Jacqueline Pearce,
Manga Touch (Currents Series)
Orca Book Publishers, 2007.

Rating: E*

Dana is a rebel and suffers the consequences by feeling that she is an outsider. While on an exchange trip to Japan in spite of language difficulties, she communicates most effectively with her love and talent for manga only to discover that communication is a two way street.

This is another excellent title in a superb series for older students with low reading skills. The action is quick and short, the characters are well defined and appropriately interesting to the audience as they all suffer the angst of high school and finding their way in the world. The accurate descriptions of Japanese lifestyle and culture make this a title that could be used with a country study unit. Learning how to communicate is an integral part of the plot of this book enabling discussion on interpersonal relationships.

Thematic Links: Japan - Lifestyle and Culture; Manga; Interpersonal Relationships

Eva Wilson
Vol. 13, number 2
December 2007

*Rating System:
E - Excellent, enduring, everyone should see it!
G - Good, even great at times, generally useful!
A - Average, all right, has its applications.
P - Problematic, puzzling, poorly presented.