Sunshine Sketch, Vol. 2
Grade 7–10—This quaint, softhearted tale presents small snapshots of four students attending a high school for the arts in Japan and of their lives as seemingly simple events strengthen their friendship. Hiro, Miyako, Yuno, and Sae go on a field trip to the zoo, sketching animals for a class project. The book continues as they visit a bathhouse, attend a sports festival, and participate in a play. The story is jumpy and lacks a plot. It delves no deeper than what the teens will have for dinner or how to lose weight. The art is sure to attract faithful readers, but the format deviates from typical manga, reading in columns down and then from left to right. Each column of four panels is on a different topic, which only adds to the incoherent, often nonexistent plot.—Ann Bailey, Wilde Lake High School, Columbia, MDCopyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.