Still Life (series Tune: Book 2).

Kim, Derek Kirk.  Still Life (series Tune: Book 2).  Macmillan/First Second  2013  201p.  $16.99  ISBN 978-1-5964-3760-9  hs/adult  Graphic novel  VG-BN     

Andy Go is an artist who can’t find a job.  He decides to accept what he believes to be a one-year offer to live in an alien zoo.  Andy soon realizes that he was tricked into signing a life-long contract. He can’t see the other exhibits in the zoo, but speaks to his neighbor through a vent.  The zoo decides it is time to bring a female into the exhibit, and Andy convinces them to get the girl with whom he is in love.  The graphic novel is humorous and will appeal to high-school students.  Andy, who is in his early twenties, makes some references that many teens may not understand, such as to Bill Hicks and Curb Your Enthusiasm. There are a few brief mentions of sex and virginity, but overall the language is relatively tame.  This is book two in the Tune series, and while it was easy to follow the story, it would be helpful to read this series in order.       

Humor, Zoos-Fiction, Science fiction            --Stephanie Pennucci

Kim, Patti. Here I Am.

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Kim, Patti.  Here I Am.  Capstone/Picture window  2014  40p  ISBN 978-1-4048-8299-7  elem  VG-BN  Picture book (Wordless)           

A beautifully drawn picture book describes coming to the United States without the use of a single, understandable word.  Letters are grouped together in the book, but they are nonsense words, which is just what a child would perceive if he or she were new to the English language.  This is just one of the many problems that young immigrants have, whether coming to America or to any country but “home.”  The differences in society, environment and comfort are clearly illustrated through the artwork, and the note to the reader tells the author’s own tale of coming to the United States.  As hard as the transition is for immigrants, in so many ways it is especially hard for children.  But as this story tells it, it all works out in the end.        

Summary: The story of coming to America as seen through the eyes of a child is presented without words.  Just pictures.

Immigration-Picture books                                  --Lynn Fisher    

Kim, Derek Kirk. Tune: Book 1, Vanishing Point.

Kim, Derek Kirk.  Tune: Book 1, Vanishing Point.  Macmillan/ First Second     2012  153p  $16.99  978-1-59643-516-2  hs/adult (Grade 11-Adult)  Graphic novel  VG   

When Andy Go decides he has had enough of college, he drops out of art school, sure that he will find employment as an illustrator.  When his resumes are rejected, his parents issue an ultimatum that he has to find a job instead of lounging around home.  The jobs he applies for do not fit his vision of himself, but when he realizes he cannot return home without a job, he goes on one last interview and is whisked into a parallel universe where he will be the “human” exhibit at a zoo.  At this point the story stops, “to be continued” in a second volume.  

Andy’s love of his classmate Yumi, his friendship with two fellow art students who have been his best buddies for several years, the high expectations of his Korean parents, and his interest in science-fiction writing all play a part in this wonderfully-envisioned story.  Personalities are well defined.  The art work is excellent and detailed.  The irreverent humor, often aimed at religious icons and body functions, will make young adults laugh but might offend some communities.  Readers will surely clamor for the second volume to see where Andy Go ends up, what his job will entail, and whether he ever returns to earth.

Science Fiction, Parallel universes - Fiction               --Lois McNicol