How to Draw Kawaii Manga, Lost & Found, and Intercontinental Drifter

Yu, Mei. Lost & Found: Based on a True Story
April 2, 2024 by Union Square Kids
E ARC provided by Edelweiss Plus

In this graphic, semi-autobiographical memoir, we meet young Mei, whose family is moving from China to the US. She isn't happy with the move, but does her best preparing, even if it includes filling a suitcase with dumplings and soy sauce! She and her stuffed cat (who talks to her and interacts with her) instead pack clothes and are on their way. The trip is stressful, even though she can watch all of the movies she wants. When they arrive, Mei realizes that she doesn't understand what people are saying or what the signs say. This is illlustrated quite well  by having the words she does understand printed in green and the words she doesn't printed in black. The family has a new apartment (the pictures of which are very appealing; I sort of want to live in that building!), and Mei starts school. Of course, she understands very little, and the printed cards her father gives her with helpful phrases to show people don't help much when he didn't include a translation! Her teacher is helpful, but it's stressful being with other children who laugh at her in a mean way. To cope, Mei draws pictures in a notebook and puts the new English words next to them. This helps a little, but when her notebook is lost at school, she worries that the others will make fun of her. Luckily, her teacher and fellow students embrace Mei's way of learning, and work with her to investigate new words. There are notes at the end of the book about the author's experiences of moving to Canada when very young, as well as information about drawing and her artwork. 

Strengths: The method of showing the words Mei understands in a different cover is very helpful in understanding what it feels like to be in a place where the language is difficult to understand. Mei's story is told simply and effectively. It's also very cute, with her cat having a lot of fun hijinks. This would be a great book for elementary students who are meeting a classmate who is learning English. 
Weaknesses: I wish Mei had been portrayed as slightly older; this would have made it more appealing to my ELL readers who don't like to be seen reading books that seem young. The cover's anime style will help, and it will certainly be a big hit with readers who are themselves struggling with a new language. Also, I'm not a fan of the over-the-top emotions of Manga style illustrations; "puppy dog eyes" irritate me intensely for reasons I don't even understand. 
What I really think: This is a great choice for readers who enjoyed Castellanos' Isla to Island or Lai's Pie in the Sky. 
 

Misako. How to Draw Kawaii Manga Characters

April 2, 2024 by Walter Foster Jr.

E ARC provided by Edelweiss Plus

The author of the Manga flavored graphic novels Bounce Back and No Such Thing as Perfect gives tips on how to draw characters similar to hers. There are chapters on how to draw eyes (including all of the starry ones), face angles, hair, bodies, and hands. There are step-by-step instructions with a lot of good information about proportion. The facial expressions, complete with explanations of how to make angry eyebrows, are especially good, although I didn't try to do any drawings. There's a discussion of the difference between teen and tween bodies, and even how the wrong proportions can make a tween face look like a toddler one. There are some pages meant to be drawn on, but these are accompanied by a QR code where young artists can access the templates to print out. Most of the chapters concentrate on drawing girl characters; drawing boys is only addressed in the last chapter. This author also has How to Draw Manga Fashion being published as well. 

The pandemic led to a resurgence in interest in Manga at my school, and I have a lot of students who would love to try to replicate the drawing of the girl holding her cat. Right now, these are only available in paperback, which won't hold up well, but I'll see if Follett Content Solutions of Perma-Bound offers these in a prebind. Both volumes would make excellent gifts for young artists, accompanied by some of the kawaii drawing supplies described at the beginning of the book. And yes, I still have The Anime Companion: What's Japanese in Japanese Animation? by Gilles Poitras (November 1st 1998 by Stone Bridge Press) in my library! 

MacLeod, Kathy. Continental Drifter

April 2, 2024 by First Second

E ARC provided by Edelweiss Plus

In this graphic novel memoir, we get insights into the life of the author, who was born in 1984. Her parents were older; her mother, the founder of a chain of salons in Thailand, and her father, a retired military man from Maine. Both had children from other marriages. The family lives in Bangkok, where Kathy and her older sister Jennie attend an international school where many of the children are multiracial. Kathy sometimes doesn't feel that she is Thai enough because she doesn't speak the language well or like spicy food. She looks forward to the family trips to Maine. When she is middle school aged, not only does she get to go to Maine to spend time with family, but she gets to go to summer camp, which makes her think that she will finally get to experience US life the way she sees it on television shows. She loves seeing her father's family, and her aunts Barbie and Louise are talkative and fun, interacting with their families in a warm, casual way that the MacLeods don't interact in Thailand. Even though she feels out of place in Maine, worrying that people question where the family is from, she loves going to the mall and Old Country Buffet and hanging out with cousins. Camp is a little more stressful, because people assume she's from Taiwan instead of Thailand, and make fun of her for not knowing current talk show hosts and having paper underwear that her mother packs for emergency laundry situations. Kathy says "There will always be something not right about me," and gets only the most minimal support from her camp counselor, Bri. The family returns to Thailand even though they all seem happier in Maine; the author now lives in Germany. 

Strengths: I liked the illustration style of this, and the pale blue and white give way to the more vibrant blues and greens of Maine in an effective way. Kathy's unhappiness is so apparent. It's good to see that she does have a small outlet in diary keeping and drawing, and she doesn't have a bad relationship with her sister; it's just that she's five years olf and that's a lot during middle school. The family scenes are wonderful, and she does get to meet her 40-year-old half brother Scott for the first time. The family photos at the end of the book tie this up nicely. 
Weaknesses:This was sad in a way that makes me worry that the author is still not happy. I know this is based on real life experiences, but I wished that young Kathy had had more support than just one camp counselor. 
What I really think: This is a good choice for fans of Telgemeier's introspective graphic novels, Waka Brown's While I Was Away, or Matula's The Not-So-Perfect-Life of Holly Mei.