Graphic Novel Summary:
Ayumu brushes with death when she is almost hit by a truck. After that incident, she really wants to kill herself, but her classmate Miki helps her deal with the pain by hanging out with her. While the two girls are in karaoke, a group of boys attack the girls. After winning the fight, will Ayumu gain the self-confidence needed to stand up to Manami?
Sell Sheet Keynote:
It's "Girl Interrupted" meets "MARS".
Key Selling Points:
Volumes 1 and 2 promoted via national consumer print advertising campaign in Girls Life summer and fall 2006; internet advertising targeting tween and teen girl sites-more than 2 million impressions
This gritty, high quality shojo series from Kodansha is filled with undeniable teen angst and self-torment and tackles real topics such as cutting, suicide, bullying, and gangs
Volumes one and two features a postscript from licensed psychologist, Susan M. Axtell Psy. D., who is experienced in suicide counseling
Winner of the 30th Kodansha Shojo Manga award
"I have read the (advanced reader copy) of Life, and thought that it was superb - both the writing and illustrations were exceptional" -J. Feigelman, Teen Services Librarian, Goshen Public Library & Historical Society
"The pain felt by the characters is palpable and affecting. The characters and their emotional reactions to situations feel real." -VOYA
Blurbs:
"I have read the ARC of Life, and thought that it was superb - both the writing and illustrations were exceptional, and this book is something that I feel that teens can really identify with - without being overly didactic or unaccessible. Thank you for bringing this book to my attention."
- Jennifer Feigelman, Teen Services Librarian Goshen Public Library and Historical Society
Ayumu is faced with common high school problems: grades, fighting with friends and a general feeling of isolation. Her method of dealing with the trials of adolescence, however, is decidedly more distressing. Ayumu is a cutter, one of an increasing number of teenage compulsive self-mutilators. Tortured by a falling-out with her best friend and dealing with a competitive new school, Ayumu retreats into the cold comforts of self-imposed social exile and self-inflicted injury. Matters are further complicated when Ayumu's manic and boundlessly irritating new friend, Manami, attempts suicide after a difficult breakup. To say that the subject matter is serious is a criminal understatement; the overwrought narrative will appeal mainly to the core demographic of manga readers. Luckily, the artworkâ"especially the inventive page layoutâ"adds a much-needed frisson. Frames and panels merge, fracture and dissolve, reflecting alternating extremes of tranquility and anguish. The cutting scenes are especially powerful, eschewing dialogue in favor of a dreamlike stillness in which Ayumu's chosen implement, a common box cutter, takes on the status of a magical totem. These frames, along with a genuinely haunting, semi-cliffhanger ending, more than make up for the characters' stilted language. The book concludes with a brief fact page written by a clinical psychologist that includes how to deal with cutting in real life.
- Publisher's Weekly
The pain felt by the characters is palpable and affecting. The characters and their emotional reactions to situations feel real.
- VOYA
Codes:
MAR073727 1595329356 1595329356
