Summary from Amazon: "From two masters of the graphic novel--Gene Luen Yang (American Born Chinese) and Derek Kirk Kim (Same Difference and Other Stories) come fantastical adventures through the worlds we live in and the worlds we create: the story of a prince who defeats his greatest enemy only to discover that maybe his world is not what it had seemed; the story of a frog who finds that just being a frog might be the way to go; and the story of a woman who receives an email from Prince Henry of Nigeria asking for a loan to help save his family. With vivid artwork and moving writing, Derek Kirk Kim and Gene Luen Yang test the boundaries between fantasy and reality, exploring the ways that the world of the imagination can affect real life."Dang. This one got me. I guess I'm used to reading kids' books, which are inevitably predictable. This one had me guessing and marveling at every twist, of which there were several!
I would say this is YA mostly because of the references younger students wouldn't get (Nigerian spam and genital prosthetics, for example), but it was refreshing to read a story with really nothing to be considered obscene. Um, except for the genital prosthetics, but we never actually *see* those or anything...
I am hooked and must go read more Yang!
I read this for the 2009 Cybils.
Awesomeness: 8.5 - this book exudes awesomeness!
Wordsmithing: 7 - clever and well plotted.
Personages: 7 - fascinating but not very likeable, though that is not necessary in short story land.
Mesmerizitude: 8 - it captured me.
Illustrations: 7 - three excellent stories in three excellent styles, all by one artist - very cool.
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