BookDragon Blog

The peaceful slumber of Johnny Hiro and girlfriend Mayumi Murakami in their rent-controlled (run-down) New York City apartment, is rudely interrupted by Gozadilla (that extra ‘a’ is not a typo), who couldn’t make it as a killer monster in Tokyo so has come to New York in the middle of the night to wreak revenge on the daughter of the robot-controller who brought him down. Said daughter, Mayumi, speed-dials Mayor Michael Bloomberg (because a New York Times article revealed he has a publicly listed number) to ask for help with the downed Gozadilla (he needed a five-minute power-nap after so much excitement), so Bloomberg drags himself out of bed (his constituents would “panic and leave” if they knew big monsters were running around!) and takes care of the situation just like that. What’s not to love here??!! And if ONLY.

With whimsical imagination and over-the-top silliness, Chao introduces a touching pair of young lovers trying to live normal lives in the big city, even in the most absurdly abnormal situations. His energetic drawings leap off the page, or welcome you to join in a moment of reflection.

Johnny’s dead-end job in a sushi restaurant has no end of crazy challenges – how about stealing a rare lobster from a rival restaurant at his boss’s request to please a waiting food critic? Then on his one grown-up night out with Mayumi, he ends up helping a friend escape 47 itinerant employees in full samurai armor during an opera at the Met, exit stage left. But no matter how down-and-out he feels coming home from a long day, Johnny shows his true hero roots when he slips a few bills to a sleeping homeless lump on the subway.

Just to keep you guessing, creator Fred Chao randomly draws in Alton Brown (I had to google him – and he’s for real) as his voice of reason – Hunts Point Fish Market is open in the wee hours, not during the day when Johnny is sent there by the crazy boss, the alter-Alton reminds unsuspecting readers. But by book’s end, Chao manages to take alter-Alton down, ‘your momma’ jokes (“Your mom blackens catfish with a magic marker!”) and all.

Bunny slippers, Judge Judy, a rooftop proposal, David Byrne, a giant tuna off the coast of Shikoku, and a rented Hyundai. Really, this is almost too much fun for one reader! Johnny Hiro hits stands in June. Don’t you dare miss it!

Readers: Young Adult, Adult

Published: 2009