Skip Loafer Volume 1 by Misaki Takamatsu. Translation by Nicole Frasik. Seven Seas, 2021. 9781648275883. Publisher’s Rating: Teen (13+) Whenever I visit Austin, TX, I visit Book People to read their shelf talkers and to buy a great book I’ve never heard of before. This was my pick this year. (And believe me it takes a lot to get me to pick up a teen romance manga. Stop by and see the shelf talker if you aren’t moved by my pitch for the book — it’s on a table on the first floor across from the science fiction and fantasy, if I’m remembering correctly.) Iwakaru Mitsuki is fifteen, and she just moved to Tokyo from a tiny town in Ishikawa to attend high school. She’s going to live with her aunt, who seems worried, but Mitsuki brushes aside her concerns; she thinks her first day will be perfect. Of course that’s not what happens. But a very good-looking young man named Sousuke, late for the opening ceremony himself, spots her in the train station, lost and afraid of the crowds and “hiding” against the wall. When she lashes out at him, he doesn’t seem to mind. And then she vomits after giving a speech at the ceremony. As school goes on we see how awkward and out of her depth Mitsuki is in some ways (it’s very endearing) while Sousuke remains to be a decent guy who wants to be her friend (and maybe more) (this made me like him, too). My wife would disagree with this, but Skip and Loafer reminded me of Yotsuba&! in a way. I think reading a book about a student trying to adapt to life in Tokyo while my daughter starts her study abroad time there activated my dad genes the same way reading Yotsuba&! does.

The White Van by Patrick Hoffman. Grove Press, 2014. 9780802124203. 240pp. When I walked into BLMF Books a few weeks ago, the proprietor JB saw me and said, “I’ve got a book for you.” He handed me The White Van and said it was great and he’d read it quickly. He also asked if I’d ever heard of Hoffman. I hadn’t, but now that I’ve finished this book, I’m glad I bought his second novel that day, too. This is a dark crime story with a robbery at its heart, and the fewer specifics you know about going in the better. It all starts with a woman named Emily, one step from living on the street in San Francisco, and a man she meets in the bar who buys her drinks. He coaxes her back to his hotel room with the promise of drugs while swearing that he doesn’t want sex. And he’s not lying. He and his accomplices convince her to stay there with drugs and cash, promising her the chance to earn more if she goes along with their plan, which they’ll reveal at some point. It involves the Russian mob, several folks who have fallen into debt, and a high-stakes heist that supposedly has zero risk. Two cops, out for themselves, also figure in. The mistakes everyone makes seem realistic throughout, as do the ways everything goes wrong. A dark, compelling crime novel.  

Always Never by Jordi Lafebre. English translation by Montana Kane. Dark Horse Books, 2022. 9781506731377. 152pp. The story of a decades-long romance is told backward from its end (or is it a new beginning?) to its sudden start. He’s been gone for most of that time, at sea, where he also finished his doctorate in physics. (He recently returned home to run a bookstore.) She is the responsible one, a happily married family woman who became mayor of the city where she lives, who never forgot the man she fell for decades earlier. It’s not as much of a complication as it might be, but it is an excuse for an exchange of letters over the years, and of semi-broken hearts that might be fixed at the end (the beginning of the book). Always Never is worth reading for its reverse-chronological structure alone, and Lafebre’s illustrations are also world-class and full of joy. This is Lafebre’s first book to be published on paper in English, though other graphic albums by him are available in English digitally from Europe Comics at https://www.europecomics.com/author/jordi-lafebre/

Double Walker written by Michael W. Conrad and illustrated by Noah Bailey. Dark Horse / Comixology Originals, 2022. 9781506730899. 137pp. This story takes place near the Old Man of Storr, in a place where faeries are said to feast on the remains of the old man’s corpse (he lay down and became a mountain). It involves two tourists, Cully and his pregnant young wife Gemma, who don’t take the faerie stories seriously, but really should. After a hike during which Cully goes on ahead a bit, he returns to find Gemma unconscious, uttering nonsense. He rushes her to a hospital but she loses the baby. People in the town where they’re staying start getting killed in horrific ways. Cue more faerie stories, including stories of changelings. Enter two investigators who talk about this like it’s happened before, and who hope that whatever dark thing is happening town will work itself out without them getting too involved. Worth noting: the bar in the story is The Mangled Stag, and there’s a fair amount of gore in the book. But Bailey’s illustrations, which look like they started as pencil or charcoal sketches, make even the worst murder scene worth looking at. This book was originally released digitally on Comixology in 2021 by Mystery School Comics Group.

A Song of Fruitas by Margarita Engle, illustrated by Sara Placios. Atheneum Books for Young Readers, 2021. 9781534444898. A little girl walks with her abuelo as he sings and sells frutas from his cart. Engle’s author note explains that this Spanglish picture book celebrates los pregoneros, “singing vendors who walk the streets of Cuba describing the things they sell in poetic ways, to attract customers.” And Palacios’s illustrations make everything about Cuba’s streets feel friendly. (There’s a Spanish version of this book, too.)       One Day by Lee Juck illustrated by Kim Seung-youn. Translated from Korean by Asuka Minamoto, Lee Juck, and Dianne Chung. Enchanted Lion, 2021. 9781592703135. A little boy misses his grandfather, a tailor, who has died. His grandmother won’t stop feeding him. (My favorite parts of this book are the glimpses Kim Seung-youn provides of South Korea’s past which seem almost entirely gone, with streets full of small shops and lines for fresh water to carry home.)     The Bird Coat by Inger Marie Kjølstadmyr & Øyvind Torseter. Translated from Norwegian by Kari Dickson. Enchanted Lion, 2022. 9781592703661. A young boy getting a haircut is told the tale of Pierre, a popular tailor who lived in Paris. Pierre’s dream was to fly, which no one had ever done at that point. So he sewed a coat with wings in order to try to become a human bird. (Warning: the story does not end as one would expect.) (It was this and Torseter’s odd, detailed drawings made me love it.)

Catwoman: Lonely City by Cliff Chiang. DC Black Label, 2022. 9781779516367. Cliff Chiang (Paper Girls, Wonder Woman) handles the writing and art duties in this beautiful hardcover that DC had the good sense to print in an oversized format. It’s about a fifty-something Selene Kyle aka Catwoman after she gets out of prison, ten years after Batman (and others) died on Fool’s Night. Harvey Dent is Mayor of Gotham City. Barbara Gordon is running against him in an election. Police with bat-tech are exerting too much authority in the streets. And it all turns into a redemption story of sorts, a dangerous heist-like adventure that leads Catwoman and others to break into the Batcave in the name of opposing Dent and his plans for Gotham. Guest stars include many familiar faces but most notably older versions of villains Killer Croc, Edward Nigma, and Poison Ivy. (If Killer Croc doesn’t make you smile I don’t want to know you.) Buy this for your adult collection but put it where teens can find it, too.

At The Drop of a Cat by Élise Fontenaille and Violeta López (illustrator). Translated from French by Karin Snelson & Emilie Robert Wong. Enchanted Lion, 2023. 9781592703821. The narrator of this book loves his grandfather Luis, who takes care of him on Wednesdays and Sundays. Luis’s house is surrounded by an incredible garden, and the narrator is just learning to read and write. Luis speaks the language of birds and everyone is jealous of his green thumb. (I’m envious of everything about this book, it’s so great!)       As Night Falls: Creatures That Go Wild After Dark by Donna Jo Napoli and illustrated by Felicita Sala. Random House Studio, 2023. 9780593374290. As kids fall asleep, nature goes wild, from glowing dinoflagellates to fish to spiders and bats and more. The bat illustrations are particularly fabulous, especially if you’re not a fan of spiders. At one point the story becomes an homage to There Was An Old Lady Who Swallowed A Fly, and then it gets super playful. Just beautiful.       You Can’t Kill Snow White by Beatrice Alemagna. Enchanted Lion, 2022. 9781592703814. 96pp. This retelling of Snow White from the queen’s point of view is an oversized picture book for adults. I don’t love all of the illustrations — some of them seem, by design, too much to take — but I can’t stop looking at them. And the book’s design, particularly the way it opens, is amazing.              

Birdking Volume 1 by Daniel Freedman and CROM. Dark Horse, 2022. 9781506726076. Includes a short making of section in the back that includes sketches, preliminary drawings, and more. This is the first act of what promises to be an epic, coming-of-age fantasy series. At its center is Bianca, assistant to Thonir, a gifted smith, once called the Hammer of the North. She’s helping him make swords and shields for their master Aghul, who united the North under a single banner with the help of six wraiths and their magical weapons. Bianca loves her hammer, and, in particular, loves to use it to smash statues at a nearby haunted castle. It’s there that one day a bird (a little red bird with a skull on its chest) leads her to the tomb of the King of Feather Hill. And it’s about that same day when Aghul sends her master a broken magical blade to repair, a sword that can bring a wraith to life. Fixing it is the beginning of Bianca learning how special she is. It’s also the beginning of the end of the relationship between her master and Alghul. As they flee his forces, the sword awakens a wraith that’s on Bianca’s side (which is good because of the foul creatures Alghul sends after them). The story and art are as playful as they are powerful, and remind me of both Andrew Maclean’s Head Lopper and Mike Mignola’s Hellboy. Get this one for your library.