Graphic Novels and Manga For Folks Who Don't Read Either: A Few Recommendations

If you're only going to pick up one graphic novel to read this year, I highly, highly recommend the Flight series, edited by Kibuishi Kazu:

These are collections of short pieces by a variety of top artists (and there are only a couple of connections between the volumes, so you can pick any one of them). Emphasis is on the full-color artwork, which even in the weakest stories is excellent, and in the best is nothing short of breathtaking. The nice thing about a collection like this is that if there's a story that doesn't look very interesting, you could just skip it, although I recommend reading them all anyway. Also you'll be exposed to many fantastic artists, and if there's one in particular you like, chances are we have some of their other work. Although all are superb, my favorite out of the five volumes is number 2; if you can read Jake Parker's The Robot and The Sparrow without your heart clenching painfully, you have problems.

There's also a version for kids, called Flight Explorer, which contains work from many of the same artists. Highly recommended as well; it's one of my kiddo's favorite books.




If you want something meatier, Shaun Tan's The Arrival is fantastic. This would be a good one to start with if you've looked at other graphic novels and have been spooked by the format, since the layout is relatively simple.



The Arrival has no text, and is a prime example for graphic novel rule number 1: go slow and savor every detail. Tan's intricate pencil drawings tell the story of a nameless man leaving his wife and daughter behind to immigrate to a strange new land. He crosses a sea and arrives in a city filled with beautifully bizarre buildings, funny little creatures and wonderfully different people of all sorts. We see him struggle to overcome a language barrier and figure out the details of daily life, meanwhile attempting to enable his family to come join him. He is befriended by other immigrants who share their stories with him, and help him navigate things like finding food and travelling and using the mailboxes. It's amazing how the emotion can oscillate between hope and heartbreak in the span of a few pages, but Tan does it seamlessly. My favorite thing about this book is that in the surreal world our protagonist moves to, everything is just as puzzling and bewildering to the reader as it is to him. If one work could capture the breadth of the immigrant experience, I think this would be it.



If you want to try a manga, a great title for first timers is the uberpopular Death Note, by Ohba Tsugumi and Obata Takeshi.



This series follows a brilliant-but-bored high school senior named Light, who happens to find a 'Death Note', a notebook belonging to a death god who accidentally dropped it on Earth. If a person writes someone's name in the Death Note while picturing their face, that person will die. The series centers around Light's attempt to use the Death Note to cleanse the world of evildoers and criminals, the law enforcement personnel attempting to catch him and put a stop to his vigilantism (including his own unsuspecting police officer father, and a mysterious detective known only as L). Also featured is the errant death god who dropped the Death Note in the first place, then decided to stick around and watch what happens (while also explaining some of the details of the Death Note to Light, the only person who can see him). The issues and conflicts raised are fraught with complexity and addressed usually through some very exciting plot twists. This series is intelligently written and definitely a page-turner. It's also a good one for newbies, for though it follows the traditional Japanese R-L reading style, it's easy to read and not bogged down with manga conventions that can be confusing the first few times. The art is some of the best in the business. Ooh, also note that despite the grim theme and some recurring violence, this is not a gory series.


Some other graphic novels and manga I recommend for newbies:

• The Color of Earth by Kim Dong Hwa-- First volume of a sweet coming-of-age trilogy about a young girl in rural (I think) pre-war Korea. The art is so-so, but the text is beautiful and poetic. Lots of footnotes with info about Korean culture explaining the symbolism. Reads L to R.
• Vampire Knight by Hino Matsuri-- I've been giving this one to all the Twilighters anxiously on the holds list. Vampires, awesome boarding school, love triangle, tons of angst. Fantastic art. R>L
• Planetes by Yukimura Makoto-- This is a good title for the hard science fiction fans out there. Follows a group of space garbagemen debris collectors in the year 2075. Well fleshed-out characters and a story arc that develops in small vignettes revolving around each of them. Often compared to the work of Arthur C. Clarke. R>L
• American Born Chinese by Gene Yang-- Best teen graphic novel I've seen. Three seemingly separate plot lines interwoven to fantastic effect in a powerfully emotional climax. Nearly everyone can relate to the painfully awkward Jin and his struggle to fit in, and the fantasy tale of the Monkey King is just awesome. L>R
• Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi-- Hopefully everyone has heard of this amazing French-Iranian woman's bildungsroman by now, since it's won a bajillion awards and was turned into an Oscar-nominated animated film. L>R

Maybe some other comic fans can chime in with favorites-- Mandy? Cindy? Don? :)

Must Read: The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield

If you work with me regularly chances are I've already tried to foist this book upon you. I've been telling everyone about it. If this book were makeup and I were a Mary Kay salesperson, I'd have the pink Cadillac by now. You might have seen it listed on Pearl's Picks a couple of months ago. I heard about from a normally articulate friend who couldn't describe it without flailing and mumbling incoherently.

This is a story about stories; about lies and half-truths and the actual truths underneath. We follow along with Margaret Lea, a bookish biographer and Jane Eyre buff as she is requested by aging famous novelist Vida Winter to write her biography. Vida Winter is a fascinating character, at once snarky and brash but also vulnerable. She has told her life story to nineteen interviewers previously, and every version (all different) has been a lie. In the sunset of her life she decides to tell the whole truth and nothing but. However, to quote Oscar Wilde, the truth is rarely pure and never simple. Miss Winter's story unfolds piece by piece, and as Margaret tries to connect the dots and discover the real sequence of this complex life, she has to face repressed demons of her own.

This is the kind of book that you'll be thinking about for weeks. I couldn't turn the pages fast enough. I'm not usually one for rereading things, but after finishing this one the ending threw me for such a loop I started it over again immediately. The atmosphere created is deliciously spooky.

Highly recommended. :)

Must Read: Thirteen Reasons Why by Jay Asher

Hello again. It's me, Cindy from the Valley Library and I'm wearing my teen hat today. I just finished re-reading THIRTEEN REASONS WHY by Jay Asher the better to prepare for a booktalking event on Wednesday and MUST share.



Clay comes home one afternoon to find an unassuming shoe-box sized package addressed to him sitting on his doorstep. There's no return address. Curious, he opens the box and discovers it to be empty aside from seven loose cassette tapes, their sides numbered 1-13. Still curious, he plops the 1st tape into his dad's stereo and presses play...only to hear a voice from beyond the grave: "Hello, boys and girls. Hannah Baker here...I'm about to tell you the story of my life. More specifically, why my life ended. And if you're listening to these tapes, you're one of the reasons why."

Hannah, you see, committed suicide two weeks previously. And apparently she still has a score, make that 13 scores, to settle. But Clay, well, Clay doesn't know WHY he's been included in Hannah's head games. Clay has secretly liked Hannah for years and was hurt by her death. But not as hurt as he's about to be as he forces himself to listen to the tapes and learns things about his classmates and supposed friends he never suspected and never wanted to know.

This is an amazingly painful and powerful story. It's not comfortable to read. Or listen to--the audio is amazing and the Hannah segments give me chills. There's a lot of heavy stuff being discussed here--suicide, date rape, teen drinking, bullying, harassment, the list goes on. But ultimately, this story illustrates how our actions or lack thereof profoundly impact the people around us. How we're all connected, whether we want to be or no. As such, I think it's a MUST read for teens (let's say grade 9 and above) and people working with teens. Go check it out now.

Your Mission Should You Choose to Accept It: Must Reads!

Hello. Cindy Benson from Spokane Valley Library here. To get the discussion ball rolling, I thought I'd suggest an initial topic: MUST READS. You know the ones, the books you re-read on a regular basis, the books you push on every customer who comes along, the books you buy for all your friends and family, the books you'll rave about to anyone who'll stand still long enough to listen? Yeah, those.

So, what are your must reads? Share, do! There are no limits here--adult, children's, teen, fiction, non-fiction, you name it.

Summer reading is almost upon us and we're about to be descended upon by a horde of folks who are dying for a good book. What would YOU recommend?