Have you seen the cover of O-Parts Hunter vol. 5?
I’d have no problem with it being on the cover of a book with a Mature rating, but when it’s on the cover of a book rated T+ (for Older Teens)? I consider myself pretty liberal, but it still makes me cringe.
My Heavenly Hockey Club by Ai Morinaga
Why? Why couldn’t my high school years have been like Hana Suzuki’s? I mean, I love sleeping. I love food. I didn’t go so far as to feverishly study to get into a good school close to home just so I could have extra time to sleep, but honestly, proximity to home was the reason I ultimately chose the school I attended from grades 7-12. And I could do without getting hit by a car, have poor hand-eye coordination, and pretty much no athletic ability whatsoever, but still.
On her way to school one day, Hana gets in the way of a moving car. She’s unhurt, but the car is dented. The student being driven in the car proceeds to basically blackmail Hana into joining the school’s field hockey club. Other girls are jealous, but Hana is not too happy about it. Sure, she’s the only girl in the club, and she and the guys in the club (all of whom are attractive, of course) get to travel, eat good food, and somehow manage not to play a game, while finding themselves in crazy situations. But does that make up for having to get up insanely early to practice?
Wicked Lovely by Melissa Marr
Aislinn can see faeries. Her whole life her grandmother has told her how dangerous this ability is, and the danger is only increasing. Keenan, the Summer King, has singled out Ash as his next queen, putting Ash in a more treacherous position than she thinks. She used to feel safe at her friend Seth’s home, surrounded by iron, but will it still be safe now that their relationship seems to be changing?
Wicked Lovely comes thisclose to making my list of YA romances for older teens. Thisclose! Alas, since the development of Ash and Seth’s relationship is not the focal point of the book, it’s an urban fantasy with a really, really strong romantic element. But whether you like romance or fantasy, and especially if you like both, you should definitely read this book. And, oh, the pretty cover.
Marked by PC Cast and Kristin Cast
Zoey was Marked after school as she talked to a friend. She was lucky; hardly anyone else was around. What appeared on her forehead marked her as a vampyre. Escaping from her mother and domineering stepfather that afternoon, Zoey ultimately ends up at the House of Night, a boarding school for teens in the midst of the transformation from human to vampyre.
Marked is the first book in the House of Night series. But while I enjoyed reading it (hello, it’s set in a boarding school, plus there’s a brief mention of the attractiveness of vampires. But really, Kenny Chesney?), I didn’t find it compelling enough to be all that excited that there are more books to come.
manga and graphic novels, read Saturday’s Comic Con edition of Publishers Weekly Comics Week. Go. NOW! Because you do want the news about Minx titles for 2008, Crayon Shinchan, CLAMP, and more, right?
But really, Dark Horse, can’t you come up with something that sounds better than “mangettes”?
Don’t be fooled by the artwork and title, Clubbing is not a graphic novel about a hot gothic chick who likes to go night clubbing. In fact, it’s more like a nancy drew mystery with a slightly dark morbid hilarity. Charlotte “Lottie” Brook is a goth teen (if Emily the Strange grew up she would definately be Lottie), who upon getting caught with a fake I.D. at a london club is sent to repent in the english countryside, at her grandparents country club. However, Lottie finds that the english countryside is not so sleepy when she meets up with a kooky group of country vampires, finds a corpse, and crushes on the hunky groundskeeper. Will Lottie save the world and find out who killed the old lady, and get a kiss from the hunky groundskeeper by the end of the summer? Read if you dare.
*Just a side note: author Andi Watson also wrote books for the Buffy the Vampire Slayer series, so teens interested in that genre might enjoy this graphic novel as well.*
Omnibus Press again presents another ‘unoffical and unauthorized’ biography of an indie rock band. This time it’s target is My Chemical Romance (or MCR). The short work is actually a bunch of press and photo clippings taken from Billboard Magazine, MTV, and Alternative press. I wouldn’t have expected it to be an indepth read, since the band is only about seven years old, and they just the hit charts in 2004. In all, it would be a quick read for fans or anyone interested in the goth/punk/emo movement. Some trivia about the band you will learn from the book(disclaimer: since it is ‘unofficial and unauthorized’ some information may be incorrect or distorted):
1.) The band was formed in 2001 after the 9/11 attacks. Lead singer Gerard Way was on his way to work when he witnessed the planes crashing into the twin towers, from then on he decided to forgo his cartooning career in order to form MCR.
2.) The name My Chemical Romance came from the bassist Mikey Way (who is Gerards younger brother). My Chemical Romance is a referral to Irvine Welsh’s book Ecstasy: Three Tales of Chemical Romance. (Irvine Welsh also wrote Trainspotting).
3.) Helena the bands seventh single is a tribute to Gerard and Mikey’s grandmother, who passed away while they were on tour. In 2005 the video for the song was nominated with 5 moon men by MTV.
Remember how we had our laundry list of things for Asian American books? Well Derek Kirk Kim has successfully fulfilled 4 out of 5 of my requests in Good As Lily. To refresh our collective memory of what I was asking for here it is, again
Gayle would like a protagonist:
1. Who uses cultural references without qualifying them;
2. Who feels comfortable in his/her skin, hair, eyes;
3. Who is not ashamed of his/her parents;
4. Has real character flaws and not only those of stereotypes;
5. Is a librarian or aspires to be a librarian.
Granted #5 is probably a long shot, I’m impressed that DKK has effectively written a story that fulfills the rest of my wish list. Props to Jesse Hamm for the great artwork too. I’m going to have to lift my self imposed ban on DC to purchase Good As Lily for the library when it comes out in August.
The basic storyline follows our protagonist Grace Kwon as she celebrates her pivotal 18th birthday. She buys a pinata from a mysterious ice cream vendor at the park and is disappointed to find out that the pinata has no candy inside of it. She goes home only to realize that she has forgotten one of her birthday presents at the park. Grace goes back to the park and finds more than what she is looking for. She finds a 6 year old, a 29 year old, and a 80 year old all who go by the name Grace Kwon. The Graces all come to the realization that they are one and the same person. This cosmic sick joke plays itself out as the Graces make peace with their past experiences and regrets. Why is this graphic novel entitled Good As Lily instead of Revenge of the Grace Kwons? Read it to find out!
I’m passing the ARC to Jolene so she can weigh in on my review.
Mouse Guard Fall 1152 is part one of a compilation of 6 comics by David Petersen entitled Mouse Guard. (Part 2 Winter 1152 will be released in July) With it’s medieval mouse storyline, the series is comparable to Jacques’s Redwall. Peterson’s graphics are classic comic book with bold colors and dark lines. It’ll be a fast read for anyone in love with talking mice who carry swords, wear capes, and go on quests to defeat giant crabs, bees, and a snake.
While daydreaming at school one day, Yukari Fujimaru bumps into a girl and notices the girl has a pair of wings. No one else can see them, but over the years, Yuka has started to think of wings as a sign of star quality. People who have what it takes to be famous have wings, and the larger the wings, the more of “it” they have.
Ryoko Katsuragi is the prettiest girl in school, the one that Yuka bumped into. Except Ryoko isn’t really a girl, but a boy named Ryo Katsuragi who is forced to masquerade as a girl because of the dictates of his management company. The company, the Peacock Talent Agency, is the top agency in Japan, and they have a rule that everyone they manage must hide their true identity. If anyone discovers that Ryoko is actually a boy, Peacock will drop him. So when Yuka accidentally walks in on Ryo changing and Ryo discovers that Yuka’s father has basically abandoned her, Ryo decides that the solution to both these problems is to make Yuka his manager. The president of the management company agrees, as long as Yuka can successfully pretend to be a boy. The president doesn’t think she can do it and tests Yuka by throwing her and Ryo into situations that he is sure Yuka will either fail or expose her as a girl. In the meantime, Yuka will be living (pretending to be a boy) with Ryo and his roommate, Peacock Agency’s number one star, Ayaori.
This manga does require some suspension of disbelief. Apparently, Yuka has never noticed that there are two kids at school with wings until the story starts. And this is the first gender-bender manga I’ve read, so I have no idea what it’s like in other books, but Yuka discovers Ryo’s secret in the changing room, which makes me wonder if Ryo and all of those other guys pretending to be girls dress in a bathroom stall during P.E. But if you’re willing to go along with it, Penguin Revolution is an entertaining romp. Yuka and Ryo both face challenges, but they take them on so positively and are so good-hearted that I couldn’t help but root for them. With his aspirations of stardom and being forced to pretend to be a girl, you might expect Ryo to act like a jerk, yet somehow he’s still a nice guy. And the friendship that develops between Ryo and Yuka is sweet, and so far platonic.
CMX rates this manga for T for teens.
And the class president. Doesn’t he totally look like Jake Shimabukuro? Especially this picture?
British publishers marketing books specifically to blacks and Asians (Via GalleyCat).
Check out Papertigers.org, a site I admit I’ve never paid much attention to because their focus is children’s literature, and children’s books are not my bag, baby. But there are a lot of great links and bibliographies, plus they’ll be launching a blog on May 23, which I’ll definitely be checking out. (Via cynsations)
Also, Japan will hand out the first International Manga Award this summer.
And while we’re on the subject of manga, Wallflower anime? I definitely need to watch this!
Apparently we were supposed to be offended by the character Chin-Kee according to the Fuse #8 blog: http://fusenumber8.blogspot.com/2007/05/youre-supposed-to-be-offended-that-was.html which linked to this piece “Gene Yang on Stereotypes” http://firstsecondbooks.typepad.com/mainblog/2007/05/gene_yang_on_st.html. Thank you Trisha for doing some background checks on this topic.
Jolene: I know you guys didn’t care for it, but I liked it. Can’t resist the William Hung reference.
Gayle: I didn’t like the whole Chinky thing it bugged me
Trisha: You mean the cousin?
Jolene: I felt it was more like a commentary on being Asian in America.
Trisha: Well, being Asian in parts of America.
Jolene: Yeah Hawaii is a whole other animal.
Gayle: Yeah wth?
Gayle: Buck teeth, queue, yellow. That bugged me.
Trisha: The accent!
Jolene: But that’s how America viewed Asians at one point in time in history.
Gayle: How long ago was that?
Gayle: Did you ever see those Mr. Wong skits online?
Trisha: No. Where?
Jolene: Yeah, I found them hilarious.
Jolene: Icebox.com
Gayle: Chin-Kee sort of reminded me of Mr. Wong.
Jolene: It’s comedy to me like the Dave Chappelle show.
Trisha: Oh, Chin-Kee, Chinky… Totally didn’t see that before. I’m slow.
Gayle: No way. [in reference to Jolene]
Gayle: So anyway I totally hate the whole Chin-Kee thing. Ruined the story for me. I was like get Mr. Wong out of here, you biter.
Gayle: I know Gene Yang saw Mr. Wong skits
Jolene: Well I do see your point.
Trisha: Huh, the second storyline was my least favorite. When Danny was still Chinese. Like, just because you’re Asian you have to be friends/date the other Asian kids? At least we didn’t get a history lesson about China and Japan in World War II.
Jolene: I liked the whole Monkey mythology part.
Trisha: Yeah, I did, too.
Gayle: That part wasn’t bad.
Jolene: I liked the way he blended that into the story.
Gayle: I didn’t like Chinese Danny because he was uncool to the other Asian kids, like distancing himself from them would make him less Asian.
Gayle: So we like the non-original content of the book, the retelling of the folktale
Jolene: Yeah I guess so. Go figgah yeah?
Gayle: Sad.
Jolene: What’s wrong with us?
Trisha: We like folktales?
Gayle: We just don’t like the stereotypical Asian American characters. Bottom line is we don’t like the perpetuation of stereotypes.
Jolene: But how else could this characters be described without using stereotypes?
