Tiny Navajo Reads: My Hero Academia, Vol. 4

My Hero Academia, Vol. 4 by Kohei Horikoshi

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*Published May 3, 2016*

Volume 4 is a continuation of the sports festival, with the second trial and the start of the third trial. I love seeing how different everyone’s Quirks are, as well as how adaptable these people are with their Quirks.

What would the world be like if 80 percent of the population manifested superpowers called “Quirks”? Heroes and villains would be battling it out everywhere! Being a hero would mean learning to use your power, but where would you go to study? The Hero Academy of course! But what would you do if you were one of the 20 percent who were born Quirkless?

The U.A. High sports festival is a chance for the budding heroes to show their stuff and find a superhero mentor. The students have already struggled through a grueling preliminary round, but now they have to team up to prove they’re capable of moving on to the next stage. The whole country is watching, and so are the shadowy forces that attacked the academy…

Being perfectly honest, I love this series and I love seeing how much everyone is already starting to change and grow. With the second competition, we start to see the ingenuity that Deku has as he picks out the best people to help him in the rider challenge. And he shows us how while his first picks didn’t all agree to compete with him, he is able to recover and continue to work through the challenge to still make it to the next round to compete in the one-on-ones.

We also see the start of the third trial of the sports event, and we see how several of our main characters battle against others, both in Class 1-A and 1-B. I loving the passion and ability that these students have as they strive to do their best in this sports event.

When have you strove to do your best, even if it would mean losing to a better opponent? What do you do when someone encourages you to do your best, when you feel you cannot? Comment below and let me know!

Tiny Navajo Reads: My Hero Academia, Vol. 3

My Hero Academia, Vol. 3 by Kohei Horikoshi

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*Published February 2, 2016*

Volume 3 was read in the same day as volume 2, and in this one, we see the end of the fight with the big bad villain and his League of Villains (yes, he is overdramatic). It’s going to be interesting to see what Deku and his friends will do next.

What would the world be like if 80 percent of the population manifested superpowers called “Quirks”? Heroes and villains would be battling it out everywhere! Being a hero would mean learning to use your power, but where would you go to study? The Hero Academy of course! But what would you do if you were one of the 20 percent who were born Quirkless?

A sinister group of villains has attacked the first-year U.A. students, but their real target is All Might. It’s all that Midoriya and his classmates can do to hold them off until reinforcements arrive. All Might joins the battle to protect the kids, but as his power runs out he may be forced into an extremely dangerous bluff!

Here, we see what happens once All Might joins the fight, because HELL YES!!! We see All Might unleash all of his power upon the Nomu and how much his injury has changed how he can fight crime. As he nears the end of his time of usage, we see what it means to Deku to have All Might’s power and the knowledge that All Might isn’t able to work as he used to as a hero. Thankfully, this does end in some happiness, and we transition into a NSE (normal school event), sort of, which is the U.A. Sports Event where all the students of the U.A. compete in three different events in order to show that they are the best of the best of the heroes-to-be.

Throughout the battle with the League of Villains, and the start of the sports event, we see how quickly Deku thinks and how he’s able to hold his own against those who have better control over their Quirks. Deku’s fanboy quality of analyzing others’ quirks and how he would work against them works in his favour here in the sport events, as he quickly puts together what is needed in order to move forward in the competition.

What are some of your favourite sports competitions to watch? What sports do you wish you could play? Comment below and let me know!

Tiny Navajo Reads: Food Wars! Vol. 17-19

Food Wars! Vol. 17 – 19 (Shokugeki no Soma #17 – 19) by Yuto Tsukuda

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*Published April 4, 2017, June 6, 2017, August 1, 2017*

Onward, ever onward into the madness that is Food Wars! and I absolutely love this series. And as stated in previous reviews, I tend to get these books in batches of three and they all get read at once, so they tend to blur just a bit, so it’s easiest for me to review them in batches of three. So, onto our triple review!

Volume 17

Under new dean Azami Nakiri, the Totsuki Institute undergoes a revolution. Erina—now under lock and key by her father’s hand—is freed by her cousin Alice in a daring midnight escape! Running blindly through campus, the two fugitives finally reach safety…at the Polaris Dorm?! With the hand of darkness close behind, can Soma and the gang keep Erina safe?

In this volume, we just how much of a change has come around due to the new regime under the thumb of Azami Nakura, a man who wishes to push out clones and copies of the best of the best. While this sounds like it has the possibility of being a good thing, it also means that there are no longer clubs or seminars that encourage experimentation and individuality. In a world where for Soma, taking what he learns at each experience and uses it to expand his own resources and abilities, it may just be the worst thing to come to Tostuki.

Volume 18

The shokugeki to decide the fate of the Polaris dormitory nears its conclusion! Even with the judges firmly in his opponent’s pocket, Soma puts everything he’s learned from his time at the dorm on a plate, cementing Polaris’s future—or lack thereof—at the institute. Meanwhile, Central makes its move, beginning a full-scale purge of anyone daring to resist! Will Soma survive to take on this next challenge?

Here we see the end of the shokugeki that will decide the fate of Polaris dormitory. It’s here we see the true ingenuity of those who learn and apply their learning to their own cooking in order to entice even those who have been bought to always vote Central in the take over of clubs. But even after the shokugeki, we see Azami come by Polaris dorms to talk to his daughter and we get a bit of backstory into why Azami is doing this and it has something to do with Soma’s father, Joichiro. I know that this villain feels just a tiny bit flat, but I did enjoy getting to know a little bit of his backstory and his connection with Soma’s dad. It’s going to be interesting to see where this goes next.

Volume 19

Fighting to save Alice’s society from being abolished by the Azami administration, Ryo Kurokiba, battling as her champion, begins his shokugeki with Central elite Kusunoki. The theme is salmon, and both chefs put everything they’ve got, including their pride, into their dishes. So what’s got Alice so troubled that she tells off her own uncle, Dean Nakiri, at the end of the match?!

In this volume, the absolute best part is that we see Soma take on the First Seat in the Council of Ten in a shokugeki with some of the highest stakes Soma could possibly take on; if he wins, he gets First seat…if he loses, he joins Central as Eishi Tsukasa’s sous chef. You would think that he was completely crazy to do this, and you would be completely right! Why would he do this? I think that it’s to prove to the Tsukasa that individuality is what’s needed for Tostuki, not this copy and paste method that Azami Nakura has devised.

This is the start of a excellent arc that I think is a good way to focus on Erina and how she became the way that she is now, and how is she falls back into her old habits, she lose all the humanity that she had regained. And I think that it’ll be interesting to see more of Azami’s background and how it revolves around Joichiro, and all the crazy strands that have been woven since before Erina and Soma were born.

Also, this is my third week of being off of work and I’ve done nearly all that I can at my home to keep myself occupied. So, insolation question; what are y’all doing to keep yourself occupied? Have you started new hobbies or are you relying on old ones? Comment below and let me know what in your home you’re doing to keep yourself sane and safe!

Tiny Navajo Reads: Orange: The Complete Collection Vol. 2

Orange: The Complete Collection, Vol. 2 by Ichigo Takano, translated by Amber Tamosaitis

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*Published May 31, 2016*

This is the second volume of Orange, and when I had finished the first one, I had to get this one to find out what happened next! It was so good, and I just needed to know if Naho and her friends were able to save Kakeru.

An Epic Love Story Across Time

Naho immediately feels a connection to the new boy who has transferred to her class. Kakeru is calm, kind, and seems to like Naho as well. But their relationship gets thrown for a loop when Naho receives a letter from the future. The letter explains that Kakeru will die unless Naho does exactly as the letter says. But changing fate is no easy task. When the letter starts to get things wrong, Naho worries that she will still lose Kakeru forever. Luckily, Naho has her friends to back her up. Not only do they want to see Naho and Kakeru get together, they also have time-traveling letters of their own…

Orange: The Complete Collection 2 also includes a bonus story, Haruiro Astronaut. This five chapter story is about a pair of twins who discover that they can’t share everything in life–or at least not an alien that suddenly becomes a part of it.

Okay, first off, I did NOT read the extra story because it just didn’t feel right. I didn’t feel like reading what felt like a really light-hearted story after a fairly serious story. So, I won’t be talking about the bonus story. Now, onto the true review!

I loved reading about Naho and Kakeru, and how their relationship starts to grow as Naho tries to follow through with what her future self says to do in order to save Kakeru. I will say that mental health issues and how to deal with them are talked a bit more in this volume, and while not dealt with in the best of ways, it does touch on them a little bit. But I think the best part of this volume was that it showed that even the smallest of actions can have the biggest of consequences, the biggest of ripples, and sometimes those ripples will have effects that you never thought of.

I like that this manga if just for the message that I found in it, that you should always try to be a good friend, even if that means you sometimes have to go outside of your comfort zone. I am not the best at going outside my comfort zone, I quite like my comfort zone, it’s comfy here! Anyway, I think if you’re looking for a manga or book about time travel and working to help your friend, then I highly recommend this manga for you.

What were some times you have gone outside of your comfort zone for your friends? And when have your friends been there for you? Comment below and let me know!

Tiny Navajo Reads: Orange

Orange: The Complete Collection, Vol. 1 by Ichigo Takano, translated by Lasse Christian Christiansen, and Amber Tamosaitis.

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*Published January 26, 2016*

This manga volume was brought to my attention thanks to one of my friends, who has already read and rated it on Goodreads. Once I saw that she had rated it relatively high for her, I had to read through its blurb to see what it was about and see if it was something for me. It’s about time travel and yes, this is a series for me!

A Plea From the Future

On the day that Naho begins 11th grade, she receives a letter from herself ten years in the future. At first, she writes it off as a prank, but as the letter’s predictions come true one by one, Naho realizes that the letter might be the real deal. Her future self tells Naho that a new transfer student, a boy named Kakeru, will soon join her class. The letter begs Naho to watch over him, saying that only Naho can save Kakeru from a terrible future. Who is this mystery boy, and can Naho save him from his destiny? This is the heart-wrenching sci-fi romance that has over million copies in print in Japan!

I love this series! It’s so nice and quiet, it’s a bit of life as it is in high school, but with the small added bit of letters that have traveled through time to their younger selves. Letters that allude to a time in the future where they are regretting a time where they don’t have a friend of theirs from high school.

Naho receives a letter from her future self on her first day of 11th grade, a letter that tells her all that will happen on that day and future days to time and what she is to do to save a new friend from a terrible fate. As she goes throughout her school year, she realizes that what she thought at first to be a hoax or a joke, is in fact reality. There is truth to what this letter says and if it did come from the future, then something terrible will happen if she doesn’t strive to save Kakeru.

I love this story and I love what it says about your actions in the here and now. It means that you can always change the future NOW. You don’t have to wait for a big chance to do big change. Sometimes, all you can do is do a bunch of small changes in order to enact a bunch of small changes. And in this time of uncertainty and fear, we can do these small things to help others. We can do small things that can lead to big affects.

With that, especially during this time of social distancing and some self-isolation, then think of some small things you can do to better someone’s day, even if that day is your own. What are some little things that have happened in your life that made your day better?  What is a little thing you can do to better someone else’s life? Comment below and let me know!

Tiny Navajo Reads: Food Wars! Vol. 14-16

Food Wars! Vol. 14-16 (Shokugeki no Soma #14-16) by Yuto Tsukuda

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*Published October 4, 2016, December 6, 2016, February 7, 2017*

Yep, I’m going to continue on my reviewing three at a time for Food Wars! as I tend to get them in batches of three through Libby and I read them one right after another, so they all blur together. The theme for these three though is the last part of the stagiarie program, the Moon Festival, and the introduction of a new headmaster, Erina’s father.

Volume 14

Having passed the first challenge of the stagiaire program, Soma moves on to his next assignment—working for Totsuki Institute graduate and former first seat Shinomiya at his brand-new Tokyo restaurant! Excited by the challenge, Soma dives into the assignment hoping to find new ways to improve his cooking. But the way Shinomiya runs his kitchen is unfamiliar to Soma—only the best of the best stand a chance of keeping up! Does Soma have what it takes to pass this next challenge?

Volume 15

Soma finally meets the Totsuki Institute’s current reigning Council of Ten, and in true Soma fashion, he challenges them all to a shokugeki! But the Council of Ten members see Soma and the rest of the first-years at the Momiji Meet ’n’ Greet as not worthy of their time and blow them off. As Soma leaves the meeting pondering ways to convince a council member to take him up on his challenge, Megumi mentions the upcoming school festival. Just what kind of scheme could Soma be cooking up this time?

Volume 16

Day three of the Autumn Moon Festival has begun, and Soma is still trying to recover from ending deep in the red on its first day. Looking to finally overtake Restaurant Kuga in overall profit, Soma unveils his ace in the hole—a new mapo tofu recipe! Will it be enough to push this first-year to victory over a Council of Ten member?

As with many manga series, this one follows a simple formula. It is a formula that does a lot to develop and show the main character in what could be considered the best light. Soma continues to learn and improve and work on his cooking in order to incorporate all that he learns, both in the classroom and out of it. And I liked seeing this school drama act a bit more like a school drama should with the introduction of the Moon Festival, a yearly festival for all the students to raise money for the school and to show off their skills and food diversity.

Soma has become a character that seems to have stagnated just a bit, but with other characters around him growing and developing, they bring a bit more interest that Soma may be lacking just a bit. And I will admit that I continue to drool throughout all of these mangas at the all of the delicious food! I almost wish that there was a restaurant that would recreate all of the food that is shown in these mangas, as I would love to just taste what these kids are making. And these are high school kids (for the most part) that are cooking these foods! I know that it’s possible, it still blows my mind though.

What are some things you wish you could pull straight from the pages of a book? Why would you pull that particular item? Comment below and let me know!

 

 

Tiny Navajo Reads: Food Wars! Vol. 10

Food Wars! Vol. 10 (Food Wars: Shokugeki no Soma #10) by Yuto Tsukuda

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*Published February 2, 2016*

This…this was an interesting volume. It kind of gave me the shivers while reading it while making me want to continue reading it all at the same time. How’s that for good writing?

It’s the last quarterfinal match of the Fall Classic. Takumi Aldini, looking for another chance to challenge Soma, faces off against the smug-looking Subaru Mimasaka. What’s making him so confident? The truth—and the dish he prepares—sends the entire auditorium into an uproar! Let the shokugeki begin!

This being the last quarterfinal match of the Fall Classic, we can see where the major drama for the anime comes into effect. Granted, the drama has been there this entire time, but it was in this particular volume where I truly felt it ramp up. All because of Subaru Mimasaka. He is absolutely terrifying, and the way he gets others to move into a shokugeki to take their prized instrument is even more so. So, when we see him go up against Takumi Aldini, a hothead who just wants to battle against Soma again, we see how devastating his mimic and improve technique truly is.

I think this is where Yuto Tsukuda does amazing is ramping up the heebie jeebies of a character to where it was hard for me to read what was happening on the page. When an author can do that, make me want to stop reading because of a character, but I continue to read anyway because. I. Need. To. Know. What. HAPPENS! then that’s when I know that I have found a series and an author that knows what they are doing. And whoever wins this quarterfinal will be going up against Soma (most likely) in the semifinals. So, it’ll be one of the more interesting battles to see, both here and in the semis.

What turns you off from a character? Do you continue to read, or do you have to stop reading the book? Comment below and let me know!

Tiny Navajo Reads: Laura Dean Keeps Breaking Up with Me

Laura Dean Keeps Breaking Up with Me by Mariko Tamaki

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*Published May 7, 2019*

I saw this book floating through booklr on Tumblr and it sounded extremely interesting to me. It also seemed to be a book that I think everyone in relationships need to read.

Author Mariko Tamaki and illustrator Rosemary Valero-O’Connell bring to life a sweet and spirited tale of young love in Laura Dean Keeps Breaking Up with Me, a graphic novel that asks us to consider what happens when we ditch the toxic relationships we crave to embrace the healthy ones we need.

Laura Dean, the most popular girl in high school, was Frederica Riley’s dream girl: charming, confident, and SO cute. There’s just one problem: Laura Dean is maybe not the greatest girlfriend.

Reeling from her latest break up, Freddy’s best friend, Doodle, introduces her to the Seek-Her, a mysterious medium, who leaves Freddy some cryptic parting words: break up with her. But Laura Dean keeps coming back, and as their relationship spirals further out of her control, Freddy has to wonder if it’s really Laura Dean that’s the problem. Maybe it’s Freddy, who is rapidly losing her friends, including Doodle, who needs her now more than ever.

Fortunately for Freddy, there are new friends, and the insight of advice columnists like Anna Vice to help her through being a teenager in love.

Being a teenager in love is one of the hardest things to be. Love fricken’ sucks and being in a relationship where the other does not support you or even act as though you are important, it can wreck you. It can pull you apart and make you not only be a bad friend, but it can affect the other relationships in your life.

Freddy is in a relationship with a girl named Laura Dean. Laura Dean is not a good girlfriend. She has broken up with Freddy three times and each time for a different reason, and Freddy lets her and waits for Laura Dean to come back to her. In waiting for Laura Dean to come back to her, Freddy neglects her friendships, especially her friendship with her best friend Doodle, who needs her friend.

I honestly couldn’t tell you whether this was something I went through in high school or not, I don’t believe I did. I had only one steady relationship in high school and we were truly friends first before we became a couple. But this is something that I have seen happen as I have grown up. This happened to some of my friends in college and here in Oklahoma. I have seen friends get out of these relationships and refocus on themselves, but it took them awhile to do so. They grew and became better.

I like seeing characters grow. I like to them make mistakes and learn from those mistakes and become better people. I liked seeing Freddy realize that she has made a lot of mistakes in trying to center her life around Laura Dean rather than focusing her life on herself. So, Freddy learns to do that. She learns to focus on herself and I love her so much for it.

What do you think of seeing real life portrayed in graphic novels? Do it help you process it or come to recognize it better? Comment below and let me know!

Tiny Navajo Reads: The Beauty of the Moment

The Beauty of the Moment by Tanaz Bhathena

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*Published February 26, 2019*

I seem to be in a small contemporary YA kick, which I’m not opposed to at the moment. Contemporary YA is soft and fluffy and is usually centered around high school romance, which is usually fluff.

Susan is the new girl—she’s sharp and driven, and strives to meet her parents’ expectations of excellence. Malcolm is the bad boy—he started raising hell at age fifteen, after his mom died of cancer, and has had a reputation ever since.
Susan’s parents are on the verge of divorce. Malcolm’s dad is a known adulterer.

Susan hasn’t told anyone, but she wants to be an artist. Malcolm doesn’t know what he wants—until he meets her.

Love is messy and families are messier, but in spite of their burdens, Susan and Malcolm fall for each other. The ways they drift apart and come back together are testaments to family, culture, and being true to who you are.

This story, to me, felt like a more realistic version of a high school love. Our two main characters, Susan and Malcolm, are trying to just figure out who they are as well as who they want to be. Susan wants to be an artist, going to college to pursue an arts degree. Her parents want to be a doctor or engineer. Malcolm has a reputation of being a dick and not knowing what he wants to do when it comes to being after high school.

These two meet and it starts off a rocky friendship, but they connect. They start to find common ground with one another they become the friends neither knew they needed in this time of their lives. Malcolm helps Susan adjust to living in Canada, such as learning how to drive, taking her out to food that is what she grew up with, and just being her friend as she settles into being in Canada. Susan helps Malcolm with the Shakespeare unit in English, working on getting his grades up, and inadvertently helping his decide that he wants to go to college.

But as with all high school romances, not all is well. They run into problems, and issues; Susan’s mother and father are on two separate continents and this is causing strain on their marriage. Malcolm’s father had an affair while his mother was going through a resurgence of cancer. As Susan and Malcolm work through their family problems, their relationship suffers. Things go down the drain for them, but they still want to be friends, to figure out what they want.

I think what I love most about this book and this relationship is that this feels realistic to me of a high school relationship. Susan and Malcolm want to be friends, more than friends, but as they work on themselves and their families first, they learn that they can do just that and let themselves learn what they want in life. This is a love story that doesn’t focus square on the love aspect of the relationship, but the friendship part of it as well. And that feels true, that you can love someone, but without learning how to be friends, you cannot truly love that person.

What do you think love is? Is it something that comes easily to you? Comment below and let me know!

Tiny Navajo Reads: Alex, Approximately

Alex, Approximately by Jenn Bennett

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*Published April 4, 2017*

The reason this book caught my was because it was described as “a modern You’ve Got Mail” by the book river in my library’s catalogue, and I love that movie so I got the book to see how it compares and just to enjoy some contemporary fluff.

Classic movie fan Bailey “Mink” Rydell has spent months crushing on a witty film geek she only knows online as Alex. Two coasts separate the teens until Bailey moves in with her dad, who lives in the same California surfing town as her online crush.

Faced with doubts (what if he’s a creep in real life—or worse?), Bailey doesn’t tell Alex she’s moved to his hometown. Or that she’s landed a job at the local tourist-trap museum. Or that she’s being heckled daily by the irritatingly hot museum security guard, Porter Roth—a.k.a. her new archnemesis. But life is a whole lot messier than the movies, especially when Bailey discovers that tricky fine line between hate, love, and whatever it is she’s starting to feel for Porter.

And as the summer months go by, Bailey must choose whether to cling to a dreamy online fantasy in Alex or take a risk on an imperfect reality with Porter. The choice is both simpler and more complicated than she realizes, because Porter Roth is hiding a secret of his own: Porter is Alex…Approximately.

That is the one thing I’m not a complete fan of this blurb, it basically gives away the end of the book. But, it didn’t really take away all the enjoyment, I liked getting to know Bailey and Porter not only as they start out as enemies, but they slowly become friends and then more than friends and they learn that they have more in common. We also learn Bailey’s legitimate reasons as to why she avoids problems.

We also learn that there is more to Porter and his family and the surfing legends they are for the community. This affects Porter more than he lets on, and we figure this out as well. But as with most things concerning teenagers, there is dramadramadrama! And it’s emotional high school drama. But if you’ve seen You’ve Got Mail, and have read the blurb, you know the drama. Porter is Bailey’s online friend who has asked her to come out and visit him for a classic film festival. And he figures out who she is before Bailey figures out who he is. Once Porter figures it out, he tries to get Bailey to “confess!!!” but it doesn’t quite go to plan and more drama ensues until Bailey pulls her head together and finally gets the dad advice we’ve been craving the whole book to get her boy troubles finally figured out.

This was a cute book, and book I enjoyed and glad I read. I don’t think I’ll read it again, but it was cute and little bit funny to see them try to maneuver between and around each other. What do you think of teen contemporary drama? Do you like the fluff? Comment below and let me know!