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Yotsuba&!by Kiyohiko Azuma Yotsuba is one of those kids who is always in her own little world. In fact, I’m not sure she’s ever not been in her own little world. I mean, she’s never seen a doorbell before. The thinks it’s some amazing button that makes people appear. She’s never seen an air conditioner before, but as soon as she sees one, she hates it. The story starts with Yotsuba and her dad moving to a new city. When one of her neighbors asks where they moved from, Yotsuba says “Left!” She’s a strange little kid. Not a lot actually happens in the story. At least, not in the first volume. I haven’t had a chance to read the others. Yotsuba wanders around her neighborhood, meets some of the people there, catches cicadas, and goes shopping at a department store. What makes this worth reading is that it’s like Yotsuba has never done any of this stuff before, so it’s all new and strange to her. Also, she has no filter between her brain and her mouth, so if she says everything that goes through her head. Everything. Her facial expressions and the odd things she says and the really bizarre ways she misunderstands daily life are all just hilarious. In case you are wondering, the title is pronounced “Yotsuba to!” which means “Yotsuba and!” Most of the chapter titles are like “Yotsuba & Shopping” or “Yotsuba & Rain” or “Yotsuba & something else that totally confuses her.” Where to Find ItYou can get it from the public library.
You might want to read the rules for borrowing books before you request anything. If you want to check
on the book or cancel your order, go here. The Invention of Hugo CabretHugo’s father used to work in a museum. That’s where he found the automaton – a clockwork human sitting at a desk, ready to write a letter. Sadly, the automaton was broken, and Hugo’s father never figured out how to repair it. When he died, Hugo inherited the mechanical man and his father’s notebooks. Hugo also inherited his uncle’s job, sort of. His uncle used to keep all the clocks in a Paris train station wound and running okay. In exchange, he and Hugo were allowed to live in a little apartment in the station. His uncle disappeared one day, so now Hugo secretly winds all the clocks on his own. As long as nobody notices that his uncle is gone, Hugo can keep living in the station and trying to fix the automaton. Hugo needs parts to fix the automaton, so he steals toys from a toy store in the train station. He’s not that good of a thief, though, so the shopkeeper catches him, confiscates the notes his father gave him, and makes him work to pay for everything he stole. Then things get complicated. The story is told through a mix of pictures and words. This isn’t quite the same as most graphic novels, where pictures contain words. Instead, some pages have words and others have pictures, but the two don’t really mix. You might find thirty or forty pictures in a row with no words, so you really have to pay attention to the art if you want to understand what is going on in the story. You can watch a slide show of the opening pictures at the author’s website. Where to Find ItYou can get it from the school library.
You can get it from the public library.
This list was last updated February 6, 2012 at 10:12 pm UTC. August 1st, 2009
 Tags: automata, france, mystery, technology, thieves, trains |  Category: Comics, Fantasy, Fiction, Graphic Novels, Historical Fiction, Illustrated Book
|  Write a comment | Life Sucksby Jessica Abel, Gabriel Soria, and Warren Pleece Dave has one of the worst jobs on earth. He’s the night manager at the Last Stop convenience store, but that’s not why his job is so awful. The real problem is his boss Radu, who happens to be a vampire. Radu is big into things like team spirit, so to make Dave a better employee, Radu made him a vampire, too. Rosa, the woman Dave has a crush on, thinks that being a vampire must be wonderful – eternal life, vampiric sex appeal, the charming company of other vampires, money, power, and other fine things like that. Unfortunately, Dave gets nothing of this. He’s got no money. He rides a bicycle to and from his dead-end job, and he’ll probably work at the Last Stop for all eternity. Also, Dave has a thing about blood. Plus, even though he’s a real vampire, the goth women he interacts with seem more interested in goth guys with expensive capes and boots rather than real vampires with name tags that say “Shift Manager.” Another thing that makes Dave’s life miserable is that he has to interact with Wes, a psychotic surfer vampire who is also a servant of Radu. When Wes finds out Dave is interested in Rosa, he decides to be interested in her, too. This is bad, since when I said Wes is psychotic, I mean he likes killing or enslaving people. Thus, Dave has to try to save Rosa, but keep in mind that Dave is a big old loser. You can read the first eleven pages at MySpace or read a different thirteen pages at New York Magazine’s website. Where to Find ItYou can get it from the school library.
You can get it from the public library.
This list was last updated February 2, 2012 at 5:23 pm UTC. Click here to see newer information. July 24th, 2009
Tags: latino, Romance, supernatural, vampires | Category: Comics, Contemporary Fantasy, Fantasy, Fiction, Graphic Novels, Humor, Manga
| Write a comment | Oishinboby Tetsu Kariya and Akira Hanasaki Oishinbo is a series about food. The main character, Yamaoka Shiro, is a journalist whose father is a famous gourmet. The newspaper Shiro works for is about to celebrate its 100th birthday, and as part of the festivities, the publishers would like to create the “ultimate menu” that features the absolute finest examples of Japanese food. Somebody figures that since Shiro’s dad is a food expert, Shiro must be the perfect person for the job. Well, maybe. There are a few potential flaws in the plan. First, Shiro and his dad hate each other. Second, Shiro is kind of lazy. Plus, he’s often a jerk. Of course, when you meet his father, you see that being a jerk runs in the family. Fortunately, Shiro does know a lot about food, so (with the help and encouragement of some of his colleagues), he sets off to find all the pieces for the ultimate meal. A lot of Japanese food manga are based around cooking duels, and Oishinbo has plenty. These aren’t always formal cooking competitions, but each episode usually requires Shiro to outwit, or help someone else outwit, his father. Along the way, we learn a lot about Japanese cuisine, and we get to see several of the important themes for Japanese food. Taste isn’t the only sense in Japanese cooking. The appearance, scent, and even the feel of the food in your mouth are all important. Fresh ingredients are vital. Also, local ingredients are taken very seriously – in Japan, pretty much every town has its own special ingredient that either can’t be found anywhere else or is way, way better than what you find anywhere else. There are also a couple of recipes at the start of the book, and there are a lot of notes in the back, just in case you want to know more about Japanese culture and food. Oishinbo is a very long series in Japan, but when it was published in the United States, Viz decided not to release the whole thing. What we get instead are volumes that each focus on one specific topic. The first one looks at the fundamental ingredients of Japanese cuisine. Others focus on sake (rice wine), rice dishes, and ramen and gyoza (potstickers), among other things. This means that some of the story is missing, but the individual episodes all share a common theme. Where to Find ItOishinbo is not available in Contra Costa public libraries. You can request it through Link+. You get the book through your local library, so you will need to have a library card.
You might want to read the rules for borrowing books before you request anything. If you want to check
on the book or cancel your order, go here. July 7th, 2009
Tags: competition, cooking, japan, japanese culture | Category: Comics, Food, Graphic Novels, Manga
| Write a comment | Vagabondby Takehiko Inoue Miyamoto Musashi was one of the most famous swordsmen in Japan. Modern Japan’s idea of the model samurai is based on Musashi. He was a master swordsman who invented a new way of fighting. He was involved in many famous duels, although he did not want to fight. He was also an artist, philosopher, and writer (he wrote The Book of Five Rings). Vagabond tells a story of Musashi’s life, starting from age 17. At that point in his life, his name was Takezo, not Musashi. The story starts just after the Battle of Sekigahara. Takezo and his friend Matahachi picked the wrong side in that battle and are left for dead, but they are rescued by a young woman and her mother. Soldiers from the winning side of the battle are on the lookout for survivors, so Takezo and Matahachi have to hide. During this time, Takezo discovers that he is pretty good at fighting (something he didn’t realize as he was getting beaten up in his first battle). He seems to think that hitting people in the head with his wooden sword is a good way to solve his problems. Soon Takezo decides to return home, but Matahachi stays with the mother and daughter. Unfortunately, Takezo is still a wanted man, and the people from his village try to capture him. Eventually a wise old priest and Otsu, Matahachi’s fiancee, manage to lure hm out of hiding and convince him that killing people isn’t the best way to solve his problems. Takezo changes his name to Musashi and sets out to travel Japan and become the best swordsman he can be. He is still looking for fights, but now he wants to learn from them rather than to kill people. Most of the rest of the series focuses on his quest, where he becomes not only a better swordsman, but a better person. However, several volumes of the series focus on Musashi’s arch-rival, Sasaki Kojiro, and we also see a lot of several other major characters. Musashi gets into a lot of fights, and a lot of people get maimed or killed. Also, there is some nudity and sex. How historically accurate is Vagabond? Well, it’s rather loosely based on the novel Musashi, by Eiji Yoshikawa. Musashi is partially based on history, partially basd on the many legends about Miyamoto Musashi and partially made up, so Vagabond is a manga based on a novel based on legends. Still, it”s a good story, and it’s got at least some real history in it. For those of you who are interested in Japanese history and culture, Vagabond starts at the beginning of the Edo period. The man who won the Battle of Sekigahara, Tokugawa Ieyasu, soon controls all of Japan. Basically, just as Musashi finds out he’s a really awesome swordsman, over 150 years of war and rebellion end and peace breaks out. People like Musashi aren’t needed anymore, and because of his skills and his reputation, the government sees him as something of a treat. At one point in the series, Musashi goes to the city of Edo, which doesn’t look that great and is built on a marsh. Edo is just being built, though. The new government, the Tokugawa Shogunate, needs a new capital, and Edo is on its way to becoming a major city. In 1868, Edo is renamed Tokyo. Where to Find ItVagabond is not available in Contra Costa public libraries. You can request it through Link+. You get the book through your local library, so you will need to have a library card.
You might want to read the rules for borrowing books before you request anything. If you want to check
on the book or cancel your order, go here. July 5th, 2009
Tags: action, adult, japan, martial arts, real people, war | Category: Graphic Novels, Historical Fiction, Manga
| Write a comment | Essex County Volume 1: Tales from the Farmby Jeff Lemire Lester is a 10-year-old boy whose mother has just died of cancer. His father is out of the picture, so he goes to live with his uncle Ken, who lives on a farm. Lester loves comic books – he is writing his own, and he sort of lives in his own little comic book world. He wears a mask and cape all the time, and pretends to be a superhero defending humanity. Ken isn’t really sure what to do about this, but he’s pretty sure that letting Lester hang out with Jimmy, who runs the local gas station, is a bad idea. Jimmy is also a comic book fan, and he plays along with Lester’s ideas. Together, they continue Lester’s comic book and build a fort to defend against aliens. Despite Ken’s concerns, Jimmy is able to make a connection with Lester and eventually help him return to the real world. There are two other volumes in this series, but they aren’t about Lester, Jimmy, and Ken. Where to Find ItYou can get it from the school library.
You can get it from the public library.
This list was last updated February 5, 2012 at 2:26 pm UTC. Click here to see newer information. June 29th, 2009
Tags: alex award winner, artists, family, friendship, superheroes, writers | Category: Comics, Graphic Novels, Slice of Life
| Write a comment | Yakitate!! Japanby Takashi Hashiguchi How can I describe Yakitate!! Japan? Take some kind of action manga like Dragonball Z or Naruto and replace all the fighting and martial arts and ninja stuff with baking. Or maybe it’s like an all-bread comedy version of Iron Chef, except where the main character is dumb. There’s action and difficult training and secret techniques and excessive drama, all focused around making bread products. There are actually a lot of manga like this in Japan, but they never seem to get translated into English. The basic plot of a lot of these manga, including Yakitate!! Japan, is that some extremely talented cook travels around and defeats many rivals in cooking contests. Yakitate!! Japan isn’t just about cooking, though. It’s also about comedy. Everything is just over the top – people often have out-of-body experiences after eating a particularly good pastry, for example, and the characters are all a little bit crazy. There are a lot of puns. Other times there will be a parody of some other manga. There is also crude humor from time to time, just so you know. The hero is Azuma, a sixteen-year-old who wants to invent the best bread in Japan. He calls this Ja-pan, which is a pun, since “pan” means “bread” in Japanese. He’s dumb as a post, but he’s a genius when it comes to bread. Kawachi is Azuma’s rival/sidekick. They meet when they both apply for the same job at the start of the series. Kawachi knows more than Azuma does about almost everything (he knows what a croissant is, for example), but he is nowhere near as good at actually doing the baking. Even though they work together, he would really like to beat Azuma one of these days. Tsukino is the manager of the store where they work. She is about Azuma’s age, but she has a talent for finding and hiring skilled people. She is actually fairly normal. Matsuhiro works at the same store. He’s big, loud, and fond of horses. Oh, and he has an afro. He might be the craziest of the bunch, but he is also very skilled. Where to Find ItYakitate!! Japan is not available in Contra Costa public libraries. You can request it through Link+. You get the book through your local library, so you will need to have a library card.
You might want to read the rules for borrowing books before you request anything. If you want to check
on the book or cancel your order, go here. June 21st, 2009
Tags: competition, cooking, funny, japan, japanese culture, shogakukan manga award winner | Category: Food, Graphic Novels, Humor, Manga
| One comment - Write a comment | Project X Challengers: Seven Elevenby Tadashi Ikuta and Naomi Kimura 7-Eleven started off in 1927 in Dallas, Texas. Now it is one of the largest chain stores in the world, with branches in eighteen countries. Did you know that the whole thing is owned by Seven & I Holdings Co., Ltd. in Japan? If you expect the story of 7-Eleven in Japan to be boring, think again. The people who do Project X are very good at putting together stories like this. They focus on the people involved, and they create a fairly good mixture of drama, facts, and occasionally comedy. Yeah, I laughed once or twice while reading this. I have a couple criticisms of this book and the whole series. First, the translation from Japanese isn’t great. It’s okay, but not perfect. Second, they focus a little too much on the drama and human interest and not enough on the story itself. Other than that, though, I’m pretty happy with it. Project X Challengers: Seven Eleven tells the story of the first 7-Eleven to open in Japan. 7-Eleven was not originally interested in expanding to Japan, and most people in Japan weren’t really interested in getting 7-Eleven to open stores there. A couple of Japanese executives had to work really hard to get their own company interested in talking to 7-Eleven. Then they had to work hard to get the American 7-Eleven interested in looking at Japan. Once both companies were talking, they had to find some place to open a store and make it popular. Fortunately for them, a young man who owned a liquor store volunteered to convert it into Japan’s first 7-Eleven. However, business was slow, and for a while, it looked like 7-Eleven would never work in Japan. Then it exploded, and now the Japanese branch is the most powerful. (Not to mention inventing “conbini,” Japanese convenience stores, which have practically become a way of life in Japan. Here’s a Washington Post article.) If you enjoy this, there are two others in the Project X Challengers series. One is about the first instant ramen, and the other is about the Datsun 240Z sports car. All three focus on the people and try to blend drama and humor in with history. Where to Find ItProject X Challengers: Seven Eleven is not available in Contra Costa public libraries. You can request it through Link+. You get the book through your local library, so you will need to have a library card.
You might want to read the rules for borrowing books before you request anything. If you want to check
on the book or cancel your order, go here. June 15th, 2009
Tags: business, japanese culture, real people | Category: Graphic Novels, Manga, Nonfiction
| Write a comment | Boneby Jeff Smith Bone begins with the three Bone brothers, Fone, Smiley, and Phoncible, lost in an uncharted desert. They are separated by a swarm of locusts (in a desert?) and each make their way to a lush but very strange valley full of talking animals, quirky people, and monsters. The cousins eventually meet up, but they discover that there are dark forces at work in the valley, and that these forces have taken an interest in the Bones. Fone seems to be a normal guy. He’s nice, but maybe a little bit naive. Smiley is easygoing, but he does love to play pranks. He also smokes and gambles and can be talked into doing things he probably shouldn’t do. Phoncible, also known as Phoney, is the real troublemaker. He’s greedy and dishonest, butt he doesn’t seem to be very good at being dishonest. He tries hard, though. The story is a good mix of serious and silly. I’ve only read the first volume, but I have heard that it gets a little more serious and eventually turns into an epic fantasy, which some people compare to Lord of the Rings. There are a couple different editions of Bone. Some are in color. Some are black and white. Usually there are nine volumes in the series, but there is also a 1,332-page single-volume edition. Where to Find ItYou can get them from the public library.
This list was last updated February 1, 2012 at 3:10 am UTC. Click here to see newer information. June 13th, 2009
Tags: eisner award winner, epic, funny, harvey award winner, surreal | Category: Fantasy, Graphic Novels
| Write a comment | Planetesby Makoto Yukimura A lot of people think this might be the best science fiction manga (and anime) ever–and even if you don’t like manga, but you’re interested in space exploration, or you liked Apollo 13, The Right Stuff, etc., you should find this somewhere. Planetes is an extremely well-drawn and well-told story about several different people who work in space; although the focus of the story changes in different volumes and chapters, the multicultural core characters are debris collectors who clean up the garbage that (even in our time) is cluttering up outer space. One of the characters has a tragic past. Another dreams of owning his own spaceship (almost to the extent of losing his own humanity). Another is trying to remind him that compassion and love can co-exist with ambition and survival in space. Another wants … actually, who knows what Fee wants, except to keep everyone else from screwing up or getting themselves killed or slacking off too much. The characters have to deal with the normal daily-life stuff of their personal demons, their relationships, and their jobs; their bigger goals; and the background problems of terrorism and corporate/governmental questionability as humanity expands toward Jupiter. This excellent series avoids the over-the-top silliness that can make you roll your eyes at some manga; the adventure is just grand enough and the touching moments are just pointed enough. You can finish the series in only 5 books (the last two are both labeled volume 4–part 1 and part 2), which is also nice. (Warning: volume 3 contains some nudity.) Where to Find ItPlanetes is not available in Contra Costa public libraries. You can request it through Link+. You get the book through your local library, so you will need to have a library card.
You might want to read the rules for borrowing books before you request anything. If you want to check
on the book or cancel your order, go here. June 13th, 2009
Tags: action, books with movies, exploration, family, friendship, psychological, Romance, seiun award winner, space, strong female characters | Category: Comics, Fiction, Graphic Novels, Manga, Science Fiction
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