LIFE VOL 08 GN

Sell Sheet Keynote: Cutting, suicide, and high school have never been this real.

This gritty, high quality shojo series from Kodansha is filled with undeniable teen angst and self-torment and tackles real topics such as cutting, suicide, bullying, and gangs Volumes one and two feature a postscript from licensed psychologist, Susan M. Axtell Psy. D., who is experienced in suicide counseling Winner of the 30th Kodansha Shojo Manga award 'The pain felt by the characters is palpable and affecting. The characters and their emotional reactions to situations feel real.' -VOYA

Shrinkwrapped with Parental Advisory sticker on the front cover

Ayumu is faced with common high school problems: grades, fighting with friends and a general feeling of isolation. Her method of dealing with the trials of adolescence, however, is decidedly more distressing. Ayumu is a cutter, one of an increasing number of teenage compulsive self-mutilators. Tortured by a falling-out with her best friend and dealing with a competitive new school, Ayumu retreats into the cold comforts of self-imposed social exile and self-inflicted injury. Matters are further complicated when Ayumu's manic and boundlessly irritating new friend, Manami, attempts suicide after a difficult breakup. To say that the subject matter is serious is a criminal understatement; the overwrought narrative will appeal mainly to the core demographic of manga readers. Luckily, the artwork'especially the inventive page layout'adds a much-needed frisson. Frames and panels merge, fracture and dissolve, reflecting alternating extremes of tranquility and anguish. The cutting scenes are especially powerful, eschewing dialogue in favor of a dreamlike stillness in which Ayumu's chosen implement, a common box cutter, takes on the status of a magical totem. These frames, along with a genuinely haunting, semi-cliffhanger ending, more than make up for the characters' stilted language. The book concludes with a brief fact page written by a clinical psychologist that includes how to deal with cutting in real life. - Publisher's Weekly