The Phantom Tollboothby Norton Juster The Phantom Tollbooth is a modern fairy tale. It tells the story of Milo, a boy who travels through the strange places of the Kingdom of Wisdom and meets the even stranger people who live there. It’s absurd, funny, serious, and thoughtful, all at the same time. You can look it up on Wikipedia. [starratingmulti id=”1″] Where to Find It[librarylist] Body Type: Intimate Messages Etched in Fleshby Ina Saltz Body Type explores and celebrates tattoos of one specific thing: words. The author includes a lot of pictures, as well as comments on the designs of the letters and some of the stories behind these tattoos. You can see some of the pictures at the author’s website. [starratingmulti id=”1″] Where to Find It[librarylist] [linkplus name=”Body Type” url=”http://csul.iii.com/record=b23314139~S0″ cchasone=true] Bleachby Kubo Tite Bleach is a series about high school students who can see spirits. One day the main character, Ichigo, encounters a soul reaper (kind of like a grim reaper, but younger) who is responsible for dealing with troubled spirits. The soul reaper is injured in a fight with a dangerous spirit and temporarily gives Ichigo her powers. After defeating the spirit, Ichigo finds that he cannot give the power back. Instead, he has to become a part-time soul reaper. You can look it up on Wikipedia. [starratingmulti id=”1″] Where to Find It[librarylist] The [library id=richmond] public library has some volumes, but I don’t think they have volume 1 yet. June 10th, 2009  Tags: afterlife, books with movies, school, supernatural |  Category: Contemporary Fantasy, Fantasy, Graphic Novels, Manga
|  Write a comment | It’s Happy Bunny: Life. Get One: And other words of wisdom and junk that will make you wise or somethingby Jim Benton It’s Happy Bunny is a series of cartoons featuring (you guessed it) a happy bunny. The interesting thing here is that the happy bunny is a huge jerk who says cute things like “You suck and that’s sad.” You’ve probably seen the bunny on shirts or keychains, but now you can overdose on images of a cute cartoon animal saying mean things. There are several books in this series. [starratingmulti id=”1″] Where to Find It[librarylist] Blue Bloodsby Melissa de la Cruz Blue Bloods focuses on six young vampires in a private New York high school. They’re thin, wealthy, almost immortal, and obsessed with high fashion. However, someone is trying to kill them. [starratingmulti id=”1″] Where to Find It[librarylist] June 10th, 2009 Tags: fashion, Romance, school, teen, vampires | Category: Contemporary Fantasy, Fantasy
| Write a comment | From Pieces to Weight: Once Upon a Time in Southside Queensby 50 Cent and Kris Ex This is one of 50 Cent’s autobiographies. He grew up in a rough part of Queens and started selling drugs before he was a teenager, but his life changed dramatically after he met Jam Master Jay. You can read some of it online at Google Books. [starratingmulti id=”1″] Where to Find It[librarylist] June 10th, 2009 Tags: african-american, celebrities, crime, drugs, music, real people | Category: Biography
| Write a comment | Love Songby Keiko Nishi An anthology of four short stories by amazing artist/writer Nishi: a story about abusive love, an Edgar Alan Poe-like horror piece, a portrait of a far-future Chinese dumpling maker who dreams of Earth, and a bullied boy who develops astonishing healing powers, becomes a celebrity, and must deal with the consequences. Touching, shocking, and memorable. [starratingmulti id=”1″] Where to Find It[librarylist] June 10th, 2009 Tags: abuse, bullying, celebrity, collections | Category: Contemporary Fantasy, Fantasy, Graphic Novels, Horror, Manga, Science Fiction, Slice of Life
| Write a comment | Shrine of the Morning Mistby Hiroki Ugawa This often comedic series, about schoolgirls who serve as shrine maidens and fight evil monsters, gently spoofs other series such as “Sailor Moon.” Several sisters and their school friends use divine magic to protect their shrine, their town, and a distant cousin who has the ability to see the other world. In the meantime, of course, their school gets smashed up by giant monsters and wacky hijinks ensue. [starratingmulti id=”1″] Where to Find ItYou’re going to have to check a bookstore for this one. Sorry about that. [librarydate] June 10th, 2009 Tags: books with movies, family, friendship, funny, japanese culture, monsters, school, strong female characters | Category: Contemporary Fantasy, Fantasy, Graphic Novels, Manga
| Write a comment | Tarot Caféby Sang-sun Park Originating in Korea, this lavishly-drawn gothic fantasy series tells both the overall story of an mysterious tarot-card reader and self-contained mini-stories about the mysterious creatures whose fortunes she reads. Her clients include demons, werewolves, vampires, dragons, and even cats. [starratingmulti id=”1″] Where to Find It[linkplus name=”Tarot Cafe” url=”http://csul.iii.com/search/X?SEARCH=t:(tarot%20cafe)&SORT=DX&l=eng” series=true] June 10th, 2009 Tags: gothic | Category: Contemporary Fantasy, Fantasy, Graphic Novels, Manhwa
| Write a comment | Train Man: A Shojo Mangaby Machiko Ocha This single-volume manga is a love story from the point of view of a male geek, who steps in when a drunk man harasses a beautiful woman on a train. She sends the geek a thank-you gift, and he consults other anonymous users on Japan’s hugely popular web-based forum, 2channel, for advice on what to do next. He feels totally outclassed by her, due to his extreme nerdiness, but he also can’t throw away his chance to contact her again. The other anonymous users, made up of various people around Japan, try to help him make up for his lack of social skills, dating experience, etc., giving him the nickname of “Train Man.” The story is based on events that unfolded on the actual 2channel, and despite probably being a publicity stunt, the compelling story (and its lack of copyright) has resulted in several manga, a play, a movie, and a TV series from various sources. This manga is very well translated, especially considering the complications of Japanese internet slang, etc. It’s funny and touching, and one of those rare romances that’s great for people who like love stories and people who hate love stories. You can read the first 30 pages online at the publisher’s website. [starratingmulti id=”1″] Where to Find It[librarylist] [linkplus name=”Train Man: A Shojo Manga” url=”http://csul.iii.com/record=b23934960~S0″ cchasone=”true”] June 10th, 2009 Tags: books with movies, geeks, japanese culture | Category: Graphic Novels, Manga, Romance
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