November 16th 2021 by Feiwel Friends
E ARC provided by Edelweiss Plus
Misako plays basketball with her good friends, but when her family moves from Japan to New York City, she misses being on the team. Her parents are excited to go to a new city, but they are soon busy with their own adjustments. At her private school, Misako runs afoul of the captain of the basketball team, Emma, and doesn't want to stand up to her and get on the team. She does manage to make two friends, Nala and Henry. Nala is interested in Japanese culture, especially Harajuku fashion-- she has a huge collection of wigs and a lot of kawaii clothing. Emma is mean to her as well. When Emma thaws a bit towards her and may let her on the team, Misako distances herself from Nala and even goes shopping with the basketball girls on Nala's birthday. Nicco, Misako's cat, starts to talk to her, saying that he is her spirit guide, and tries to guide her through these difficulties at school. Misako also befriends the captain of the boys' basketball team (whose name I can't remember and couldn't find in the E ARC), and the two start a tentative romance. Once Misako gets on the team, she has to juggle working towards the championship with her new romance and her friendship with Nala.
Stengths: I appreciated the fact that while Misako wasn't thrilled about moving, but was open to trying to enjoy her new life. There's plenty of friend drama, boy drama, and cat drama for young readers who enjoy that sort of thing more than those of us who are old and wizened. The illustrations are bright and colorful and very anime like. I'm not buying any manga series, but will get this in a prebind.
Weaknesses: So. Much. Drama. It went on a bit too much for my liking, and there were lots of tears and rehashing of wrongs done. Young readers will love this, but it made the book seem very long to me.
What I really think: This wasn't my favorite (the sparkling eyes, the emotional extremes, the constant changing of Nala's wigs, the talking cat), but my students will love this. For some reason, manga and very strange fashions became the in thing over the summer, so this will never make it back to the shelves before getting checked out again.
Weaknesses: So. Much. Drama. It went on a bit too much for my liking, and there were lots of tears and rehashing of wrongs done. Young readers will love this, but it made the book seem very long to me.
What I really think: This wasn't my favorite (the sparkling eyes, the emotional extremes, the constant changing of Nala's wigs, the talking cat), but my students will love this. For some reason, manga and very strange fashions became the in thing over the summer, so this will never make it back to the shelves before getting checked out again.
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