BookDragon Blog

Wherever the ALA – the American Library Association, the mother of all library associations in the world! – leaves its stamp of approval, you’re guaranteed some great reads. In 2007, the ALA even hopped on the manga bandwagon when their young adult division, YALSA (Young Adult Library Services Association), began compiling “Great Graphic Novels for Teens” which include an annual Top Ten plus a much longer selection of Greats, targeted at readers ages 12-18 … yes, manga isn’t just for oldster manga addicts like me!

So guess what’s on YALSA’s 2011 Top Ten Great Graphic Novels for Teens list? Go ahead, take the easy shot, given this post … it’s Saturn Apartments (vol. 1)! Yippee indeed!

[And in case you were wondering, other YALSA Top Ten graphic titles that have a BookDragon posting include Brain Camp, Yummy: The Last Days of a Southside Shorty, and Smile. How rewarding to know my manga obsession is approved by the venerable ALA folks!]

Sweet young Mitsu’s adventures both on and off the job continue in this touching next volume. From his window-cleaning vantage point, he’s got privileged access into the lives of Saturn Apartment’s upper-level residents … and with his kind and caring heart, he’s a bit like a guardian angel to them. He helps a young woman try her independence while he saves her elderly mother’s life, even as he risks his own. He spends his recovery day harvesting wheat on behalf his mentor Jin’s wife, who just might need the rest more than he does: “I can forget about everything when I’m working,” he insists.

In spite of mistakes he makes along the way, Mitsu is surrounded by his father’s friends and colleagues who, regardless of their grumbling over his inexperience, are more than willing to look out for their new recruit. Their stories and memories bring him closer to his father, a master window-washer who disappeared five years ago during a work accident, whom Mitsu is not ready to let go completely …

Mitsu learns his father chose his name to honor the mother Mitsu never knew, taking the first character of his late wife’s name: “The kanji for Mitsu … is ‘light,'” Jin’s wife explains. “Your mother’s name was Mitsue.” The knowledge of this new connection to both his parents warms Mitsu, who is indeed a true and guiding light amidst all the artificial surroundings of the Saturn Apartments’ lower levels. He will surely continue to shine in coming volumes, and his stories will deservedly light up many a reading list … even for us cynical oldsters, ahem!

Click here for more volumes.

Readers: Middle Grade, Young Adult

Published: 2010 (United States)
DOSEI MANSION © Hisae Iwaoka
Original Japanese edition published by Shogakukan Inc