“some images of historical smoking”

Apparently this warning has been around for about a decade, but I first noticed it a few weeks ago while watching a film on Netflix. 

Now, every time I read about a character smoking in a novel, the phrase pops into my head.

Most recently it was when I was reading The Best We Could Do, an illustrated memoir by Thi Bui. Bui chronicles her family’s escape from Vietnam in the 70s. After a winter in the Midwest plagued by illness, the family decides to move to California. As she and her sibling try to adjust to their new life, their parents continue to work and attend night school. Of her father, "I remembered he smoked a lot." The boxes depicting those afternoons with her father are bisected with somewhat menacing plumes of his cigarette smoke. Her childhood memories are framed by her experience as a new mom. At the same time, she is trying to figure out how to relate to her own parents now that she truly feels she is an adult.

Filaments of smoke also drift through a novel I picked up on the sale table at this bookstore last week. Amor Towles’ Rule of Civility is set in the 1930s. Katey Kontent and her roommate Eve strike up a conversation with a young man they meet in a bar on New Year's Eve. This chance encounter with Tinker Grey opens a small window into a posher social circle. Through Tinker’s connections, Katey finds work at a fledgling Vanity Fair type magazine and friendship, if not romance, with Tinker’s friend Wallace. Towles, a master at dialogue (and setting – be it a hunt club or “quasi-Russian demimonde”), whisks the reader into the action, leaving her quite breathless.

And not because of the second-hand smoke.  

Ugh! What was her name?!

You know how that actress that plays Lindsay in Freaks and Geeks looks familiar? So you google, “who does linda cardellini look like.” The first hit? Ellen Page of Juno.  Bingo.

Published by First Second (thus meeting the challenge), Same Difference by Derek Kirk Kim takes us back to a time before iphones and instant gratification.

It’s the spring of 2000. Simon and Nancy are hanging out in Oakland, eating pho, and reminiscing about high school. Nancy reveals she’s been corresponding with a stranger named Ben who’s been sending obsessive love letters to the former occupant of her apartment. After receiving a more elaborate care package from Ben, Nancy convinces Simon they should go find this guy who happens to live in Simon’s home town. 

Simon’s reluctance proves prescient when he’s hailed as a long-lost buddy by former classmates who made fun of him in high school and runs into a girl who he treated badly. Despite these setbacks, they actually end up finding Ben. The consequences of coming clean to him, however, remain a little cloudy.

Although a few of the visual gags are a little over the top (i.e. “I felt like such a dick”), most of them cleverly reveal the self-absorption of our young adult selves.  References to Bill Nye, M.U.S.C.L.E , and Dead Poet’s Society evoke the early 90s. Simon also reveals what it was like to grow up in a Korean-American household: “What’re you talking about? Every Korean kid grows up eating raw ramen! It’s our Ritz!”

And in that time before iphones, Simon’s exuberance is palpable when he triumphantly remembers the name of the girl from Weird Science he was trying to think of 42 pages earlier.

March

March by John Lewis, Andrew Aydin, and Nate Powell just happens to be the selection of our Pierce County Reads program.  It also seems an apt choice for this week’s challenge to read a comic written or drawn by a person of color.

Illustrated dramatically in shades of black and white, Congressman John Lewis, a Civil Rights activist, narrates the story which opens on January 20, 2009. As Congressman Lewis is waiting to go to the inauguration, he is visited by a woman from Atlanta who wants to show her boys his office. Not expecting to actually meet him, she is amazed when he starts telling them his story.

In Book One, he starts with his boyhood raising chickens and his ambition to get an education despite the challenges of segregation and his parents’ wish for him work. He then tells his young visitors about his participation in the nonviolent sit-ins at lunch counters around Nashville. As the book ends, Dr. King’s words flow through panels depicting two young black men trying to get service at the newly integrated restaurants. “Walk together children," Dr. King proclaims. “Don’t get weary.”

"I don't need your help, OKAY"

Any mother of teenager might recognize this quote. And anyone who's survived the teen years themselves may recognize the poetic beauty of having "shape shifting" be a teen villain's super power. 

This week’s challenge was to read a comic written and drawn by the same person. One look at the book flap of Nimona by Noelle Stevenson - “Nemesis! Dragons! Science! Symbolism!”- and I was sold.

The comic begins when shape shifter Nimona shows up on Ballister Blackheart’s doorstep, announcing her intent to be his new sidekick. Together they will plot evil plans and defeat his nemesis/romantic interest Goldenloin.  

At first glance Nimona is just like any other teen, sipping soda while hoisting herself onto the kitchen counter. She sounds like a teen, her word balloons filled  with reluctant “fiiiine”s  and teasing “you liiiike me”s.

However, in monochromatic flashbacks, Stevenson unveils a dark past of tragedy and abuse. Nimona’s rebellion is trying to convince society that she’s not the tortured creature they make her out to be. And in this, she’s also like any other teen.

Boxers and Saints

With less than a month to go, and five topics remaining on my reading challenge, it’s time to get creative. Companion graphic novels Boxers and Saints by Gene Luen Yang meet both challenge 19 and challenge 24. Two down, three to go.

I vaguely remember mention of the Boxer Rebellion from World History class in 9^th grade. I’m not sure we we’re presented with any facts apart from the number of foreigners killed in the conflict. Yang tells the story from two perspectives, that of a young boy whose village suffers in the name of justice wielded by foreigners and from a young girl who converts to Christianity.

Boxers follows Little Bao who joins the Society of Righteous and Harmonious Fists. Inspired by the heroes of Chinese opera and protected by his household Gods, he discovers how to tap into an inner strength. As the battles become bloodier and deciding who should die becomes more complicated, the righteous voice of his ancestor threatens to drown him. He falls in love with a fellow a solider, Mei-wen, a young girl who has been leading a small army of village girls. He betrays her trust when he sets fire to the library to gain access to the foreigners’ enclave. Mei-wen reveals the true depths of her compassion when those whose wounds she treats are revealed to wear the cross around their neck. Little Bao doesn’t survive a retaliatory attack by the foreigners.

Four-Girl, unwanted at home, seeks solace (and snacks) from a Christian healer in the second volume Saints. She decides to fully embrace her reputation as a “devil” and become a “foreign devil” or Christian. In baptism, she takes on the name Vibiana and draws on the advice of Joan of Arc, who appears to her throughout the novel. The expression on the priest’s face when Vibiana announces her intention to be a priest is priceless. Eventually she decides she should train as a “maiden warrior” to fight against the Society. Faced with death at the hands of Little Bao, she asks for a few minutes to pray. In the end, she refuses to renounce her faith.

Bloody and bawdy, mystical and spiritual, these novels capture the tension between loyalty to country and faith in one’s beliefs. 

Just So Happens

Struggling to overcome my jet lag from a much anticipated trip (17 years) to Japan and the demands of dirty clothes, science fairs, and baseball practice kept me from writing last week.  In addition, they almost kept me from reading. Every time I sat down to read, I would fall into a disorienting nap, dreaming I was still in Kyoto or Kamiyahagi.   

Rewind to April 7. After the novelty of the in-flight entertainment had worn off, a couple of movies had been watched, and dinner had been served, I turned to my Kindle for some late-night reading. I thought it would be fun to read a book set 5,000 miles from my location…5,000 miles (or so) from my location. Finding one available for the Kindle the day before my trip proved much harder. 

Luckily, I discovered and downloaded Just So Happens by Fumio Obata.

In this graphic novel, the main character Yumiko sets the scene, “I am Japanese and still go back to Japan now and then. But here, London, is my home.” After hearing of her father’s death, she returns for the funeral. On the plane, she remembers her last trip to visit her father in the sweltering heat of summer. In the midst of fireworks and fans, she stumbles into a nighttime Noh performance. Later at the funeral, as she questions the meaning of the ritual, she remembers the masked dancer she saw on that earlier visit.

With realistic drawings that capture the essence of both London and Japan, Obata tells a story that is sparing in words but rich in emotion. Anyone who has traveled or moved far away from home can relate. 

The Nameless City

In preparation for landing here, I’ve prepared a couple of posts in advance. Needing to catch up on my reading challenge (It's April already?), I went for challenge #6 – read an all-ages comic.

Using this handy list, I found The Nameless City by Faith Erin Hicks (color by Jordie Bellaire). Volume one follows the adventures of Kai, a young Dao fighter-in-training. In the first pages of the book, Kai meets his father, a higher up in the army, for the first time. Having been raised by his mother outside the city, Kai is eager to reunite with his father who decides to show him around the city. After one taste of city life, Kai is in love. Eager to find more meat on a stick, he returns the next day on his own and meets city dweller (and orphan) Rat. Impressed by Rat’s running skills, Kai returns morning after morning, bearing baskets of food in exchange, to learn her tricks. In the meantime, a plot is unfolding to assassinate the current leaders. With Rat and Kai’s help, the plot is …well, you’ll just have to read the book.

Hicks’ drawings contrast the austerity of the palace training, the grit of the city, and the tranquility of the monk’s enclave. Younger readers will appreciate the action scenes and marvel at Rat’s leaps across the city’s rooftops. Older readers will appreciate the allusions to the fragile balance between war and peace and the arbitrary nature of language when it comes to ownership and power. 

Terrific

In searching for this week’s reading challenge selection, I consulted this list. On page 3, I found Sunny Side Up by Jennifer L. Holm and Matthew Holm (color by Lark Pien). Attracted to the enticing blue of its cover and image of a girl relaxing in a pool, I put in my request. 

In the graphic novel, Sunny is sent to Florida to spend some time with her gramps. He lives in a retirement village and his big plans for entertaining her include trips to the grocery store and post office.  Finally, he takes her to the pool where she meets a boy her age who introduces her to the wonders of comic books. Interspersed throughout the story of Sunny’s visit are flashback scenes that reveal the dysfunctional family events that have led her here. Despite the squeaky hide-a-bed sofa, and the absurdly early dinner hour, Sunny is able to enjoy herself and let go of some of the stress that has plagued her the previous year.

Whether it’s a glimpse of a superhero shadow on the pavement or a family frozen into Pompeii statues, the illustrations of this graphic novel work seamlessly to push the plot forward. Even though a novel about a girl’s visit to her grandpa doesn’t seem like a page turner, it is. Luckily the engaging drawing helps slow the pace for the reader to take a second (and even third) look.

Although the book is set in the 70s, it made me reminisce about my 80s childhood spent with my grandparents in their retirement village of Bella Vista, Arkansas. Swimming, mini golf, and picking beans for 25 cents a bucket were the big plans that filled our day. When I got tired of exploring the woods or sneaking Snickers out of the fridge, I would curl up on the sunflower patterned deck chair and make my way through the dozen or so library books I had packed for the visit.  And like Sunny, wish for the superpower of invisibility. 

Sweet and Salty Squid Candies

I turn 41 today. If I were to write a food memoir, it would have to include these moments...That simple Spanish breakfast I had in Madrid when I was 8.  The baklava I tried in Greece when I was 20. That apple empanada I inhaled outside a Oaxaca bakery when I was 28. Those sweet potato fries in Ann Arbor when I was 37. Since 1) I can’t draw and 2) these were all pre-Instagram, they’ll have to remain in my memory (and thighs).

Luckily for us, Lucy Knisley can draw (and cook) and has captured her unforgettable food experiences in Relish: My Life in the Kitchen. She charmingly illustrates her childhood growing up with foodie parents, her teen rebellion in sneaking McDonald’s fries on a trip to Rome with her father, and first adult job as a cheese monger. Each chapter has a nice finish with a step by step depiction of a favorite recipe. The strata of huevos rancheros on page 75 will have you digging out the frying pan and adding queso fresco to your shopping list. Trust me. 

Since I'll be in Chicago next week, I've already earmarked page 159 for ideas of foods to try while I'm there. More memories in the making. 

Sigh

In keeping with my reading challenge for 2016, I decided to read “a non-superhero comic that debuted in the last three years.” My choice? Roller Girl by Victoria Jamieson since it was a NYPL pick and conveniently already on my daughter’s bookshelf.

Astrid and Nicole have been best friends since first grade. Now that they are 12, their different interests are pulling them in two directions. After Astrid’s mom takes them to see a roller derby, Astrid decides her destiny lies in being a roller girl. Nicole, disappointingly, decides to stick with dance camp with arch nemesis Rachel. Showing up for camp alone is one thing, but Astrid quickly realizes that showing up for camp with weak skating skills might be worse. As the summer progresses, however, Astrid becomes more confident on skates (and off) through the support of her teammates, her new friend Zoey, and motivational messages from derby star Rainbow Bite.

The author Victoria Jamieson, in addition to being an illustrator, is also a member of the Rose City Rollers Derby League.  Her experience shines through the stars of pain liberally sprinkled through the pages and the mantras of tougher, stronger, and fearless echoing over the rink. However, she also perfectly captures preteen Astrid’s world outside the rink. Everything from saying hi to a boy to a shopping trip with her mom is, well, awkward.  

I may not be ready to try out for a roller derby league, but this book definitely made me want to check out what it's all a bout.  

"Zine of the Month"

So my subscription to this magazine has long expired but my heart still did a little skip when I discovered Lynda Barry has a graphic novel about writing called What It Is. 

Through collage images and personal reflections, Barry takes us through her own discovery of writing as an artist and teacher. I was especially drawn to the section where she illustrates how to find a starting point for writing using word banks and images.

Take a deep breath, set your timer for seven minutes, and write about drugstores, refrigerators, or writer inspired fashion spreads featured in your once favorite magazine.