He has also illustrated trading cards for Marvel, comics for the Pangu series of books by Martha Keswick. Free shipping with a min. By: Elvin Ching Illus. Publisher: Epigram Books. Email address. Checkmark icon Added to your cart:. Cart subtotal. Close icon. I admired how self aware and how smart she was for a fourteen year old, and she had a sense of humor about her cerebral palsy which struck me as an uncommon characteristic for kids her age.
There were certain moments when I would have liked to really feel the effects of Aiko's cerebral palsy on her, instead of just the occasional reminder of her limp or her crippled hand. It's understood that it makes things difficult for her, and causes her to hold a warped perception of herself, but aside from a couple of awkward interactions there weren't any struggles that translated to me in a way such that I could empathize.
Though I liked her character, I wish she would have had a bit more emotional depth. My only other criticism was how abrupt the ending was. Similar to stopping suddenly in a car, I reached the end and instead of a smooth transition, it just sort of stopped.
It was not a bad ending by any means, but I think personally, I was expecting a bit more; something that read more like a conclusion. Instead it was just a compilation of all of the plot conflicts finding their resolution, one after the other and then it just ended.
But the story was very cute. I love seeing growth in characters, especially when it's brought on by self-induced epiphanies. It was easy to read, it wasn't boring and there were cute romantic moments to it.
This book is for those readers who appreciate a plot that is more straightforward and doesn't have any convoluted plot twists. It is well-written and clean. I think that Gadget Girl could be popular with and relatable for a lot of young readers. Sep 28, Michael Peckitt rated it it was amazing. I recommend it to anyone really, but specifically to those that have a physical disability, or are the parent of a disabled person.
May 01, Joana Hill rated it liked it. Read more reviews at my blog, Words and Tea Bottles. A free e-book version was provided to me as part of the Gadget Girl in You tour.
I was actually pretty excited to read this book. So much happens in the book, and yet none of it is gone into in any significant detail. However, Aiko will act the exact same way the next time something goes bad; the boy in Paris, for instance. In the end, I found it to be about average.
Jul 06, Amazon rated it really liked it. The subject of artists using their children as their models and muses is a controversial one--just ask Sally Mann, and at first it seems as though this is the topic that will drive Gadget Girl. Suzanne Kamata takes this novel into a whole other arena, and provides a coming-of-age story that will be familiar to her readers, regardless of age or gender.
Aiko is a young manga artist who anonymously writes and distributes her zine series, Gadget Girl, the adventures of a girl who opened her mouth, sw The subject of artists using their children as their models and muses is a controversial one--just ask Sally Mann, and at first it seems as though this is the topic that will drive Gadget Girl. Aiko is a young manga artist who anonymously writes and distributes her zine series, Gadget Girl, the adventures of a girl who opened her mouth, swallowed a shooting star, and received super-powers.
Aiko herself struggles with more than her share of challenges. She is hapa, with a Japanese father whom she never knew, she has an eccentric artist-mother who uses her daughter as the source of her art, and she has cerebral palsy, which renders her left arm useless. Aiko and her mother are so physically dissimilar that people assume at first sight that they aren't related by blood.
Yearning for her lost father, Aiko takes the one scrap of information she has--that he is an indigo farmer--and uses that to foster a dream. She finds an indigo seed which she tends carefully, hoping it will sprout and grow into a mature plant, with leaves that will produce a dye that will turn a white handkerchief "the color of a storm-bruised sky. Dreaming of Japan, Aiko is less than thrilled when her mother wins a prestigious French prize and the two of them go off to Paris for the award ceremony.
The only bright spot for Aiko is the possibility of going to Lourdes for a miraculous cure of her disease. Paris, however, has other ideas for her. I rarely read YA fiction but this novel caught me and held me and made me remember how it felt to be young, unaware of who I was and what I had to offer. Although many of us don't have the talent or the challenges that Aiko has, few of us will come away from her story unmoved. This is a book that mothers and daughters can read with equal pleasure, a novel that takes young adult readers skillfully beyond dystopia, zombies, or vampires.
The best books are the ones that draw in readers of all ages, and take an "issue" into the realm of pure, undiluted atory. This is what Suzanne Kamata has done with Gadget Girl.
As a writer, I salute her; as a reader I say "More! Sep 18, Jacqueline rated it really liked it Shelves: france , paris. Aiko is different from the other kids at school; she has never met her Japanese Dad, she suffers from cerebral palsy and her limp has led to harassment by some of her peers.
Aiko just wants to be invisible. Her arty Mum is also a bit different, and although she wants the best for Aiko she is rather absorbed in her work and doesn't really cook like other Mums. As well as normal teen issues, like boys and friends, Aiko also has to deal with her Mum's relationships and the possible changes these may lead to in her life.
But she has dreams, she would love to visit Japan and meet her father, so she is learning Japanese, and her passion is to be a Manga Japanese style cartoon artist. She has secretly produced her own Manga series about a super hero called Gadget Girl that is proving very popular, but no one suspects she is behind it. Thinking they are off to Japan for her Mum's work, Aiko is a little disappointed when the trip turns out to be Paris and as she is her Mum's model the spotlight is on her more than she would like.
I may not be a teen any more, but I can recall some of what went on in my puberty addled brain and as this book deals with issues I can remember from those years it transported me back to my youth.
I found the storyline to be engaging and the book moved at a perfect pace. It was a delight to read, it kept me wanting more and I'm sure it will appeal to young adult readers, especially art loving ones. Apr 20, Patti rated it really liked it Shelves: ebook , young-adult , contemporary , know-the-author.
Aiko has dreams. She wants to meet her father - an indigo farmer in Japan. She wants to be a mangaka Manga author and she wants to be invisible. Or if not invisible, then at least not made fun of for her disabilities. Gadget Girl, written by a wonderful woman I met in Paris, is a sweet coming-of-age story of a girl growing up in Michigan.
Aiko doesn't have it easy. Not only is she one of only a handful of biracial kids in her entire school, AND has cerebral palsy and the use of only one arm, B Aiko has dreams. Not only is she one of only a handful of biracial kids in her entire school, AND has cerebral palsy and the use of only one arm, BUT her mother has also used her as a muse for her sculptures which, much to Aiko's chagrin, are becoming world famous.
None of these things help Aiko in her quest of remaining invisible and the book deals with her acceptance of who she is and the role she has to play in the world.
I really liked this book. Read it in one day in fact. At times I wished the author would have dug a bit deeper into her world and Aiko's feelings. Quite a few things remained only on surface level and I would have liked to have gone deeper. Especially when it came to the relationship with her father. But it is one I will be passing on to my own kids.
Especially my son whose only dream in life is to go to Japan and become a mangaka. Just like Aiko. I signed up for the tour a while ago and since then have read many books, so when I opened this one up I had forgotten what is was about. Love reading books like this!
Aiko has cerebral palsy but loves to draw and write her own comic books. She has super-human strength and extreme precision, and is perfect in every way. Dec 17, Avery Fischer Udagawa rated it it was amazing. A great read for cross-cultural teens! This novel tells the story of Aiko Cassidy, fifteen-year-old daughter of an American mother and a Japanese father she has never met.
Growing up in Michigan with cerebral palsy, Aiko tucks her wishes for acceptance and control into a manga series that she creates and distributes anonymously. Then her mother wins a prize for sculpture that takes them both to Paris and brings encounters with their past.
Aiko meets a handsome French waiter and, in a visit to Lo A great read for cross-cultural teens! Aiko meets a handsome French waiter and, in a visit to Lourdes, questions whether she would change who she is given the chance. Gadget Girl pulls together a whirlwind of places and themes: Michigan, France, Japan, cerebral palsy, manga, sculpture, film, out-of-wedlock pregnancy. Cross-cultural kids know this crazy influx of influences.
They live it. Suzanne Kamata captures it masterfully. I regularly recommend this title to globally mobile parents and teens. May 22, Jennifer Heise rated it it was amazing Shelves: ya , formation-stories. There are two kinds of books that I rate five stars: books I will read over and over again even if I'm unsure of their merit, and books that I think are just that good.
This book is just that good. Kamata handles a lot of issues missing dad, physical limitations, inter-racial identity in the course of her book, but they manage not to be the focus. Basically, this is a book about a young gir There are two kinds of books that I rate five stars: books I will read over and over again even if I'm unsure of their merit, and books that I think are just that good.
Basically, this is a book about a young girl navigating her world and her relationships with parents, peers and of course boys, as well as coming to terms with her value as well as her limitations. Compare to the Princess Diaries, but with less intrusive pop references and more focus. I may not re-read this with the popcorn comfort that I return to the Princess Diaries but it moved me and made me cry and never once did I want to shake some sense into the protagonist.
Jul 28, Christopher Tower rated it it was amazing. Once I really got going with this book, I could not put it down. It bumped aside my other reading at the time until I finished. This is a YA book, but it's a very good one. The author is a close friend of mine, but I can say, objectively, that this is an excellent piece of work. Suzanne Kamata has strong literary sensibilities and instincts. She weaves smart writing with a very well-told and well-crafted story. The book is also open ended and could enjoy a second volume.
Mar 06, Sarah rated it really liked it Shelves: ya , realisticfiction , multicultural , romance. Aiko Cassidy is half Japanese, but she's never known her father, who is an indigo farmer in Japan. But she wants to meet him someday, and so she eagerly consumes every bit of Japanese culture that she can, especially if it's got to do with manga Oct 08, Powersamurai rated it it was amazing Shelves: fiction , japan-related , childrens.
This is a powerful book. I had no interest in reading it, as such, just reading the blurb on the page, but I bought it for my niece and thought I'd read it before sending it off.
I'm glad I did now. I felt my way emotionally through the book; I couldn't put it down. Oct 20, Tara rated it really liked it. Jun 05, Vicky rated it it was amazing. I loved this book!
Aiko is a great character, and the story is wonderful. Jul 02, Oluwaseun rated it really liked it Shelves: strength-from-disability. I really thought that this story was going to be about a girl that loves manga a lot that she makes her own comic about an extraordinary girl that goes off to save the lives of other people along the way. The fact that Aiko has her childhood friend Whitney shows the fact that she has a person that would never think of betraying her.
But as I read through the first few pages, I noticed something different in the sense that it was really about a Japanese girl that has cerebral palsy. This really connects to me personally because my first pediatrician believed I had that. It was only later before I began to speak that my second pediatrician diagnosed me as being autistic.
At that time, I was mute. I tended to point to the things I wanted and my mom would get it for me. I later developed a stammering problem that has remained with me. There were a lot of things that my parents, teachers, even the custodians from my time in Helen Keller knew I was scared of, including my dad's friends and a matron that I had.
Before I began to speak, I had a difficult time trying to converse with other people. Two of my childhood friends from Tremont Park only knew these things about me during my fourth grade.
I only found out from my mom not too long after I first took the PATH train with her that I was actually on a bus with her to a Cerebral Palsy institute. This was something that I never really knew before then.
It also contained dialogue about a sweet fifteen that Aiko had which did not go really well because she found out how her grandmother did not want her father to have anything to do with a foreigner and her granddaughter.
I felt that was really mean because my grandmother in Nigeria embraced me and even went as far as to encourage me to eat more food. The fact that I noticed Aiko finally embrace her mother's boyfriend shows that she is willing to accept him for the Spanish guy he is.
Everything about it was just unexpected. Her relationship with her mom is very special in the sense that she has to take the heat of everything just to be with her, unlike my parents that decided they were going to do this together for me for my sake.
As a result, I saw her grandmother as evil and her real dad as not being able to bring himself to change his mother's mind. The fact that Aiko finds out she has a brother in Japan from her stepmom that she never met only begins to show what her grandmother was really like.
When Aiko's mother really begins to see the fact that Aiko is really talented in creating manga, she begins to change in the sense that she encourages her to continue what she does. Show more. Write a review. Get top deals, latest trends, and more. Email address. Sign up. About Target Careers. Email Signup. Target Brands. Advertise with Us. Bullseye Shop. Target's Coronavirus Response. Corporate Responsibility. Investor Relations. Help Target Help. Track Orders. Contact Us. Team Member Services.
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