The Story of Lee, Volume 1

March 7, 2011
English-speaking writers who attempt to accurately depict contemporary East Asian culture tend either to gloss over the negative aspects of Westernization or to sugarcoat the unflattering aspects of East Asian societies. Wilson and Kutsuwada's story falls somewhere in between, most likely as a result of its dual authorship. The protagonist is a young Hong Kong woman who begins an affair with a hip English-teaching foreigner named Matt. She must deal with a jealous Chinese suitor named Wang and a disapproving conservative father. It's an old setup done effectively and believably. If anything, the story feels too true to life as Hong Kong, Korea, China, and Japan all have no shortage of aimless 20-something foreign men, many of them making ends meet teaching English and enjoying the occasional tryst with a local girl. Wilson and Kutsuwada's story tells such a tale from the girl's perspective, faithfully reproducing real Hong Kong locales and name dropping a variety of cool bands along the way. The artwork, particularly the characters, is crisp and expressive, and the story faithfully reproduces a believable slice of life, despite the neat wrapup at the end, even if the story doesn't dig that deeply.

March 15, 2011
Grades 10-1 Lee lives in Hong Kong but dreams of life in England to help her deal with her stern father and boring job at the family shop. When she meets Matt, shes instantly drawn to the handsome young Scotsman, but family obligations and traditional beliefs may prevent their love from blossoming. Wilson, one of the editors of Top Shelfs AX: A Collection of Alternative Manga (2010), handles the writing work for a tale that is a shade thin but still sweet enough to engage readers. Matt is shallow and something of a jerk in comparison to Lees better-crafted personality, though their sometimes banal conversations are appealingly realistic. While their romance gets rushed, preventing readers from completely believing the resolution, it does leaves things open for the next volume. Kutsuwadas shading and thinly drawn lines make her art seem slightly unfinished, but her excellent grasp of proportion, layout, and pacing breathes life into her images. This manga-styled graphic novels eye-catching cover should help seal the deal for older teens.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2011, American Library Association.)