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7th out of 65 books
—
30 voters
Emiko Superstar
A borrowed diary, a double life, and identity issues fuel a teenager's quest to find herself before she cracks and commits social suicide, in this new series written especially for girls. Young adult.
Paperback, 176 pages
Published
October 14th 2008
by Minx
(first published October 7th 2008)
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I'm not picking graphic novels all that well it seems. At least not every time. It's true, I don't read the synopsis and just look at the cover and briefly flip through the book to check the artwork, so I suppose it's my own fault for picking another "lonely emo girl finds a boy who finally 'gets' her and disappoints her parents to 'find herself' with a ragtag group of misfits." This wasn't as extreme in those regards as
Ivy
was, but this actually ended up lacking substance in spite of that.
I...more
I...more
I pretty much loved everything about this book, from the fantastic character designs (both in personality and in actual visual portrayal-woo for chunkier protagonists whose storyline never talks about the fact that she isn't a twig!), to the story itself which was layered in amazing ways most YA novels don't ever attempt. Thought-provoking and inspirational, not to mention being a damn fine read. A MUST READ for anyone who secretly or not so secretly is an art freak at heart. One complaint: cove...more
Cybils YA Graphic Novel Award winner
I surprised myself by being engaged by this iconic YA search for identity where Emi, a self-proclaimed geek, dares to attend a Freak Show, after being captivated by its star, the Amazing Poppy Galore, at a mall. At this point in the story, the words fail and the image takes over: Poppy is full-page glorious, "covered in silver and pieces of mirror. Like a disco ball..." Emi dares to dream that even she could remake herself into Emiko Superstar.
I noticed so...more
I surprised myself by being engaged by this iconic YA search for identity where Emi, a self-proclaimed geek, dares to attend a Freak Show, after being captivated by its star, the Amazing Poppy Galore, at a mall. At this point in the story, the words fail and the image takes over: Poppy is full-page glorious, "covered in silver and pieces of mirror. Like a disco ball..." Emi dares to dream that even she could remake herself into Emiko Superstar.
I noticed so...more
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Ok, first of all, I love the MINX books. I know they aren't perfect, but they go a long way for me. I like them not only because I read them nostalgically for my teenage self, who probably would have loved them, but also because I think they are just cute, interesting stories that are a nice breather from un-minx books. When I read in September that Minx is giving up the ghost, I felt genuinely bummed. I'm glad my local library carries a bunch of Minx titles so I can work through the cannon afte...more
As a Very Quiet high school student, I just wanted to be invisible. Well, even more invisible than I already was. Except maybe to the couple of boys I had crushes on. It wasn’t until college that I became enamored of the long-defunct world of Andy Warhol and Lou Reed and dreamed of tramping around seedy NYC streets smoking too many cigarettes. The vision ended there, but it had enough aesthetic appeal to cause me to keep my hair very short and very black for quite some time. Fishnets, boots, and...more
A fun, light-hearted graphic novel by one of the authors of "Skim". Emiko self-identifies as a geek and has typically been OK with being in the background. Her summer is promising to be boring, the only thing getting her out of the house being her babysitting job for a young couple. One day, she witnesses a unique girl making a scene by dancing and tossing out flyers advertising a freak show. In spite of her hesitations, Emiko is intrigued and eventually makes her way to the club where she is ut...more
I LOVED this one! Emiko doesn't really fit into any mold and she feels out of place where ever she is, which I can totally relate to. She is labeled a nerd/geek, but she's not really, she's just uncomfortable around people. Her summer is typical. Lousy. While at the mall she has an experience that changes her life... and no, its not a sale at the Gap.
I loved the story. In high school I was uncomfortable and unsure of how to act. The one thing that I loved to do was write. It was the perfect outl...more
I loved the story. In high school I was uncomfortable and unsure of how to act. The one thing that I loved to do was write. It was the perfect outl...more
I picked this up a while ago but forgot I had it. This was one of the last comics from DC's late, lamented Minx line of manga-sized comics aimed with teenage female protagonists(I don't want to call them books 'for' or even 'aimed at' girls because anyone can enjoy them).
This story about Emiko, a biracial Canadian teenager, and self-professed geek who decides to reinvent herself as a performance artist. Mariko Tamaki has written an emotionally complex story bursting with very specific details,...more
This story about Emiko, a biracial Canadian teenager, and self-professed geek who decides to reinvent herself as a performance artist. Mariko Tamaki has written an emotionally complex story bursting with very specific details,...more
Emiko is in the middle of the summer that will change her life. After being fired from her job as a whip girl at a froufrou drinks store and being saddled with babysitting when her parents demand that she do something productive, Emi has no real direction. Stumbling on the Freak Show makes her believe that there might be something more for her - that she might have some sort of artistic ability. Part rave, part vaudeville: the Freak Show features performances that defy normal conventions (and oc...more
I picked this up at the library and started flipping through. Only after a close look at the back cover did I realize that I have read another of Tamaki's graphic novels, Skim. I liked Skim, but it seemed a little light-weight and unfocused. This book definitely comes out of the same ethos as Skim. Emi is a geek who doesn't even fit in with the other geeks. She almost accidentally stumbles upon this non-conformist group of people, where each person is weirder than the last and many are performer...more
Emiko Superstar is a wonderfully written and drawn graphic novel about a young girl, half-white and half-Japanese, searching for a little acceptance in a very unlikely place: where everyone is perceived to be weird. Reading the book, I found the personal growth of the character Emiko to be similar to my own, and I think young readers may feel the same way as well.
The story provided an insight to a little piece of art history tucked away in cities everywhere. Places where people can go to be as e...more
The story provided an insight to a little piece of art history tucked away in cities everywhere. Places where people can go to be as e...more
This was a quick and cute read. Emiko is a geek trying to fit in and she meets a group of "freaks" and begins participating in an illegal theater wherein she steals diary entries from her employers wife (who's having an affair) and using it for poetry. It's a fairly straightforward comic, and Emiko is quite likeable as she's always trying to find ways to do the things she's never done before but also understand the types of consequences she must face. The art is all right, though it has it's mom...more
This is another good one from Minx. Of course the Minx imprint has been discontinued for 2009 but I did like what they came out with. These standalone titles are a good introduction to graphic novels for many people. Yes, these titles feature young women as the main characters and they were designed to appeal to those same readers. This one is about a girl who finds a group of people imitating Andy Warhol's Factory which offers a performance space to those who want to perform. What Emiko chooses...more
The fate of the Minx imprint is really a crying shame. For an all-too-brief moment, DC Comics was publishing these fantastic narratives about teenage girls who were not even remotely the assumed norm, delivered in the form of extremely viewable and readable graphic art. Sadly, these books were published under a false imprimis ("'Minx'? Srsly???") and not under any other and didn't have a great fate.
This is a great story about being mixed-race, about transitioning from one grade to another and no...more
This is a great story about being mixed-race, about transitioning from one grade to another and no...more
Ok. I loved this story--as a starting point for a longer story. "Nerdy" Emily doesn't fit in and basically has no friends. A flier blows into her hands one summer afternoon advertising a Freak Show of sorts. Gathering all the courage she can muster, she attends the freak and then goes again and again until she is finally ready to participate as a performer. But I'm a demanding reader. There are interesting supporting characters in this Minx graphic novel that deserve more character development....more
Jan 04, 2010
Kiera
rated it
3 of 5 stars
Recommends it for:
Artists and introverts
Shelves:
graphic-novel
This being my first graphic novel, I wasn't sure how I'd like it after reading the first couple pages. However, after about 10 pages I became hooked.
It revolves around a girl name Emi. Facing a long, boring summer of babysitting and having zero social life, she decides to attend a freak show after become enamored by superstar freak, Poppy, during a chance meeting at the mall. A meeting that means her summer will not be the same.
As an introvert, and an artist, I could really appreciate the aspect...more
It revolves around a girl name Emi. Facing a long, boring summer of babysitting and having zero social life, she decides to attend a freak show after become enamored by superstar freak, Poppy, during a chance meeting at the mall. A meeting that means her summer will not be the same.
As an introvert, and an artist, I could really appreciate the aspect...more
Fantastic art, great characters, unique plot and setting. All the ingredients of a great graphic novel.
Now, past all the meat and potatoes, I just have to say it: I LOVED Emi. I wished I could meet her, and talk to her for hours. I think most geeky girls would feel this way. Us girl-geeks all go through what Emi does and we all wonder and wrestle with the same things. Not all of us, though, are as hilarious as Emi. I wish I had the same wry humor as her - and her courage!
I only wish it was longe...more
Now, past all the meat and potatoes, I just have to say it: I LOVED Emi. I wished I could meet her, and talk to her for hours. I think most geeky girls would feel this way. Us girl-geeks all go through what Emi does and we all wonder and wrestle with the same things. Not all of us, though, are as hilarious as Emi. I wish I had the same wry humor as her - and her courage!
I only wish it was longe...more
My new crush is on Mariko Tamaki. I loved her book Skim, and this is more proof that she's up-and-coming in the graphic novel universe. I can't wait for her to write something else. And she should update her website. :)
Anyway, the book. This is a story of a girl who decides to leave the geeks and join the freaks. You know I like a book with that premise. I want to tell you more, but I don't think it's necessary. I LOVED it. I want to LIVE it. This is far and away the best Minx title so far (and...more
Anyway, the book. This is a story of a girl who decides to leave the geeks and join the freaks. You know I like a book with that premise. I want to tell you more, but I don't think it's necessary. I LOVED it. I want to LIVE it. This is far and away the best Minx title so far (and...more
I thought this story of a girl coming out of her shell in a big way was really wonderful. By the author of the comic Skim, who is a performance artist with neat tattoos in her author picture. The comic appears to have some autobiographical elements to it as the main character, Emiko, busts out of her nerd life by becoming a punked-out performance artist.
This was just deep and complex enough without getting super-heavy. I do hope Mariko Tamaki will be writing more comics because the two she's wr...more
This was just deep and complex enough without getting super-heavy. I do hope Mariko Tamaki will be writing more comics because the two she's wr...more
So I have no read almost all of the graphic novels that were published by DC Comics, Minx imprint (which is sadly no longer around).
For this review I'm just going to get right down to nitty gritty of what I thought about it. I ask that y’all also bear with me if my review reads weird today; I've had a case of bad allergies and a little bit of a cold (and have been taking Benadryl).
While I really like the underlying message of Emiko Superstar, I find that on a whole I only kind of liked it. I kn...more
For this review I'm just going to get right down to nitty gritty of what I thought about it. I ask that y’all also bear with me if my review reads weird today; I've had a case of bad allergies and a little bit of a cold (and have been taking Benadryl).
While I really like the underlying message of Emiko Superstar, I find that on a whole I only kind of liked it. I kn...more
Emiko didn't start off as a superstar. She started off as just a girl with a summer job. Was a whip girl then a babysitter. This was before she saw Poppy in the mall. After that Emiko went to go see the Freaks and what a sight they were. She meets a guy named Henry that tells her she can fall in with that crowd to, if she only tries and wows. So she tries, because she wants to create something. Emiko wants to find herself and the freaks might just help her.
This was an interesting little tale abo...more
This was an interesting little tale abo...more
Emiko Superstar by Mariko Tamaki and illustrated by Steve Rolston won the YA Graphic Novel category of the Cybils earlier this year.
Emiko is a geeky and awkward teenager who wants to find her place in the world. She's an Asian Canadian growing up in Toronto. The book covers her summer vacation where she is baby sitting for a dysfunctional family and spending her nights as a performance artist in a club that draws its influence from Andy Warhol's Factory.
Emiko Superstar drew me into the story wit...more
Emiko is a geeky and awkward teenager who wants to find her place in the world. She's an Asian Canadian growing up in Toronto. The book covers her summer vacation where she is baby sitting for a dysfunctional family and spending her nights as a performance artist in a club that draws its influence from Andy Warhol's Factory.
Emiko Superstar drew me into the story wit...more
I didn't think I was going to like this book as much as I did when I first started reading it. The whole "freak" scene didn't really strike me as very convincing, but as with Mariko Tamaki's other recent graphic novel, Skim, the main character was so wonderfully realized, the trappings of the story hardly even mattered. My problem with many of the Minx titles has been that I felt they stopped short, that the growth the protagonists were experiencing wasn't given a full arc. Not so here. Emiko go...more
I think it's difficult in a graphic novel for the narrator to maintain a strong voice, or at least it's difficult for me to not be distracted by all of the pictures when I'm reading a GN. Emiko is very loveable and real and her story resonates with me; I swore when I grew up that I was going to be a superstar. Sadly, my superstardom ends at my classroom door (or when I'm accosted at Walmart by former students), while Emiko's story is hopeful in a "the world is your oyster" kind of way.
What does it take to make art, and what's the difference between the search for authentic art and just being unusual for its own sake? This graphic novel sometimes seems to be skimming over the questions, but in the end teenaged Emiko's summer of performing at a (creepy dive) club and babysitting for an (all-too-perfect) upper-class family turns out to be what she needed to discover some answers for herself.
I've got two other books started but I saw this while stickering graphic novels at work, and I thought I'd give it a shot. I liked the curvy, non-angular art style. The characters were believable; I knew a girl in college who start hanging out with the film kids and would drink in that subculture. I see how Emiko is the way she is, and I liked her It's a simple story with a message, but a believable one.
Can someone remind me why the Minx line failed?
I guess I should have gotten this from the comic shop rather than the library.
This was a great little story about a shy girl coming out of her shell and trying on a different identity.
I need to head over to Great Escape and buy this, both Plain Janes and whatever else I can get hold of from this line before they're all gone.
I guess I should have gotten this from the comic shop rather than the library.
This was a great little story about a shy girl coming out of her shell and trying on a different identity.
I need to head over to Great Escape and buy this, both Plain Janes and whatever else I can get hold of from this line before they're all gone.
This graphic novel was just kind of 'meh' for me. I wish the story was a bit more fleshed out. I did appreciate that Emi is a chubby girl, but no one talks about it because it isn't an issue, and I liked her artsy tendencies (despite the fact that her art was stolen from someone else). I think it's probably good for teenagers (the target audience), but I would have liked to see more.
Minx. I had serious issues with what Emi does - she copies out diary entries of the young trapped suburban mother she's babysitting for, and turns that woman's pain into performance art in order to impress a bunch of sleazy disaffected hipsters. She never owns to her dishonesty, and while there are happy endings all round, it just doesn't sit right with me.
It was a good quick read. It is part of the Minx series of books which I really like. A series good for getting girls interested in graphic novels.
The young teen girl, Emiko, struggles to find herself in this graphic novel. The art work by Steve Rolston was very good. Mario Tamaki is the author of the award winning title this year, Skim.
The young teen girl, Emiko, struggles to find herself in this graphic novel. The art work by Steve Rolston was very good. Mario Tamaki is the author of the award winning title this year, Skim.
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Mariko Tamaki is a Toronto writer, playwright, activist and performer. She works and performs with fat activists Pretty Porky and Pissed Off and the theatre troupe TOA, whose recent play, A vs. B, was staged at the 2004 Rhubarb Festival at Buddies in Bad Times Theatre. Her well-received novel, Cover Me (McGilligan Books) was followed by a short fiction collection, True Lies: The Book of Bad Advice...more
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