Library Wars (manga) vol. 1-2

I've been reading a lot of manga lately because that is what the kids at my library are reading. How can I resist a manga about library employees fighting censorship?

Book: Library Wars: Love and War (volumes 1 and 2) by Kiiro Yumi and Hiro Arikawa
Vital Stats: Volumes 1 and 2 were published in June and September 2010 respectively with volume 3 due out in December 2010. All are around 200 pages in length, published by Viz.
Age Appropriateness: Rated by Viz as T+: For Older Teens
The Quick and the Short of It: Recommended with reservations

Book Synopsis:
In an alternate Japan, censorship is legal under the Media Betterment Act. In response libraries have militarized and formed the Library Defense Fore. (Side note, my library would be one thousand times more awesome if we had our own army.) After a childhood encounter where a member of the LDF saves her book, Iku is determined to join their ranks. She enrolls in librarian training and is the first female recruited into the defense force. There she has numerous run-ins with one of her instructors (Dojo) and a fellow recruit named Tezuka. She learns to work with them as they form a unit for both training and some real world missions. Of course there are the beginnings of some possible romantic intrigues (as you would expect in a book subtitled Love and Wars).

My Take:
I like Iku as a main character, she's a strong girl who cares about more than boys. (That's not as common as it should be in manga.) In fact when a guy expresses interest in her, she is very surprised and confused. She's more athletic than smart, but works hard to overcome it (once she realizes it is a problem). The series is simplistic in plot, a bit predictable, and I would have loved it when I was 12 that is f I had known what manga was when I was 12. It's going to appeal more to teens than adults, but it's going to appeal to people. It's fun, mostly lighthearted, and enjoyable.

Possible Issues/Christian Connection:
The T+ (or OT) rating for older teens can cover a variety of issues. So far, only through volume 2, I've not seen anything too egregious. There was one locker room/shower scene with some minor nudity (backs mostly). I'm worried that we might see more "fan service" wherein a manga creator (or manga-ka) includes nudity solely to make her fans happy. This could include two characters having a conversation in a shower/locker room that could easily happen in a cafeteria. No romantic relationships have formed yet (just hints and one date asked for) so I don't know how graphic or intimate those will get. And of course there is violence (the wars half of Love and Wars). They literally battle (guns, camo, the whole nine yards) over books. But the violence is sparse and not too graphic. I can recommend this to Christian teens with the caveat that I do not know what will develop in later volumes.

He holds victory in store for the upright,
he is a shield to those whose walk is blameless,
for he guards the course of the just
and protects the way of his faithful ones. -Proverbs 2:7-8

Hunger Games trilogy

The latest blockbuster books (and perhaps soon to be a movie) in the teen lit world are the Hunger Games trilogy by Suzanne Collins. It's gotten so big that the purveyor of teen pop culture, Hot Topic, is now carrying a line of merchandising related to the books. (And yes I dragged my bemused friends in with me so I could purchase my "District 12 Tribute" t-shirt.) I loved Collins' previous juvenile (5th to 7th grade) work, The Underland Chronicles (first book: Gregor the Overlander) and she has far surpassed herself with this trilogy. However, it is not for the faint of heart, or the younger teens, and I'll explain that as well.

Book: Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins
Book one: Hunger Games published by Scholastic in 2008, 324 pages
Book two: Catching Fire pub 2009, 391 pages
Book three: Mockingjay pub 2010, 391 pages
Marketed Towards: Teens
The Quick and the Short of it: Recommended for older, mature teens with reservations for violence

Book Synopsis
In a future world, after the collapse of our own society, there are 12 districts ruled brutally by the Capitol. Katniss Everdeen lives in a coal mining district where she and her family barely stave off starvation through illegal hunting. All of the districts' citizens find themselves near starvation and dependant upon the Capitol. To reinforce their superiority, control, and to punish the districts for an uprising generations before, every district must send two teenage "tributes" to the annual hunger games. The 24 tributes compete to the death in a brutal arena while the districts are forced to watch their children kill each other. When Katniss' younger sister is chosen as a tribute, Katniss volunteers to take her place. What happens in the arena that year will change their society and start a revolution, but all Katniss wants to do is survive to protect her family. The second and third books follow the continuing revolution and struggle.

My Take
LOVE these books! I read the first one immediately and was twitching with anticipation before each of the sequels came out. As I said before, I even braved Hot Topic for the first time since my own teenage years to procure a t-shirt. Collins' writing is brilliant and the books draw you in. I know almost as many adults reading these books as teens. They've started many an in-depth conversation and debate. I even picked up the paperback for the first one and I'm very selective as to which books I buy due to both space and monetary limitations. That is not to say however that they are right for every teen, every family, or every Christian.

Possible Issues/Christian Connection
If you couldn't divine this on your own, there is a lot of violence in these books, a lot. Obviously the premise is a group of teenagers forced to fight to the death and then a revolution, a bloody violent civil war. However, the violence is presented in a reflective way and this book can spurn good discussion. Violence is clearly condemned, but shown to have it's place; yet it is still a very violent book.

On the other side, Katniss does develop relationships with two different young men who vie for her attention. Given the extreme situations and responsibilities they face, it hardly seems fair to refer to these teens as children. She is never shown or described as having sex with either of them, but a pregnancy is faked. After a number of extreme experiences, she deals with her PTSD by sleeping (merely sleeping) in the same bed and in the arms of one of the young men. The ramifications of her doing this and the emotional intimacy she is creating between the two of them is something she eventually has to consider. It might be an interesting discussion starter as to how pre-marital emotional intimacy can be as dangerous as pre-marital physical intimacy. Is that a fair thing for either person to rely that much upon another? What type of burden or relationship does that create?

So to recap - extreme violence and some intimacy, but still a great book, very thought provoking. I would recommend it for a mature older teen reader, but only you know your child and your family. It might be a great parent-teen read together and discuss.

When you go to war against your enemies and see horses and chariots and an army greater than yours, do not be afraid of them, because the LORD your God, who brought you up out of Egypt, will be with you. - Deuteronomy 20:1

The Prince of Mist

At the risk of sounding like a literary snob, I love reading Spanish Magical Realism. If you're unfamiliar with that genre, it is a mix of reality and fantastical elements by Spanish (or Mexican) authors. Great examples includes authors such as Gabriel García Márquez and Laura Esquivel and books such 100 Years of Solitude and Like Water For Chocolate (my personal favorite). Last year when a coworker introduced me to a new author from Barcelona, I immediately devoured the two adult works of Carlos Ruiz Zafón that had been translated (The Shadow of the Wind and it's companion The Angel's Game). Those are amazing books, some of the best I've read in years, but definitely adult books. I do not recommend them to kids or teens. That why I was so excited (thrilled, over the moon, doing a happy dance) to get a copy of his first (translated) book for teens.

Book: The Prince of Mist by Carlos Ruiz Zafon, translated by Lucia Graves
Vital Stats: Published in May 2010 by Little, Brown and Company, 200 pages
Marketed Toward: Teens
The Quick and the Short of It: Recommended, with a few reservations, for teens 14+

Book Synopsis
It's 1943 and the war is pressing in on daily life in Spain. On his 13th birthday, Max's father announces he is moving the family away from the city to a coastal town to escape the war. There his father opens up a watchmaker's shop and they move into a beach home abandoned after tragedy struck and the son of the previous owners drowned. That was not the only tragedy to strike this small community: years before a ship had sunk leaving only one survivor. Said survivor built the town's lighthouse and took in his orphaned grandson to raise. Max and his older sister become friends with the grandson, Roland, and together discover a mystery surrounding the drowned ship, the lighthouse keeper, a garden of creepy statues, and the previous occupants of the house. It's primarily a ghost story, with a bit about a deal with a devil thrown in, and of course a sense of magic.

My Take
I am not a person who enjoys being scared for the sake of being scared, but I loved this. The intertwining of the real and the not-quite-real is brilliant. It's not as fluid and poetic as Zaf´o;n's adult works, but it is much shorter and a quicker read. The story is less complex and fleshed out, but has the same interweaving of characters and places that make Zaf%acuteo;n's works so spine-tingling. Anyone who likes a creepy read, or beautiful writing, will find something to like here. However, I do have a couple of reservations, as always, read on.

Possible Issues
The first line of the book sets the stage: Max would never forget that faraway summer when, almost by chance, he discovered magic. So yes, this book includes magic. Choose for yourself how you feel about that. No main (or likeable) character practices magic, magic is shown as an evil force, and a consequence is always paid for practicing magic. The titular "Prince of Mist" is an evil-magician who grants wishes for people for a terrible price. (There's a nice object lesson about making a deal with the devil.) I do not feel that the presence of the supernatural element in this book should automatically preclude it from being enjoyed by an older Christian teen. Parents should also be aware that in the developing intimacy between Max's older sister, Alicia, and Roland, there is some physical intimacy. Max observes the two kissing and rolling around in the sand on the beach. Alicia also removes her dress before going swimming with Roland. Nothing is ever graphically described and at no point do they explain to exactly what level the intimacy between Roland and Alicia progresses.

"Therefore this is what the Sovereign LORD says: I am against your magic charms with which you ensnare people like birds and I will tear them from your arms; I will set free the people that you ensnare like birds. I will tear off your veils and save my people from your hands, and they will no longer fall prey to your power. Then you will know that I am the LORD." -Ezekiel 13:20-21

Going Bovine

When this book won the Printz Award (like the Newbery but for Young Adult award, the highest one the American Library Association gives for teen literature), I was sitting behind the author's husband. He was so excited, and called his wife. Very sweet. Thus I was excited to go home and read this book.

Book: Going Bovine by Libba Bray

Vital Stats: Published in 2009 by Delacorte Press, 480 pages
Awards: Printz Award
Marketed Toward: Teens (probably 14+)
The Quick and the Short of It: I wish I could recommend this, but I really can't. It's brilliantly written and engaging, but there are just too many issues.

Book Synopsis
Underachieving 16 year-old Cameron is skating through school, a minimum wage job flipping burgers, and spending a lot of time smoking marijuana. He has distant parents, an overachieving sister, and few friends. Then he starts hallucinating. At first he and everyone else assume it is drug related. However it is soon revealed to be mad cow disease. As he lays dying in a hospital room, he gets a classmate for a roommate, a little person (what used to be called dwarf or midget) named Gonzo. Cameron is recruited by a punk rock angel named Dulcie to save the world and in doing so perhaps himself. Enlisting Gonzo as a sidekick, they set off on a cross country road trip where they join spring break parties, Mardi Gras, cults, fight fire monsters, do more drugs, add a talking gnome who claims to be a viking god to their merry band, and in general have incredible assorted adventures.

My Take
As I said in the intro, this is a extremely well written book. My coworkers all loved it. It was engaging (though I did feel it went on a little bit too long, I had to force myself through the last 70 pages), original, funny, and touching. If you asked me to name four other books like it, I'd be hard pressed to name even two. The Printz Award is supposed to go for excellence and this is excellence by worldly standards. And unlike other award winners, it will appeal to the target audience. It's a good, possibly brilliant, book and I wish I could recommend it.

Possible Issues/Christian Connection
I should have kept a list as I was going because I'm going to miss some issues. We'll start with the drug use, specifically marijuana. This is the third teen book I've read in a row where marijuana use is treated very casually. Did I miss the part where it was legalized? Talking with a coworker, she didn't think it "was that big of a deal". But to me it is still a big deal and the increasingly casual way our society treats marijuana use signals a change in attitude. There is legislation to legalize marijuana in California as I write this, but for now the practice is being normalized in literature.

Cameron also graphically lusts after one of his classmates; there are other sexual activities described and speculated upon, underage drinking, etc. Some questionable language as well. It might be a fairly graphic and accurate look at the world of many teenage books. The question is if you want to read a book that reflects life as many teens live it in the world, or if you want to aim for something higher. There is an argument to be made about knowing enough of popular culture to communicate with the rest of the world, but we also have a responsibility to focus on that which is higher. It might help to reach the right kid in the right situation, but it would have to be done very carefully. And there are quite a few theological issues dealing with the portrayal of angels and the end of the life and afterlife. That is to be expected in a non-Christian book.

Therefore it is necessary to submit to the authorities, not only because of possible punishment but also because of conscience. -Romans 13:5

House Of Night Series

Unless you've been living in cave for the last few years, you're aware that vampires are the thing in teen literature. Enough has been said about The Twilight Series by Stephenie Meyer that there really isn't much for me to add (though yes I do have opinions, I always have opinions, this is why I write a blog). Teen girls have gone absolutely mad about vampire books; it's my single most requested thing in that age group. One other popular series that I get a ton of requests for is the House Of Night series by P.C. and Kirsten Cast. I've read and will review the first two books in this series. These books, written by a mother/daughter team from Oklahoma, seem to be marketed toward teens and young adults. My library has them in the adult section, but other libraries put them in the teen section, and they seem to primarily read by teens. My quick informal survey of other library catalogs seems that half of the libraries put them in adult and the other half in the teen section. For the record, the book spells vampire as "vampyre", but I find that to be an obnoxious pretense (much like "ye olde shoppe") and refuse to humor them, so I will be spelling it more conventionally. Also, as I review this I'm going to mention many issues that should make it a no-read for Christians, but I'm not even addressing the vampire part.

Book: Marked and Betrayed by P.C. Cast and Kirsten Cast (House Of Night series)

Awards: American Library Association Notable Children's Books (at least one volume)
Vital Stats: around 300 pages per volume, 6 books out with the 7th to be released in April 2010, St. Martin's Press
Marketed Toward: Teens and Young Adults
The Quick and Short of It: I do not recommend this book for any Christian person of any age. (So if you want, you can stop reading the review now, or I'll try to briefly explain.)

Book Synopsis:
In the first volume (Marked), Zoey a "normal" teenager is marked by the vampires. For unknown reasons as some teens go through puberty their body goes through a change. If they reject the change, they die; their only hope is to go to the house of night wherein they will turn into full fledged adult vampires. The process takes years and they spend the time in "vampire finishing school" learning about their new life. So Zoey is marked, and while this is life changing, it also offers her an escape from a home life that she feels is unbearable. Before getting to the house of night, she seeks out her Cherokee Indian grandmother, encounters Cherokee spirits and has a vision of the goddess that created the vampires. This causes her mark to fill in, making her super special. At the school, she makes friends, attempts to settle in to her new life, but encounters vampire politics, runs up against the leader of the vampire girls, etc. Fortunately she has all sort of special powers due to her filled in mark and connection to the goddess and is able to take control of the student group. In subsequent books she faces more adversaries among the vampires and from outside society, discovers more powers, has relationships with various boys, so on and so forth.

My Take:
Before I get into the very obvious Christian issues, let me address the literary merit. It's light fluff and we shouldn't read too much into it. However the Casts do fall into a common trap for young adult literature. Zoey is perfect. She has powers that have never before been seen in any vampire, she's the most powerful vampire every in history, she can do anything, she's amazing. Ugh. (For other examples of this trope see Clan of the Cave Bear (series) by Jean Auel.) Authors shouldn't fall in love with their own character. A perfect character is not a relate-able character. Other than that (majorly annoying in my opinion) flaw, this is no better nor worse than any other escapism teen lit.

Possible Issues of Concern/Christian Connection:
I'm guessing you got a lot of these issues already, but here we go. A brief list of the simple to explain: homosexuality (one of her vampire friends, a very major concern, it's definitely approved of and treated as normal and yes in later book he's in a relationship), underage drinking (which Zoey disapproves of, kinda), marijuana use, and sexual activities (in the first book she witnesses and describes fairly graphically sexual activities between others, in later volumes she begins to participate). There is the casting of circles and calling of the elements and the spirits in rituals that have been lifted word-for-word from new age and pagan websites (see plagiarism accusations here). She contacts the goddess, the goddess speaks to her in a quiet voice only she can here. I could go on, but you get the idea. In later books as she bounces between her human boyfriend and a vampire boy, she also develops an extremely inappropriate relationship with an adult male vampire. I rather just wanted to slap her and explain that no good comes from an adult man being interested in a teen girl.

Perhaps to me the most offensive was the portrayal of the step-father. He is a leader in the "People of Faith" community and is portrayed as overbearing and insufferable. Her mother is in what the writers probably think of as an example of a submissive marriage, but it bears no similarities to the Biblical submissive marriages I have seen. The mother is devoid of any freewill, only nodding mutely at whatever her husband says. This change since her second marriage is what most tears Zoey apart from her family. Over and over again people of faith (no they never say Christian) are shown as villians and a submissive marriage is shown as a trap and completely oppressive. But hey, they don't curse! No bad words! Or I was just so overwhelmed by all of this other stuff that I let the cursing slip on by.

Confession, I read the first two books in full and summaries of the rest of them. I feel that was enough to make a judgment (and I couldn't handle reading anymore), but I had to be honest about it. In case you didn't get my point, I am not recommending this book for ANYONE to read. I only went on for as long as I did to justify it, to give you reasons why you shouldn't read it as a Christian.

"Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will. -Romans 12:2