Honey and Clover, Vol. 1 (v. 1)
Grade 9 Up–With translations scheduled through volume four (December, 2008), this series seems here to stay. In this first volume, Takemoto, a college art student in Tokyo, takes center stage and provides the main perspective. He lives the life of a starving artist and student, looking quite like a character fromChibi Vampire(TokyoPop) whenever he has the opportunity to eat meat. Takemoto lives with several other male students, including the illusive Morita, who frequently takes off on a whim, returning days or weeks later with interesting treats (usually involving meat) and then crashing for a minimum of 48 hours. The first chapter sets the scene for the remainder of the book, with Morita's oddities introduced and all the boys meeting tiny, beautiful Hagu, an art prodigy who catches the interest and attention of everyone she meets. Morita, though, takes special exception and begins to exploit Hagu through a Web site he creates, marketing her as a koropokkur, a member of a mythical race of tiny people. Throughout the story, the characters go about their daily lives, attending to class, trying to get enough to eat, and falling in love with the wrong people. Umino's graphics are simple, and the characters are typical of shojo manga in that they are prone to frequent fits and hysterics. Though the sexual innuendos are tame, the college setting and complex love connections make this a better fit for high school readers.–Sarah Krygier, Solano County Library, Fairfield, CACopyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.