Puss Reboots: Blog: August 2009: Skim

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Reviews:
Adaptogenia by Wayne Wightman personal collection
And Tango Makes Three by Justin Richardson and Peter Parnell library book
The Cat Barked? by Lydia Monks library book
Cat Skidoo by Bethany Roberts and RW Alley personal collection
City Above the Sea by Stephen Alan Saft review copy
City Lullaby by Marilyn Singer library book
Corona Centurion™ by Terry Bisson personal collection
Economancer by Carolyn Ives Gilman personal collection
A Field Guide to Monsters by Johan Olander library book
Grey Seas Under by Farley Mowat bookcrossing
Grimm's Grimmest by Tracy Arah Dockray bookcrossing
Grumpy Cat by Britta Teckentrup personal collection
Handy Farm Devices and How to Make Them by Rolfe Cobleigh bookcrossing
Harriet's Recital by Nancy Carlton personal collection
I Feel Skitty by Tracey West personal collection
Kin by Holly Black review copy
The Loved One by Evelyn Waugh bookcrossing
Mama, Don't Go by Rebecca Wells library book
No, Never! by Sally O. Lee review copy
Oh, the Things I Know! by Al Franken bookcrossing
Over Sea, Under Stone by Susan Cooper library book
Paradiso Lost by Albert E. Cowdrey personal collection
Project Anastrophe by George Karnikis review copy
The Publishing Game: Publish a Book in 30 Days by Fern Reiss bookcrossing
The Shipwreck of a Nation by H Peter Nennhaus review copy
Skim by Mariko Tamaki review copy
Sooner or Later or Never Never by Gary Jennings personal collection
Talk to the Hand by Lynne Truss bookcrossing
The Thirteenth Tale by Dianne Setterfield bookcrossing
The Yellow-Lighted Bookshop by Lewis Buzbee bookcrossing
The Yiddish Policemen's Union by Michael Chabon library book
Yoko Writes Her Name by Rebecca Wells library book

Previous month

Skim: 08/17/09

Set in the early 1990s, Skim by Mariko Tamaki is about Kimberly 'Skim' Keiko Cameron and her time at an all girls academy in Toronto. She's a Goth and a Wiccan and half Japanese. She wants to fit in somewhere but she's not sure how or where.

Skim deals with many of the same themes as Emiko Superstar, also by Mariko Tamaki: self acceptance, lesbianism, and growing up in a biracial family. This book though delves deeper and includes discussion of suicide, a more frank discussion of teenage sex and the ways in which teens can be taken advantage of both by other teens and by adults.

Of the two books, I prefer Emiko Superstar for the balance between the teenage and adult problems. By having Skim experience first had all the issues the book becomes one long angst filled slog-fest.

Like Emiko Superstar, Skim was nominated earlier this year for a Cybils in the graphic novels category. It lost to Emiko.