This book is fabulous!! For me, it seemed to bridge two worlds- my world and the anime girl's world. I personally have nothing against anime- my sister loves it, but I have never gotten into it. However, as a teacher, it's important for me to understand and embrace all kinds of literacy, so I do try to read a wide variety of YA books. This book is about a girl who dresses in black and loves manga and has moved to a new school because of her parents' divorce. She starts playing a... I know I will butcher this, and my friends will laugh at me if they find out... MMO RPG (massively multiplayer online role playing game) and meets a boy online. I've always been curious about these games, and one day when I have time, maybe a broken leg haha, I will definitely see about getting involved.
Anyways. This book catalogues Maddy's struggle with bullies and divorce, and we get to follow along as she develops her power as a girl and stands up for herself. Maddy is a likeable character and very relatable. At times she deals with problems in a healthy way, and other times, not so much. I love it when characters aren't perfect- it is good to see someone make a mistake, deal with it, and move on. I wish that some more drawings were included with the book, to further introduce people like me to the world of manga. I am so excited to read a book that I can recommend to my sister (13!) without worrying about the message it sends to girls or if she can relate to it.
And now I might actually read a graphic novel... any suggestions on what to start with?
Grab this book from your local library and read it! It's short, fun, and relaxing, with a great ending. 5 stars!!
The author, Mari Mancusi, has also written some vampire books- has anyone read those? How are they?
