the tiny friends might one day inhabit it. “Too many memories of wishes that never came true,” Shawn’s aunt explains, is why his mother doesn’t like to visit her childhood home anymore.
The elderly housekeeper Hara, who has been with the family for decades, listens closely … her interest more than passing. From afar, she guesses at Shawn’s growing friendship with Arrietty, and becomes obsessed with finding – and trapping! – the little people herself. Meanwhile, Arrietty’s father needs to find another home quickly … hopefully somewhere their small family might even find other Borrowers. With both father and daughter otherwise engaged, Mother finds herself in grave danger …
In case you had any doubt, be assured that the unique magic of Studio Ghibli transfers entrancingly to the page. From the growling cat to the light beams filtering gently through a grate to an overly inquisitive cricket to a single teardrop, all the careful details embody the motion-filled adventure and the quiet moments of contemplation. Together, both volumes make for a truly sublime achievement.
Readers: Middle Grade, Young Adult
Published: 2012 (United States)
KARIGURASHI NO ARRIETTY © GNDHDDTW
Original Japanese edition published by Tokuma Shoten Co., Ltd. Continue reading
Zahra’s Paradise by Amir & Khalid
“The authors have chosen anonymity for obvious political reasons.” When you know something like that about a book – that lives were willing to be risked to get a story out – how could you possibly not read it? In the case of Zahra’s Paradise, I promise you won’t be disappointed.
Written by Persian activist/journalist/documentary maker Amir and illustrated by Arab artist Khalil making his graphic novel debut, Zahra’s Paradise began as an online serial webcomic. In the name of worldwide access, the series was released simultaneously in English, Farsi, Arabic, French, Spanish, Italian, Dutch, Korean, Hebrew, Portuguese, German, Swedish, and Finnish. The story – set in the aftermath of Iran’s contested June 2009 presidential elections that declared incumbent Mahmoud Ahmadinejad victor – was considered that important. Now with Iran back in near-daily headlines, the urgency to read Zahra’s Paradise grows ever stronger.
The book opens with a gruesome prologue that will be alluded to again and again throughout the coming pages: a brutal father forces his young son to witness the monstrous destruction of a litter of newborn puppies. In the prologue’s ending panels, the butchered, bagged remains sink down in a watery burial: “Now you too are in the stream touched by all that’s still and waiting. A lost generation buried inside the eye of this blog. Zahra’s Paradise.”
“[T]his blog” is the work of a young man named Hassan desperately searching for his younger brother, Mehdi Alavi, who disappeared from Freedom Square (the irony!) while protesting the outcome of the Iran’s elections. From June 16 to August 19, 2009, Hassan records his family’s desperate search via the technological tools remarkably still available to him – his phone camera, his computer, the internet – first for Mehdi himself, and then, as time passes, any news of Mehdi at all. Hassan and his mother beg, demand, even call in dangerous favors to work through a labyrinthine system of hospitals, prisons, government offices, the morgue, and even the cemetery just outside Iran’s capital city of Tehran known as Zahra’s Paradise, named after the prophet Mohammad’s daughter. What Hassan is able to unveil is worse than any nightmare …
That the resulting panes make for an unforgettable story might be enough, but that so much of this graphic fiction is indeed fact is a sobering, outrageous slap of reality. The creators use a “composite of real people and events,” supported by an appendix-like 40+ pages at volume’s end they label “Glossary” that serves as historical record. Most haunting are those final 13 pages of names – real, true, once-living brothers, sisters, fathers, mothers, cousins, aunts, uncles, grandparents – that make up the “citizens of a silent city named Omid (‘hope’ in Persian).” Printed in near-blinding tiny type, these names are an ultimate reminder to “[l]et them challenge our conscience so that in the future we will prevent this kind of tragedy from happening again.”
Readers: Young Adult, Adult
Published: 2011 Continue reading
Blankets by Craig Thompson
If you missed last year’s Habibi by Craig Thompson, stop everything right this second and go order it immediately. I’ll wait … I promise, you’re going to thank me for that authoritative literary advice.
If Habibi is Thompson’s multi-culti masterpiece, then Blankets must be his Midwest magnum opus. That the book’s back cover touts three 2004 Harvey Awards (Best Artist, Best Graphic Album of Original Work, and Best Cartoonist) and two 2004 Eisner Awards (Best Graphic Album–New and Best Writer/Artist) shows I’m not far off …
To call Blankets a personal story is such understatement as to be unjust: the power of its raw honesty is of the wrenching, hurts-so-good variety. As young boys, Thompson shared a bed with his little brother Phil. “‘SHARED’ is the sugar-coated way of saying we were TRAPPED in the same bed, as we were children and had no say in the matter.” Phil’s a tough bedmate with his overactive imagination and his uncontrollable bladder. In spite of the expected sibling friction, Thompson confesses that he “was a pathetic older brother [who] neglected [his] protective role in dangerous situations.”
But then young Thompson’s got weighty problems of his own, especially at school where he’s constantly bullied by students and teachers alike. At home, the oversized babysitter is an abusive monster in too-tight jeans. Thompson’s only solace is in drawing, “where my brother accompanied behind the wheel … when we drew together, often collaborating on the same page, I felt connected to Phil.”
Thompson manages to survive adolescence, trying to negotiate his demanding fundamentalist Christian upbringing with his burgeoning maturity. One high school winter during a church camp ski trip, Thompson meets Raina, another searching soul, and they continue their hesitant acquaintance by mail: “her letter renewed my faith in the notion of making marks on paper.” He is enthralled: “Thus, I found my muse.” And so their mutual attachment grows and intensifies … literally taking on epic proportions. Young first love can’t be anything but, right? Thompson and Raina share one heck of an affair to remember …
The adult Thompson moves with both heartfelt wonder and overwhelming angst through long-ago memories. His swirling, ever-in-motion, instantly recognizable transporting style is an extraordinary visual experience – from looming fear to utter joy to resigned doubt to absolute peace, and so much more. Read and you shall believe …
Readers: Young Adult, Adult
Published: 2003, 2011 (new edition) Continue reading
Once Upon a Quinceañera: Coming of Age in the USA by Julia Alvarez
Somewhere buried in these almost 300 pages (or just over nine hours if you’re listening to the husky voice of actress Daphne Rubin-Vega) is a really good book about the quinceañera – the 15th birthday celebration of a Latina which marks her maturity from little girl to womanhood. Alas, as it’s printed now, Once is just too much: merely trimming the repetition and the not-that-interesting ramblings of too many (famous) voices would definitely have made it a more streamlined read.
Using the framing device of a single “quince” – that of Monica Ramos, a Dominican American girl from Queens, New York – Julia Alvarez weaves together her own bicultural coming-of-age in a Queens of decades past as a Dominican immigrant child in the 1960s. In between sharing the details of Monica’s special evening – the scheduling hiccups, the missing parents at her quickie church blessing, her not-quite Disney-fied “court,”‘ the finally radiant Monica – Alvarez traces the growing phenomenon of the American quinceañera and its hybrid history, its sociological implications, its wildly varying economics, and its rampant consumerism.
From beginning to end, Alvarez channels Maxine Hong Kingston’s Woman Warrior, both as a literary phenomenon who guided her own path as a writer, and as one of three dolls she collected during her research which are representative of the trinity of “charms to remind me of aspects of coming-of-age as a girl.” That trio is composed of the princess which every girl wants to be on her special “quince” night, the fairy godmother who will enable the magical celebration, and the woman warrior who every girl will need to become in order to fight the “uphill battle against sexism, gender inequalities in wage earnings, threats to our equal rights, as well as against internal furies and naysayers that will try to hold us back.” Ironically, that these three dolls were bought in the U.S., are from a French manufacturer, but made in China, Alvarez notes, is yet another reminder that “[e]ven our dolls embody our global, ethnic, and racial mixtures!”
Alvarez is a versatile, highly regarded writer of multiple genres across all ages, best known for her award-winning novels How the García Girls Lost Their Accents and In the Time of the Butterflies. She’s the sort of writer that can sell a book just because her name appears on the cover. While I was ultimately disappointed this time (I haven’t been before – how many prolific writers can you say that about?!!), I admit to sharing moments of insight, laughter, head-shaking shock, and even a few tears. That’s certainly enough to merit picking up more titles just for the promise of seeing her name.
Readers: Young Adult, Adult
Published: 2007 Continue reading
Filed under ..Adult Readers, ..Young Adult Readers, .Audio, .Memoir, .Nonfiction, Latino/a
Cross Game 5 (vols. 10-11) and Cross Game 6 (vols. 12-13) by Mitsuru Adachi, translated by Lillian Olsen
Let’s play ball … While everyone else is lost to Linsanity, I’m still back in high school with ace pitcher Ko Kitamura! Volume 10 is all about the game: at the top of the fourth, Seishu Gakuen – thanks to Ko and star batter Azuma – is actually leading by a single point in the regional play-off against Ryuou, the team that’s favored (again) to win the National High School Baseball Tournament at Koshien. Aoba – who can’t play just because she’s a girl! – watches from the sidelines; they still can’t get along outside the game, but they’re in perfect synch when it comes to pitching that ball. Just at the final moment of truth, Wakaba makes her wishes known from the other side!
The games are over for now in volume 11, but life gets even more interesting when a new soba shop opens next door to Kitamura’s Sports. Everyone does a double-take each time they spot the owners’ daughter Akane Takigawa who bears an uncanny resemblance to Wakaba. In an almost too-much moment, she’s carrying a shopping bag marked “Wakaba” – “It’s from the fruit store in front of Oizumi Park Station,” she explains – when Ko and Azuma meet her face to face. Ko, Aoba, Papa Tsukishima, and especially Akaishi (who adored her like no other) don’t quite know what to do with their … well … shock!
The final year of high school starts for Ko and Azuma in volume 12: this will be their last chance to get to – and win! – Koshien. Wakaba predicted victory for this year, after all! Her presence is more than felt with Akane around: she not only looks like Wakaba, but her personality is similarly caring, nurturing, loving towards all. The school year moves quickly. Ko and Akane grow comfortably closer. Aoba breaks her leg and finds Azuma constantly by her side. Outside the hospital, Azuma has a run-in with evil coach Daimo who’s apparently back in the game …
In volume 13, the academic year is already over, but the last summer baseball season is just starting. Aoba’s on crutches, but that’s not stopping her from bossing the team to work harder, including Ko who’s still stealing all her best pitching moves: “Don’t be so stingy,” he throws back. “Think of it as borrowing my body and pitching vicariously through me.” In between training, everyone seems to be pairing off … even the youngest Momiji! Ko turns 18 at volume’s end … and his devotion to Wakaba who shares his natal day is one of the most touching manga moments ever. Sniff, sniff. Pass the tissues, already!
Readers: Middle Grade, Young Adult
Published: 2011 and 2012 (United States)
CROSS GAME © Mitsuru Adachi
Original Japanese edition published by Shogakukan Inc. Continue reading
Curveball: The Year I Lost My Grip by Jordan Sonnenblick
While everyone else has been lost to Linsanity, I’ve been contrarily following baseball … at least on the page and in manga (via the entertaining Cross Game). Hmmm … I wonder how Jordan Sonnenblick might write Ko Kitamura‘s story’s? Ack! Again I digress …
In Sonnenblick’s latest pitch-perfect (couldn’t resist) teen story, Peter Friedman’s life is changing way too fast. It starts with an accident: an elbow injury during an eighth-grade summer baseball game sidelines him – for life. Peter will never play ball again.
Now that he’s lost his sports moniker, Peter’s unsure about how he’s going to navigate high school. At least he’s got his best friend (and best teammate) A.J. around, even though A.J. won’t accept Peter’s injury as permanent; A.J.’s still convinced the freshman duo will rule high school baseball come spring tryouts.
Peter ends up in an advanced photography class in which he’s utterly star struck by new girl Angelika. Photography’s going to be easy enough … but the boy/girl partner thing is whole new territory.
Thanks to his accomplished photographer Grampa, Peter’s already familiar with all the equipment. The two have always bonded over getting the shot, but now Grampa can’t even seem to remember the pictures …
Between family, school, friends, and maybe even first love, Peter’s having a heck of a time keeping things in focus … but when Grampa calls during a snow storm – shoeless, cold, and lost – denial is no longer an option for anyone.
Sonnenblick creates another memorable slice-of-life, coming-of-age novel for the teen reader (not to mention lots of old folks, too!). For devoted Sonnenblick groupies, you’ll love finding an older San Lee from Zen and the Art of Faking It spouting “Truth” (p. 207!). Sonnenblick sure knows how to make his stories real … no spoilers here, but (especially for us parental types) fair warning that you’ll be needing that box of tissues before the final page … waterworks guaranteed.
Readers: Middle Grade, Young Adult
Published: 2012 Continue reading
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