Stuart A. Kallen

This was a short history of manga and anime for young adults. I knew absolutely nothing about the history of manga so it was very interesting. It is a short book so I also checked out a more detailed book for adults.

It covers the more famous mangaka (manga creators - I learned a new word!) and the different types of manga including seinen (men), shonen (young men) and shoji (young women). The history starts several hundred years ago. Manga was popular prior to WWII and came back into show more popularity after the war. Advances were made and at some point, female writers came on the scene.

My first exposure to manga/anime was Sailor Moon. I loved Sailor Moon! Since then I've read several graphic novels. Takes awhile to learn to read them from right to left but eventually you get into a rhythm. Now I have to find some more at the library to read since I've read this book.

I've always been a bit annoyed that the manga and graphic novel section is in the teen section of the library, simply because I'm not a teen and I like to read these and I thought they were for everyone. Reading the manga book, I learned that there are different types of manga for different age groups. The worst was when the Denver Public Library built a teen room (no adults over the age of 18 allowed) and moved all the manga and graphic novels into this room so adults couldn't check them out. I was all for the teen room, just not for the exclusivity of the graphic novels.

So, recommended if you're curious about Japanese manga and don't want to read a huge tome about it. show less

This book does an excellent job of laying out the major events and people that effected Kennedy, his presidency and who may have contributed to his impending death. The book is written in a way as to try and answer some of the major questions surrounding the assassination and provide details and information that the reader can evaluate to then come to their own conclusions.

This is a book about the Argentinean revolutionary Che Guevara. I found this book hard to read. The writing style was very choppy. The author seemed to be reciting facts rather than telling a story. Additionally, rather than alluding to the author's political viewpoint, this book smacks you in the face with it. I don't particularly care for that style, especially in books written for teenagers.

Thomas Jefferson by Stuart Kallen is a good book for elementary students. It has pictures on every page and separate information for every photograph. The book tells a little of Thomas Jefferson early education, his marriage, home, and family, as well as, some of the important incidents that surrounded the time period. Kallen tells of Jeffersons’s political accomplishments, and the accomplishments he strove to make because of personal belief’s like: educating poor children and starting show more elementary school for them, as well as, opening a university (University of Virginia). The book tells of the last days of his life. show less