Author: Yuna Kagesaki
Title: Chibi Vampire Vol. 1
Publisher: TokyoPop
Publication Date: 2006
Age range: 13 - 17
Genre: Graphic Novel / Horror
Rating: 1 2 3 4 5
Plot summary: Karin Maaka is a high school student in Japan and trying to live as normal a life as possible – except that she's from a vampire family. The only one of her family who can stand to be outside during the day, Karin is considered pretty abnormal. Rather than wanting to take blood from humans, Karin has a disorder that increases the amount of her blood once a month – and if she doesn't give it to someone, she suffers terrible nose bleeds! When she does find someone to give her blood to, rather than being a victim, the human benefits from a temporary increase in energy and productivity. When a new student starts at Karin's school, she finds that her blood reacts to him, making her symptoms uncontrollable, and most of this book centers around their interactions, as both are utterly confounded by Karin's reaction to him. Eventually, with the help of her family, Karin starts to understand why she suffers this reaction and the type of human blood she is drawn to.
Comments: This book is pretty strange! The concept is interesting but the sparseness of the text makes it hard to follow conversations and reasoning. Karin's family members are all very sexy in the vampiric tradition – her parents are European (though Karin appears like a Japanese teenager), her brother is of the effeminate boy-band build the Japanese have popularized, and their youngest sister dresses like one of the Harajuku costumed teens who favor gothic lacy Victorian gowns. Karin is always tripping over things and almost blowing the Maaka family cover by revealing herself as a vampire, so at least readers will connect with her on the awkwardness level. This volume tells only half of an introductory story, leaving the reader hanging at the end, but the characters are not compelling enough for me to want to seek out the next book. It is interesting to see a Japanese take on the vampire story.
Dates Read: 16 – 17 February
Showing posts with label graphic novel. Show all posts
Showing posts with label graphic novel. Show all posts
Wednesday, February 18, 2009
Monday, February 9, 2009
Skim - Mariko Tamaki
Author: Mariko Tamaki
Illustrator: Jillian Tamaki
Title: Skim
Publisher: Groundwood
Publication Date: 2008
Age range: 13 - 18
Genre: Graphic Novel / Canadian Author
Rating: 1 2 3 4 5
Plot summary: Kim Cameron, aka Skim, is a slightly overweight teenager at an all-girls school with a best friend, Lisa, who she can barely stand, a strong curiosity about Wiccan traditions, and a freshly broken wrist. Tired of letting herself be pushed around by Lisa, Kim develops a friendship and then a bit of an obsession with the school art teacher, Ms Archer. Meanwhile, the suicide of a classmate's ex-boyfriend throws the whole school into a whirlwind of life-affirming activity, which Skim interprets as hypocritical and absurd. Constantly sneaking off into the woods for a smoke or taking the bus to drop off a sketch at Ms Archer's house, Skim is full of keen observations about the painful world she lives in, and her viewpoint is a stark one.
Comments: This graphic novel illustrates beautifully the awkwardness of trying to find one's place in the social hierarchy of high school. Parts of it are kept as a diary-format text, and in other cases Skim describes a memory as though she is writing a more general essay. Even when Skim tries to keep her head down she attracts the attention of the suspicious school counselor or her friend Lisa who is generally unsupportive, as well as defensive whenever Skim asks her to explain her statements or actions. The theme of suicide and the need for a support system comes across as the dominant theme in the story, while Skim's attachment to Ms Archer is downplayed as a subtheme. I wasn't completely sure if Skim is gay or not – she is too caught up in describing the activities of the clique of girls who take over fund-raising for local teen support services. Another subtheme is the treatment of Asians in the subculture of the school; Skim refers to herself as Asian without being more specific, which is interesting. All in all, this book was mildly disturbing, and definitely thought-provoking on several levels.
Date Read: 8 February 2009
Illustrator: Jillian Tamaki
Title: Skim
Publisher: Groundwood
Publication Date: 2008
Age range: 13 - 18
Genre: Graphic Novel / Canadian Author
Rating: 1 2 3 4 5
Plot summary: Kim Cameron, aka Skim, is a slightly overweight teenager at an all-girls school with a best friend, Lisa, who she can barely stand, a strong curiosity about Wiccan traditions, and a freshly broken wrist. Tired of letting herself be pushed around by Lisa, Kim develops a friendship and then a bit of an obsession with the school art teacher, Ms Archer. Meanwhile, the suicide of a classmate's ex-boyfriend throws the whole school into a whirlwind of life-affirming activity, which Skim interprets as hypocritical and absurd. Constantly sneaking off into the woods for a smoke or taking the bus to drop off a sketch at Ms Archer's house, Skim is full of keen observations about the painful world she lives in, and her viewpoint is a stark one.
Comments: This graphic novel illustrates beautifully the awkwardness of trying to find one's place in the social hierarchy of high school. Parts of it are kept as a diary-format text, and in other cases Skim describes a memory as though she is writing a more general essay. Even when Skim tries to keep her head down she attracts the attention of the suspicious school counselor or her friend Lisa who is generally unsupportive, as well as defensive whenever Skim asks her to explain her statements or actions. The theme of suicide and the need for a support system comes across as the dominant theme in the story, while Skim's attachment to Ms Archer is downplayed as a subtheme. I wasn't completely sure if Skim is gay or not – she is too caught up in describing the activities of the clique of girls who take over fund-raising for local teen support services. Another subtheme is the treatment of Asians in the subculture of the school; Skim refers to herself as Asian without being more specific, which is interesting. All in all, this book was mildly disturbing, and definitely thought-provoking on several levels.
Date Read: 8 February 2009
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