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YA Reads & 1 Manga Revisited
Saturday, June 25th, 2011 04:34 pmEvery year around June or so, I go through an intense craving for good YA reads. I attribute this to the sensation of school ending, and over the summer when I was not at camp, my Mom would take my sister and I to the library once a week or so, with the expectation of us borrowing enough books to entertain ourselves reasonable amounts of time. This was especially true of our vacations spent on Cape Cod. Ironically enough, those times and the days when I was home sick from school were the times when I read the most--whole books in one sitting, classics that no one really reads anymore (The Water Babies, by Charles Kingsley, threw me for a real loop, as did the original Peter and Wendy by J.M. Barrie). In any case, I've had the privilege to read some excellent YA books recently, and a chance to revisit a classic from my own past! Huzzah for the summer reading urge.
In Books:
Gilda Joyce: The Ladies of the Lake, by Jennifer Allison: This second book in the Gilda Joyce, Psychic Investigator series, was simply wonderful. I love so many things about it: the fact that Gilda might actually be psychic, or just very observant, but the author leaves it up to the reader to decide which it truly is; the complicated plot that has several very unexpected twists and turns (and returns); and that Gilda is unapologetically herself--when she doesn't fit in at school, she doesn't weep and whine about not being popular, she decides to use the outsider role to her advantage in her investigation. I also enjoyed that all the characters were layered--Gilda's Mom's new boyfriend, for example, turns out not to be the annoying monster she supposes him to be, and she realizes that they have something in common. But this isn't told in a hackneyed, "oh look, the character *learned* something!" way that a lot of YA resorts to; it's natural and well-told within the confines of the story. The old storytelling standbys of the first book (Gilda's typewritten letters to her dead father, Wendy Choy's sarcastic sidekick-ness) are in good attendance, too. This one was so enjoyable that I may just have to head over to the library to borrow the next installment.
In Comics:
Anya's Ghost, words and pictures by Vera Brosgol: This, too, was an excellent story, and one that might actually cross over in fairly neat fashion with Gilda Joyce and her adventures. (Although the strong personalities of the two lead characters would invariably lead to conflict.) AG is the story of Anya Borzakovskaya, a Russian girl who's lived in the U.S. long enough to "pass" as an American girl for some time, with the exception of her difficult last name. However, the effort to blend in is exhausting, and one day as Anya walks through the park, distracted by thoughts of her family, thwarted crush object, and general troubles, she falls into an unmarked well, where she meets a ghost girl, Emily. The story unfolds from there, at first a teenage coming-of-age story, and then a horror novel as the origins of the ghost and the consequences of bringing her to the surface become clearer. The artwork that accompanies the story is deceptively simple, but works well with the themes. (I'm a sucker for black/white/grey storytelling, and this is some of the best I've seen since Hope Larson's gorgeous artwork.) A slow burn on the creep factor, and well written all around. I want to find a teenage girl to give this to.
Manga, Revisited:
X/1999, by CLAMP: In preparation for my talk to the Japan Society about manga and anime, I've been rereading parts of this in order to find images that illustrate some of my talking points. And I had forgotten just how violent the whole thing was: there are spare body parts in almost every chapter, enough to keep to keep any '80s splatter horror fan happy. But the thing that keeps striking me as I look over the images again, is how completely beautiful they are. Gory they may be, but damned if it's not the most beautiful gore I've ever seen. CLAMP sure knows how to lay out a page, and I'm stunned with almost every page turn at how skillfully and effectively they tell a story. (Even one with so many dismembered bodies.)
In Books:
Gilda Joyce: The Ladies of the Lake, by Jennifer Allison: This second book in the Gilda Joyce, Psychic Investigator series, was simply wonderful. I love so many things about it: the fact that Gilda might actually be psychic, or just very observant, but the author leaves it up to the reader to decide which it truly is; the complicated plot that has several very unexpected twists and turns (and returns); and that Gilda is unapologetically herself--when she doesn't fit in at school, she doesn't weep and whine about not being popular, she decides to use the outsider role to her advantage in her investigation. I also enjoyed that all the characters were layered--Gilda's Mom's new boyfriend, for example, turns out not to be the annoying monster she supposes him to be, and she realizes that they have something in common. But this isn't told in a hackneyed, "oh look, the character *learned* something!" way that a lot of YA resorts to; it's natural and well-told within the confines of the story. The old storytelling standbys of the first book (Gilda's typewritten letters to her dead father, Wendy Choy's sarcastic sidekick-ness) are in good attendance, too. This one was so enjoyable that I may just have to head over to the library to borrow the next installment.
In Comics:
Anya's Ghost, words and pictures by Vera Brosgol: This, too, was an excellent story, and one that might actually cross over in fairly neat fashion with Gilda Joyce and her adventures. (Although the strong personalities of the two lead characters would invariably lead to conflict.) AG is the story of Anya Borzakovskaya, a Russian girl who's lived in the U.S. long enough to "pass" as an American girl for some time, with the exception of her difficult last name. However, the effort to blend in is exhausting, and one day as Anya walks through the park, distracted by thoughts of her family, thwarted crush object, and general troubles, she falls into an unmarked well, where she meets a ghost girl, Emily. The story unfolds from there, at first a teenage coming-of-age story, and then a horror novel as the origins of the ghost and the consequences of bringing her to the surface become clearer. The artwork that accompanies the story is deceptively simple, but works well with the themes. (I'm a sucker for black/white/grey storytelling, and this is some of the best I've seen since Hope Larson's gorgeous artwork.) A slow burn on the creep factor, and well written all around. I want to find a teenage girl to give this to.
Manga, Revisited:
X/1999, by CLAMP: In preparation for my talk to the Japan Society about manga and anime, I've been rereading parts of this in order to find images that illustrate some of my talking points. And I had forgotten just how violent the whole thing was: there are spare body parts in almost every chapter, enough to keep to keep any '80s splatter horror fan happy. But the thing that keeps striking me as I look over the images again, is how completely beautiful they are. Gory they may be, but damned if it's not the most beautiful gore I've ever seen. CLAMP sure knows how to lay out a page, and I'm stunned with almost every page turn at how skillfully and effectively they tell a story. (Even one with so many dismembered bodies.)
