Shojo Manga (Fiction)

Shojo manga is manga (Japanese comics) targeted towards females between the ages of 10 and 18. However, with the exception of very young readers, it can appeal to readers of all ages. While often focused on romance, shojo manga encompasses many other genres, such as historical fiction or fantasy. Whether you have read any manga before or are just starting out, the following are a few highlights of the many worthy options. Keep in mind that most manga are series, some with a large number of volumes and that most include suggested age ratings on the cover. Make sure check these age ratings, as some titles listed may not be appropriate for younger readers.

Shojo manga tends to have strong female characters that readers can empathize with. This is no more so true than in Sand Chronicles, a series following the life of Ann Uekusa, whose mother committed suicide when she was young. Ann struggles to keep a handle on her emotions and her relationships with others. The art and writing of this series is strong, and it is wonderful to be able to see Ann grow up into a believable woman facing problems that many of us also face.

Coming of age stories are a common theme in shojo manga. If Sand Chronicles sounds intriguing, try checking out Kimi Ni Todoke (From Me to You), featuring Sawako, a young woman who is plagued by insecurities and is misunderstood by classmates. The series follows her growing romance with a male classmate. Also of interest is Emma. Less a coming of age tale, the title character is a maid in Victorian England who begins a star-crossed romance with the wealthy heir of an estate. The art is beautiful and the characters believable.

Comedy is a common component of shojo manga and features prominently in Ouran High School Host Club and Skip Beat! Ouran is a satire in which a girl breaks a vase, is mistaken for a boy, and ends up working in a host club to repay her debt. The series is laugh out loud funny. Skip Beat! takes the comedy even further. Kyoko is wronged by her childhood love, a successful pop idol, and vows to take revenge by becoming a bigger star. Her journey to stardom is crazy, as Kyoko, quite an angry individual, is forced to take on a number of insane endeavors that aggravate her temper.

Finally, shojo manga is no stranger to horror and vampires. Chibi Vampire, a good choice for comedy lovers, features Karin, the anti-vampire. Instead of sucking blood, she produces it. This is rather a problem for her, as the rest of her family are traditional vampires. Chibi Vampire is a fun, romantic series. Those looking for more horror might try After School Nightmare. This series is for older readers only. Masahiro, secretly half boy and half girl, is plunged into the world of nightmares when s/he is enrolled in a new class where, in order to graduate, one has to make it out of the brutal dreamworld with a key. This is a very dark manga but it features a strong, innovative plot.

Looking for a Challenge? (Nonfiction)

You might have heard of the book (later a movie) Julie & Julia, Julie Powell's yearlong quest to cook everything in Julia Child's Mastering the Art of French Cooking, Volume I. What an undertaking! While this endeavor may seem extraordinary, Powell is not the only person to have taken on a quest of this scale. Interested in more? There are plenty of other crazy (and often inspiring) quests to chose from, from religion to travel to self-improvement. The following are just a few of the highlights.

Who among us has not dreamed of knowing everything? In The Know-It-All: One Man's Humble Quest to Become the Smartest Person in the World, A.J. Jacobs relates the story of his year spent reading the unabridged Encyclopaedia Britannica. The result (organized in alphabetical order, of course) is humorous and highly indicative of human nature. Along the same vein, Reading the OED: One Man, One Year, 21,730 Pages is just what it sounds like. Author Ammon Shea spends a year reading all twenty volumes of the Oxford English Dictionary. This is a more literate, but equally entertaining read. Finally, for something on a more manageable scale, Susan Hill spent her year reading the unread books in her personal library in Howards End is on the Landing: A Year of Reading from Home. She comes by some personal revelations along the way.

Too much literature? Others turned to travel and self-improvement quests. In The Geography of Bliss Eric Weiner travels the world looking to find out what places and activities make people happy. Similar in style to Bill Bryson (At Home, A Walk in the Woods), Bliss is a highly subjective but informative travelogue. Also on the trail of happiness is Gretchen Rubin, who spends a year trying to improve her life in manageable ways in The New York Times bestseller The Happiness Project. Also setting out to achieve happiness is John Kralik, who works his way out of a bad time in his life by sending out a thank you note a day for a year in 365 Thank Yous. What began as a simple project turns into a positive life transformation.

Others tried to improve their lives by taking more drastic measures. In The 100 Thing Challenge, author Dave Bruno decides to simplify his life by reducing his possessions to 100 items. His success has inspired others to do the same. Angered by the bestseller Nickel and Dimed, a bleak account of minimum-wage life in America, Adam Shepard sets out to prove that the American Dream is possible. He takes a few clothes, a sleeping bag, and $25 and sets a goal of working his way out of homelessness in one year. Find out what happened in the resulting book Scratch Beginnings.

Finally, if you are looking for something a little different, other authors have written about religion. Suffering from a crisis of faith, Benyamin Cohen heads to the Bible Belt to try to regain his Jewish faith in My Jesus Year. Quaker-born Kevin Roose decides to immerse himself in Christianity by studying at Liberty University and see what happens in the highly readable The Unlikely Disciple: A Sinner's Semester at America's Holiest University. Taking the quest more literally is A.J. Jacobs (author of the above mentioned Know-It-All), who spends a year trying to follow the word of the Bible as closely as possible in The Year of Living Biblically.