Tokyo Heist

Renn, Diana. Tokyo Heist. 
14 June 2012, Penguin Young Readers
Also reviewed at Young Adult Books Central

Violet loves reading and drawing manga, and is not happy that her mother is going away for the summer and dumping her on her father, whom she does not know well. When she finds that her father will be spending the summer in Japan working on a mural for the Yamada's corporation, she feels a little better, especially since her friend Reika is there for the summer as well. Things become complicated when the Yamadas have some sketches supposedly done by Van Gogh stolen from them, and are under pressure to find a painting that once accompanied them. The painting has not been seen since 1987, when the brother of Mr. Yamada bought the works and shortly thereafter committed suicide. There is a yakuza, or mafia, link to these pieces of art, and Violet is convinced that her father is in danger. Can she and Reika find the pieces and art and keep everyone safe? Like Violet's own manga character, Kimono Girl, they probably can, but not until after a lot of adventure in Japan.
Strengths: Very good use of setting and culture in the mystery. There are a lot of students interested in manga, and this would certainly appeal to them. Anyone who liked Carter's Heist Society of Runholdt's Mystery of the Third Lucretia will love this one.
Weaknesses: Violet didn't gel as much as a character for me. Perhaps there was just so much going on?

Meltdown!

Bortz, Alfred B. Meltdown: The Nuclear Disaster in Japan and Our Energy Future.

The Great Tohuku Earthquake occurred a year ago today. It led to a tsunami that devastated Japan, and also to considerable damage at the Fukushima Daiichi plant. This damage resulted in radiation leaks that caused huge areas to be evacuated. This book does a great job at covering the events that occurred, what the result of those events were, and how the failure of this plant to withstand a natural disaster has implications on the types of energy that we use. There is a chapter that covers failures at other energy plants, notably Three Mile Island and Chernobyl. Plentiful illustrations, maps and sidebars make this an especially valuable addition to a nonfiction collection.