May 10 2024

Kim Jiyoung, Born 1982 by Cho Nam-Joo

Kim Jiyoung, Born 1982 is an absolutely furious short novel about sexism in South Korea, and while its incidents and statistics are specific to that country, it can stand in for how badly half of the world’s human population commonly treats the other half, often without even noticing. The book opens with what appears to be a breakdown by the book’s titular character, as she slips into note-perfect imitations of people from her life without noticing — first her mother and then a college friend who had died a year before — falling so deep into the roles that she refers to herself in the third person. Matters come to a head at a family holiday gathering when Jiyoung (the book follows the Korean practice of putting the family name before the personal name) takes on the persona of her mother again and gives her father-in-law a thorough telling-off.

Kim Jiyoung, Born 1982 by Cho Nam-Joo

The book then returns to Jiyoung’s childhood, relating incidents from her life and her family’s history in a matter-of-fact tone that moves the story along quickly and lets readers imagine the details. Cho (the book’s publisher also follows Korean name order) leaves lush description to other writers; she has enough to say with just sketching what has happened, selecting crucial dialog, and occasionally letting readers in on her characters’ thoughts. There is a particular reason for the novel’s style that becomes clear in its hard-hitting final chapter. Jiyoung has a sister who is a couple of years older, and a brother who is six or seven years younger. Their paternal grandmother lives with them in quarters that are initially quite cramped. Cho sets out how things are when Jiyoung remembers herself as a child eating something that was ostensibly for her baby brother:

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Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2024/05/10/kim-jiyoung-born-1982-by-cho-nam-joo/

May 09 2024

Enemy Child by Andrea Warren

subtitled The Story Of Norman Mineta, A Boy Imprisoned In A Japanese American Internment Camp During World War II.

Many Americans will know of Norman Mineta as a trailblazing Japanese American politician, a moderate Democrat who served in both Democratic and Republican cabinets. He always resisted having any books written about his life until he was approached by Andrea Warren, an award-winning author of books for children, who wanted to make his story accessible to young readers and beyond. Together, they worked on what would be the only biography of him ever written in his lifetime, focusing primarily on how he along with tens of thousands of other Japanese Americans were unjustly incarcerated during World War II.

Norman was your average kid growing up in San Jose, California in the 1930s and 1940s. While his parents were immigrants from Japan, they weren’t allowed to apply for citizenship based on the discriminatory laws of the era. Norman and his four older siblings were all born in the United States however, making them just as American as any of their neighbors, Asian, white, Black or otherwise. While Japanese culture was a big part of the Minetas’ daily lives, they wholeheartedly embraced being American too, and were deeply grateful to be able to live free in ways not possible across the Pacific Ocean.

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Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2024/05/09/enemy-child-by-andrea-warren/

May 07 2024

Advocate by Eddie Ahn

subtitled A Graphic Memoir Of Family, Community, And The Fight For Environmental Justice.

As a grossly overscheduled person myself, I would genuinely like to know where Eddie Ahn finds the time and energy for everything he does! A day job, volunteer work and a cartooning career? I was both impressed and secretly comforted reading this book, knowing that there really are other people as overextended as I am who, crucially, aren’t just doing things for the money.

And don’t get me wrong, money is great! I would 100% welcome more of it into my life. When Eddie’s student debt was cleared, I cheered! But unlike the parents of Eddie’s generation, I would far rather have a practical minivan that requires minimal upkeep than an expensive, cash-draining status symbol Mercedes. It’s so strange: sometimes I wonder whether the social gains we’ve made as a culture, valuing positivity and kindness over shame and being mean, have any relation to the increasing micronization of economic effort, with gig and hustle culture becoming far more prevalent as late-stage capitalism keeps driving its wedge between capital and labor.

That’s not the point of this quiet, thoughtful graphic novel, tho it certainly examines the different attitudes of generations of Asian immigrants and their American-born kids. Eddie’s parents came to Texas from South Korea for grad school, but realized that the fastest way to make money was to open a liquor store. Eddie grew up believing that he had to get a lucrative professional career in order to repay his parents’ sacrifices — tho a large part of me is all, “Yeah, no, they moved to Texas for themselves, it’s not like they were fleeing abject poverty or danger.” Tho maybe they were and it just didn’t come across in this book! The whole Asian mindset of kids needing to smother their own needs and desires so that their parents can impress their peers just irritates the crap out of me, and I say that as an Asian parent myself.

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Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2024/05/07/advocate-by-eddie-ahn/

May 05 2024

Der Tod eines Bienenzüchters by Lars Gustafsson

The title — The Death of a Beekeeper — lets readers know right away that this will not be an overly cheerful novel. It is a moving story, eventually a beautiful one in its slightly off-kilter way. Which is only fair because the beekeeper, one Lars Lennart Westin, often called “Wiesel,” is a slightly off-kilter man.

Der Tod eines Bienenzüchters by Lars Gustafsson

The book begins with a few pages of framing story from a first-person but unnamed narrator, presumably Gustafsson himself. He is in the Chisos Mountains in the Big Bend country of Texas, with a friend who is a professor of Old Icelandic at the University of Texas. When I first read the frame, I thought that the friend gave the narrator the notebooks that form the rest of the novel, but checking again I see that that it not true. The main thing that this story does is to introduce the motto that Wiesel will write numerous times in the notebooks that chronicle the last months of his life: We don’t give up. We begin again.

(The frame was odd for me to read because I think I have been in the exact spot that Gustafsson describes, looking out across the border into Mexico, and it is a very long way from anywhere.)

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Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2024/05/05/der-tod-eines-bienenzuchters-by-lars-gustafsson/

May 04 2024

A Song of Comfortable Chairs by Alexander McCall Smith

The back cover asserts that A Song of Comfortable Chairs is “the one where Mma Potokwani saves the day,” and indeed she does, but this deep into the No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency series, getting there is all of the fun. Which is just as well, because all of this book’s storylines emerge from actions of the recurring characters. From time to time, Mma Romotswe worries that her agency does not have enough clients, or takes on too many pro bono cases, and A Song of Comfortable Chairs could be an example of where those worries come from. On the other hand, the off-hand remarks about follow-up, billing, and filing do at least imply the existence of paying clients, even if they are off-stage for this particular book.

A Song of Comfortable Chairs by Alexander McCall Smith

There are several days that need saving. First, the furniture business owned and managed by Mma Makutsi’s husband is facing new competition that appears to have an uncanny knack of knowing just when his store will be having a special promotion, and how deep the discounts will be. The competitors have been cutting their prices even more right at the same time, capturing price-sensitive customers. These rivals are also importing sleek, modern chairs at a price that can’t be matched by traditionally built Botswana chairs. The imports are supported by an advertising campaign that emphasizes their stylishness and modernity, and that is helping the rivals snag customers who are conscious about their image. The competition is really putting the squeeze on Mma Makutsi’s husband’s business, which had hitherto been very prosperous. Having grown comfortable after her marriage, she is spooked by a possible slide back toward the poverty that she knew as a girl and worked so hard to escape.

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Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2024/05/04/a-song-of-comfortable-chairs-by-alexander-mccall-smith/

May 02 2024

I Am Here by Karen Kilpatrick & Tammy Do

This delightful children’s book is a wonderful reminder of the power of being present and engaged with your kids. It is, astonishingly, one of those books that does double duty as both a comfort to kids and as a nudge to their adult caretakers, handling both responsibilities with aplomb.

First, tho, let’s talk about the art. Tammy Do does amazing work with her multiracial cast of characters, adults and children, as they face all manner of adversity together. With gentle curves and a palette of predominantly pastels, her art perfectly captures the kind of soft yet unyielding love that children need in order to be able to face, endure and overcome the hardships that may come into their lives. Whether these be small things, like being too tired to keep working on a project, or bigger things, like hospitalizations, children are shown being lovingly supported by adults who listen and care. There is generous representation across races, with pains taken to show multiracial relationships as well.

Karen Kilpatrick was inspired to write this book by her own child’s hospitalization, and her love and commitment are palpable throughout. The reassurance that a particular caregiver will be there to listen and love you no matter what is so important for kids, not only to comfort them in the moment, but to help build up their self-esteem long-term. It also sets up a healthy template for future relationships kids might have as they grow older, as they learn how to behave towards and what to accept from others.

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Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2024/05/02/i-am-here-by-karen-kilpatrick-tammy-do/

May 01 2024

The Book of Japanese Folklore by Thersa Matsuura & Michelle Wang

subtitled An Encyclopedia of the Spirits, Monsters, and Yokai of Japanese Myth: The Stories of the Mischievous Kappa, Trickster Kitsune, Horrendous Oni, and More.

Happy Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month! This year, I have a big slate of topical books by AAPI authors and artists (and adjacent) that I’m hoping to be able to spotlight here, beginning with this delightful and informative illustrated volume of supernatural beings out of Japanese folklore.

Thersa Matsuura is an American expat living in Japan whose popular podcast Uncanny Japan covers the strange myths and creepy lore of her adopted country. Now she’s compiled some of that knowledge into book form, covering dozens of Japanese mythical creatures and heroes in alphabetical order for easy reference and absorbing reading. From the legendary sorcerer Abe no Seimei to the trickster spirits known as Zashiki Warashi, this is a guide to the most common not-entirely-human figures out of popular Japanese tradition.

Each entry gets an Overview, a segment on its Background and Popular Stories, then a section on appearances In Modern Stories. As someone who has greatly enjoyed playing various Pokemon games over the years, learning the inspirations for some of my favorite pocket monsters made the book feel even more immediate and relevant to me. Interestingly, there wasn’t a huge amount of overlap between the stuff covered here and all the knowledge I absorbed while playing the East Asian-inspired Legend Of The Five Rings CCG and RPG, tho in fairness that’s likely due to L5R being designed almost entirely in the US (and tended to focus on high drama rather than supernatural whimsy.)

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Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2024/05/01/the-book-of-japanese-folklore-by-thersa-matsuura-michelle-wang/

Apr 30 2024

Double Booking: The Tail of the Mummy Cat by Chas! Pangburn, Kim Shearer & Nic Touris

Oh gosh, I hope this is the first in a series, as it was just absolutely delightful!

Siblings Nan and Otto are pulled out of art camp one summer when their travel blogger mom gets a plum, last-minute assignment in Egypt. Fortunately, her employer will pay for her kids to come along with her. Nan, who aspires to follow in her mother’s footsteps, is thoroughly excited by this. Otto, who would much rather be drawing comics in art camp, is far less so.

Despite Otto’s misgivings — and several speed bumps including seasickness while taking a felucca ride — Egypt is pretty amazing. When the kids are allowed to tour a pyramid site, they sneak off to slip inside one of the famed constructions. Nan accidentally loses her bracelet, and as she’s searching for it, Otto makes the acquaintance of the spirits of a mummified pharaoh and his cat, Princess Tiaa. When Tiaa runs away from the pyramid, however, Otto gives chase, setting the siblings on a madcap journey of adventure and discovery. Perhaps more importantly, tho, they learn how to understand each other better, and commit to at least trying to be better siblings to one another.

This delightful graphic novel is actually told in two parts, from the perspective of each of our protagonists, in a very cute flipbook conceit. After reading Otto’s story, readers are meant to flip the book over and read Nan’s side — arguably, you could do it the other way around, too. Chas! Pangburn and Kim Shearer draw from their own experiences as siblings to shape the book’s conflicts and differing perspectives, rendering the entire experience one that feels both lived in as well as familiar to any member of the older sister-younger brother dynamic (like myself!)

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Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2024/04/30/double-booking-the-tail-of-the-mummy-cat-by-chas-pangburn-kim-shearer-nic-touris/

Apr 29 2024

Witch Hunt by Andrea Balis & Elizabeth Levy, illustrated by Tim Foley

subtitled The Cold War, Joe McCarthy, and the Red Scare.

Ever since the end of the Second World War, the word “communism” has been used as a bogeyman for the average American, and is often the default label for any behavior that threatens a selfish sense of privilege. Why explain why you don’t like something if it means also facing your own smallness, when you could just scream “communism” and stay secure in your own unjustified self-righteousness instead? Insidiously, the same people who do this are also the ones who want to ban books that explain, among other things, what communism really is. Heaven forfend that others learn the truth and realize that these book banners are merely fascists in disguise, so desperate to hold onto power that they curtail access to knowledge, with the intent of keeping those around them ignorant and, therefore, dependent.

Luckily, there are books like Witch Hunt, that do a phenomenal job of explaining to young readers what communism is, what fascism is, and why witch hunts are an affront to American values and to our civil liberties. Authors Andrea Balis and Elizabeth Levy use the framework of McCarthyism to do so, cleverly placing these issues in a historical context while quietly drawing parallels between that era and the present day. Most of the text is drawn straight from original quotes, testimony and reporting, interspersed with narration in the guise of “fly on the wall” asides. There’s a comprehensive list of source notes, as well as a handy timeline. Tim Foley’s excellent line drawings throughout bring the contents to life with intelligence and charm.

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Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2024/04/29/witch-hunt-by-andrea-balis-elizabeth-levy-illustrated-by-tim-foley/

Apr 26 2024

Terrorwar Volume 1 by Saladin Ahmed & Dave Acosta

w inks by Jay Leisten, colors by Walter Pereyra and letters by Shawn Lee.

I have been quite fond of Saladin Ahmed’s output ever since the publication of Throne Of The Crescent Moon, but let’s be honest: unless a book has been given to me to cover for work nowadays, I have not had the time to read it. So I was super glad when Terrorwar Volume 1, his creator-owned comic book with Dave Acosta, landed on my desk.

In a dystopian future where many of the world’s resources have been exhausted, all of humanity is gathered in Blue City, the one haven left standing on planet Earth. But even this last sprawling bastion is haunted by strange beings known only as Terrors. No one really knows what they are, only that they manifest as people’s greatest fears. If they get their hands on you, you can expect a fiery death.

Very little seems to put down the Terrors, except for the Brain Bullets that certain special individuals are capable of manifesting to destroy them. Muhammad Cho is one of these terrorfighters. He’s put together a team of similar individuals who all run together as a crew. Unfortunately, since they’re based in one of the less nice neighborhoods of Blue City, this means that they’re still desperately underfunded, and need to compete with other crews in chasing bounties so that they actually get paid for putting down the Terrors that haunt their impoverished zones. It’s all very Ghostbusters, until shock troops from the richer parts of Blue City step in to detain our plucky heroes for “unsanctioned terror engagement.”

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Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2024/04/26/terrorwar-volume-1-by-saladin-ahmed-dave-acosta/