Monday, October 5, 2015

Nana Volume 4, by Ai Yazawa

In the manga Nana Volume 4, by Ai YazawaNana Komatsu is tangled with all sorts of boyfriend mischief. On top of that, her sweet dreams of a blissful Tokyo life is crumbling as her job slips away. Confused with it all, Nana finds herself spending more and more quality time with her best friend forever Nana Osaki. As Nana spends more time getting to know the people of the band “Blackstone” she finds out about former the bassist Ren (currently the bassist of Trapnest) who also happens to be the lover of Nana Osaki’s life. This gives the perfect opportunity to distract Nana Komatsu’s worries and be the ultimate cupid to glue together Nana Osaki back to her other half Ren.

Nana Komatsu faces a significant turning point, among the many more to come, as ties breaks with Shoji. During this part many of us can see ourselves and the emotions that we encounter when we face a hurtful break in some sort of relationship. The reader becomes more engaging with the character of Nana Komatsu as they see a part of themselves in her and especially when she tries to have new adventures to erase away the pain of Shoji. I myself felt very emotionally connected to cupid Nana Komatsu who humorously takes on a new challenge to reunite Nana Osaki to Ren Honjo as a way to refresh her thoughts and push Nana Osaki to a happy ending.

Reviewed by Anonymous, Grade 11
Glendale Central Library

Necessary Lies, by Diane Chamberlain

Ivy Hart is born into a poor family that lives on a small farm. Her parents die when she is young and she is forced to take care of her old grandmother, mentally-ill sister and her baby, William. Her grandmother, Nonnie , has a grudge against the older sister, Mary Ella. She had her own baby to take care of even though she was only a teen and the family was struggling already financially. Ivy falls in love with Henry Allen, the sort- of rich kid who loved her back. They kept their relationship a secret from their parents in horror that they will punish them. Jane Forrester, a woman who had a good education and lives in the uptown area, decides to work helping poor and ill people improve their lives. She goes to Ivy's house and does great things such as give the family a fan to help endure the harsh summers and took them to the beach for the first time. Jane starts a campaign to stop Ivy from being sterilized. She realizes that the path she had chosen is not the easiest.

I like the way that Necessary Lies, by Diane Chamberlain, has captured the reality world and all the conflicts in the story can be real life situations. Diane Chamberlain really shows us a world where not everything is a happily ever after. I love how this story teaches us about the consequences we may receive if not working hard. I disliked how depressing the tone of the book can be at times though.

Reviewed by Anonymous, Grade 9
Glendale Central Library