Days 9-10 A Graphic Adaptation vs. Manga

Normally I don't read graphic adaptations, but I do love to buy them for my students! ESL, SPED, and reluctant readers are usually able to enjoy these if they can't fully comprehend the full length novel.

This Vladimir Tod adaptation though is pretty tame compared to the action in the actual novel.  The drawing style is okay, but so far it hasn't caught much attention from my students.  (Looks like it's only been checked out twice this year.)

Now Choco Mimi is a totally different type of Manga than I was expecting! This sugary sweet cover is not what it seems! First of all this book is totally not appropriate for elementary students. Please do not get it for them.

Choco and Mimi are two 8th grade girls that are obsessed with Lolita fashion.  Choco is pretty smart and sardonic, where Mimi is totally obsessed with her looks and quite ditzy.  It reminds me a lot of Veronica and Betty from Archie! I love Chiffon, Choco's "manly" puppy, who seems to get pranked by his owner a lot.  At first I didn't like this book, but the more I read, the more it transported me back to my 1990's anime obsession. I think teen me would've loved reading about the girls fighting over Andrew, but the adult me thinks their skirts are too short and they are too disrespectful of their teacher, Mr. Take.

Also note, this is not a full story, but written more in a comic book style like Archie, each page holds gag cartoons that will make you giggle.  Again, this would be more for Kawaii obsessed teenagers and is not appropriate for elementary.

Day 3: Chi's Sweet Home

I have to tell you that this year's #shelfchallenge is such a different experience for me than last year! I'm having so much fun!

Last year, I started from the beginning in fiction, and I kept pulling out bad 80's cover after bad 80's cover.

Whoa- these look old. Should I keep them? #shelfchallenge pic.twitter.com/2T6kbvcIEd
— Lamar Library (@lamar_library) April 3, 2014

I ended up pulling so many "oldies" with bad covers, that my students started to notice.  We started laughing and poking fun at these old books.  Soon, we had a full "mean girl" circle and we tested each book by seeing how many checkouts it had in the last ten years.  Although it seemed mean spirited, we had a blast at the expense of our old books!  It even sent me on a weeding extravaganza for the rest of the year and prompted me to write a grant titled "We are not your grandma's library, but her books are still here!" (Thanks again to @valibrarian for this grant title!)

At the beginning of this school year, I decided to focus some of that grant money on my graphic novel collection.  My super awesome Mackin Rep, Tuan Nguyen, recommended some awesome manga and graphic novels for my middle school. So when it came time to choose a shelf for the #shelfchallenge, there was really only one way to go!

I'm loving reading all these graphic novels and today's collection almost shot me over the moon with
cuteness.

Chi's Sweet Home series is a sappy, sweet, serial about an adorable lost kitten that finds a new home with a super awesome family (although they aren't supposed to have pets in their apartment.) This manga took me back to my anime obsession circa 1996. It is over the top cute, expressive, and just plain adorable.

It's a great MG lit Manga for elementary or middle. Honestly, with as much as some people love cats, you could probably still carry it in your high school.

My daughters love it so much, we even found the tv series online and started watching it.  Tuan, you might've just made Chi our household favorite anime!