Customer Reviews

Good as Lily (Minx Graphic Novels)

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Grace Kwon, an 18-year-old Korean-American high school student, has some rather interesting companions. There's Grace Kwon, for instance: a 29-year-old woman. And don't forget six-year-old Grace Kwon. Rounding out this unlikely quartet is 70-year-old Grace Kwon. They find themselves thrown together in Grace (18)'s life for a few pivotal weeks in her life. Well, *their* life, really; the others are aspects-in-time of 18-year-old Grace. Imagine, if you will, The Sisterhood of the Time-Traveling Pants.

Needless to say, they discover Important Truths About Life together. And the story is so charmingly told that I didn't mind realizing this in advance; reading it, I allowed myself to be seduced by the narrative and let myself enjoy the hell out of it. I'm already sorry it's over and already waiting for Derek Kirk Kim's previous graphic novel to arrive.

I won't be at all surprised if Good As Lily gets turned into a movie. I'll just be delighted.

The manga that I normally read are Japanese manga, and from my experience, the American mangas are not that good. I had previously came across a copy of Megatokyo and to my disappointment, the art was poorly drawn and the story was a bit confusing, so I really was skeptical about "Good as Lily." But a friend recommended to me, and I must say that it is really good, surprisingly good.

It tells of a girl's coming of age story, and without giving too much away, basically, she learns important life lessons through meeting herself from three different stages in her life. It's really touching, and really reminds me of the time when I was her age, not knowing much and wishing to know. I highly recommend it!

Cory Doctorow wrote an excellent review of this book on Boing Boing today. In pursuit of more "serious" fare, I spent a pleasant half hour reading and re-reading this charming and challenging little book at our local library. It's aimed at young women, but even OFs like me can appreciate the humanity that Kim's writing brings alive. Hamm's illustrations enhance the effects.

Grace Kwon is a young Korean-American girl who, on her 18th birthday, finds herself in the company of her six-year-old self, her 29-year-old self and her 70-year-old self. The three women join her as she finishes her last semester of high school.

Doctorow found Grace "likable and flawed, insecure and brave, driven and oblivious all at once." The writing and graphics brought her alive for me, and reminded me of several of the young women I remember from my own last semester in high school.

The plot revolves around cost over-runs on the school play, a puppy love affair with the drama teacher, and friends who are both loyal and flawed. The high school battles rang true in my memory. Grace and her other selves overcome her flaws, but the results are sometimes unpleasant -- boy, that was the story of my high school years.

Our librarian told me that the book was very popular with high school students, but that adults like it too. I sure did. Boing Boing remains a great source of interesting ideas and products.

Robert C. Ross 2008

Grace Kwon just turned 18 and a weird series of events led to her meeting herself. That night the 6, 29 and 70 year old versions of herself stop by, unannounced to them or her. She sees the desperation in all of them. The same uncertainty that she feels now. If she can help them--help herself--she might be able to get rid of them and get on with her life. As much as they need her though, she needs them too.

This was a very fun and interesting story. It would be insane to have to put up with yourself, different ages of yourself at that. Kind of mind-blowing. Apparently it's all cool though. Grace is really into drama(not to mention the teacher) and when they learn they can't do a school play due to lack of funding her 29-year-old self steps in. This was a novel of fulfillment and seeing what is right in front of you. I loved Lily's dad, especially after he thinks the house was broken in to. "Just remember honey--kick them in the balls first. No questions! Balls First." Awesome, awesome times. Definitely pick this one up it is a blast to read.

First Line:
"By the time Joan of Arc was 18, she had led an army to defeat the English from taking over her country."

Favorite Line:
"Now I'm infected with uglyitis."

Good as Lily is the story of young woman, Grace, finding her way through life, love, the future, and high school. Grace is a Korean-American high school student who on her 18th birthday finds herself with some rather unusual companions, multiple versions of herself at different ages. Together they explore the meaning of life and surviving high school.

Kim deftly tells a tale of Grace, her friends, and the other Grace's, overcoming their fears and dreams to achieve reality. At times they fail and give into the flaws that make them all too human and at other times they rise above their flaws and succeed. Kim successfully weaves in multiple versions of Grace and shows that no matter the age, no matter the wisdom, life still has challenges to face and everything isn't always perfect. Hamm's illustrations are inspired by the world of manga and while not overly complex, add a sense of realism to the story being told. The images ground the story in real life, capturing the daily bits and grind of life that are often overlooked in the world around us, but let us know where we are.

Although Good as Lily is a relatively short tale, it delivers a great story as the characters learn that growing up isn't always easy and how they can adapt to life.

What would you do if on your 18th birthday you encountered alternate versions of yourself, from ages 6, 29, and 70? That is exactly what happened to Grace Kwon. She soon must find a way to balance friends, high school and her parents all while hiding her alternative selves and figuring out why they are here and if she can find a way to make them go back to their own time. At the same time she is trying to salvage the school play that was going to be cut because of budget issues. This was a great story, well told and wonderfully illustrated.

I enjoyed the way the author captured the rhythms and thought processes of adolescents. It reminded me of my own days of confusion, but in a positive and wistful way.

The story is creative and the artwork excellent. There are not many things in life that leave you wondering, "How the heck did they think of that?" I always feel blessed when I'm able to experience that in art. Good as Lily brings that quality.

A neat fantasy story wherein our heroine finds herself accompanied by versions of herself from different times in her life.

Everyone (that is, each aspect of Lily) winds up benefiting from this encounter, so the time-travel paradox question did come up in my speculative-fiction-loving mind... (ok, so if the 6-year-old's psychological trauma got *healed*, wouldn't the current Lily come out no longer the same? or are we now on a parallel-universe track?) These nuances aren't explored, but Good As Lily is entertaining and heartwarming nevertheless.

For adults, this book could be used to catalyze a depth psychology exercise: readers may be inspired to do their own internal lifeline-check ins. For example, "What would my old-lady self think about the choice I just made and am a bit embarrassed about? "Go get 'em, tigress!"

Good as Lily is a graphic novel written by Derek Kirk Kim and illustrated by Jesse Hamm. It is a fantasy where the protagonist Grace meets herself in various stages of development. At each stage there is a particular problem to be worked out.

The "Grace" we see this all though is an older teenager and this is the age group (from 13 to 25) that will enjoy the book the most. I am a great fan of Jesse Hamm but I would have liked to see Kim illustrate the book (he does illustrate the cover).

Over all, a very readable and enjoyable book.

I have always had very mixed feelings about Amerimanga. Most of the art is either directly copying the Japanese style with no influencing of the artist or is poorly done or the art is lovely but the story is very flawed. Good as Lily is an exception. The art is fine and the story is simple, although I have to admit that I found one particular point to be confusing.

The story is of a girl who meets three different versions of herself - a child, an adult, and an old woman who help her through different trials and tribulations of high school. The story is very reminescent of a one of those old live action Disney movie from the 60s. It flows very nicely. Theres nothing very special about it, but its a nice watch for your mother or that annoying kid you're currently babysitting.

A few things fall into question from the story though. Its never clearly explained how this space-time continuum hiccup happened - it just did. Another thing is that at the end (no spoilers here but) the grandmother appears to still be around and she mentions having grandchildren or children of some sort...so, where ARE they exactly? Are they in the future or floating in the ether somewhere?

And there's another thing - the girl dislikes her adult self wanting to date her teacher but I fail to understand the motive behind this. I mean, its not really YOU - its your future self. And she's an adult, so its not like it would be illegal. So, the logic there is also floating in the ether.

Plot: B The story is nice if you ignore the tiny things that need to be tweaked. And I don't really understand that whole dialogue about the dead-sister. She was mentioned a few times in the beginning and then -POOF!- never heard from again.
Characters: B- The grandmother and adult self are probably the most rounded characters you can get but the main charactern herself seems to fall flat sometimes.
Art: B The art is definitely manga-influenced with a comic book feel. There's no special effects or anything. Its very simplistic and thats just fine.
Readability: A The dialogue reads as it would for people of their age.
In short: B+ Its a good story. Get from your local library.