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Emiko Superstar
Emiko is a teenager on a quest to find herself who goes from suburban babysitter to eclectic urban performance artist.
176 pages, Paperback
First published October 7, 2008
6 people are currently reading
1524 people want to read
About the author
Mariko Tamaki
378 books2,229 followersMariko Tamaki is a Toronto writer, playwright, activist and performer. She works and performs with fat activists Pretty Porky and Pissed Off and the theatre troupe TOA, whose recent play, A vs. B, was staged at the 2004 Rhubarb Festival at Buddies in Bad Times Theatre. Her well-received novel, Cover Me (McGilligan Books) was followed by a short fiction collection, True Lies: The Book of Bad Advice (Women's Press). Mariko's third book, FAKE ID, is due out in spring 2005.
Mariko Tamaki has performed her work across Canada and through the States, recently appearing at the Calgary Folkfest 2004, Vancouver Writer's Festival 2003, Spatial III, and the Perpetual Motion/Girls Bite Back Tour, which circled though Ottawa, Montreal, Brooklyn and Chicago. She has appeared widely on radio and television including First Person Singular on CBC radio and Imprint on TVO. Mariko Tamaki is currently attending York University working a master's degree in women's studies.
[MacMIllan Books]
Mariko Tamaki has performed her work across Canada and through the States, recently appearing at the Calgary Folkfest 2004, Vancouver Writer's Festival 2003, Spatial III, and the Perpetual Motion/Girls Bite Back Tour, which circled though Ottawa, Montreal, Brooklyn and Chicago. She has appeared widely on radio and television including First Person Singular on CBC radio and Imprint on TVO. Mariko Tamaki is currently attending York University working a master's degree in women's studies.
[MacMIllan Books]
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 153 reviews
March 30, 2015
Emiko's summer looks like this: babysit all day, hang out with her own parents at home in the evening, rinse, repeat. It's pretty dull, but the babysitting gig pays well.This is a tiny book that manages to cover a lot of emotional ground and pack a pretty big punch.
But then Emiko sees a charismatic artiste called Poppy at the mall, and Poppy personally invites her to the Freak Show, held in an abandoned warehouse on Friday nights.
Emiko isn't a freak. Not exactly. But could she be?
Emiko is lonely. Her former gang of assorted geeks have all gone off to finance camp for the summer, leaving Emiko confused about whether they were "friends" in the first place, and needing to meet some new people. Her isolation and desire for connection lead her to take a chance and also to make some pretty questionable choices.
This story really spoke to me. I related to Emiko, and I found her actions and decisions to be understandable, if not entirely supportable. Even as an adult, I could appreciate the things she finally figured out, and I admire that there are a few pretty solid messages in the story, but it doesn't feel preachy at all.
My highest praise here is, I really wish Teen Me could have read this book.
And I'm very saddened to discover that Minx comics only existed for about a year or two, so there are no follow-ups to this story, and very few other books from this group. :-(
June 9, 2008
I pretty much loved everything about this book, from the fantastic character designs (both in personality and in actual visual portrayal-woo for chunkier protagonists whose storyline never talks about the fact that she isn't a twig!), to the story itself which was layered in amazing ways most YA novels don't ever attempt. Thought-provoking and inspirational, not to mention being a damn fine read. A MUST READ for anyone who secretly or not so secretly is an art freak at heart. One complaint: cover is totally misrepresentational. This book is DEEP.
April 22, 2013
I'm not picking graphic novels all that well it seems. At least not every time. It's true, I don't read the synopsis and just look at the cover and briefly flip through the book to check the artwork, so I suppose it's my own fault for picking another "lonely emo girl finds a boy who finally 'gets' her and disappoints her parents to 'find herself' with a ragtag group of misfits." This wasn't as extreme in those regards as
Ivy
was, but this actually ended up lacking substance in spite of that.
I felt like I was reading three half realized ideas than one fully coherent story. There were too many characters and side stories, not enough development for any of them, and it was kind of boring to boot. I actually didn't think Emi even fit in this book; she seemed like a smart and quietly reserved character and she deserved something better than this. I would've much rather have read about her relationship with Henry or the unraveling of her employers' marriage than the loud and obnoxious characters at The Factory. Just because you're a self-proclaimed geek and don't fit in or know what to do with your life doesn't mean you have to change everything about yourself all of a sudden, and I'm really getting sick of this theme.
I felt like I was reading three half realized ideas than one fully coherent story. There were too many characters and side stories, not enough development for any of them, and it was kind of boring to boot. I actually didn't think Emi even fit in this book; she seemed like a smart and quietly reserved character and she deserved something better than this. I would've much rather have read about her relationship with Henry or the unraveling of her employers' marriage than the loud and obnoxious characters at The Factory. Just because you're a self-proclaimed geek and don't fit in or know what to do with your life doesn't mean you have to change everything about yourself all of a sudden, and I'm really getting sick of this theme.
September 18, 2016
So often freaks and geeks are, well, social categories that get connected by an "and." But in Emiko Superstar freaks and geeks are not one and the same. Of course, hours, days, even years could be spent in a debate of what distinguishes one from the other, and how these terms came to be, and how they are used in self-identification vs. other-identification. But, in this book, there is a clear (ish) delineation. Geeks are those who pursue knowledge for the sake of becoming successful at something useful. Freaks are those who pursue art-mediated experience and who try to create an existence for themselves that evades common understandings of usefulness.
So, Emiko, or Emi, finds herself, a long time self-identified geek, no longer appreciating the aesthetic of the geek, and shifter her identification. It is not clear that she fully identifies as a freak, but she certainly identifies with other self-identified freaks, and finds herself falling in some way for the essence of freakdom. Or, perhaps, for a particular person, a performer who performs at a 'freak show', and who draws Emi into that world. This is not the kind of freak show where people are put on display in a way that undermines their humanity, but a place where self-proclaimed freaks perform for each other. It is inspired by similar performative events created by Andy Warhol in his art studio in the 60s.
But this story is not all about performance in a public sense, but also about performance in private spaces. In relationships in particular. And it is about Emi's private world, in which she is trying to balance performances of daughter, babysitter, teenager, friend. Perhaps trying to understand whether the performance of self is different from 'being' one's self.
There are many little mysteries Emi comes into contact with, which shake her world up and also build her sense of a world becoming more complicated, and therefore, whole. There is a shy but firm dignity Emi's character holds onto throughout the story that makes it unique and uniquely engaging and endearing. A beautiful story. I only wish it were a bit longer, allowed itself to simmer a bit more in its complexities. Everything resolves a bit too quickly at the end.
So, Emiko, or Emi, finds herself, a long time self-identified geek, no longer appreciating the aesthetic of the geek, and shifter her identification. It is not clear that she fully identifies as a freak, but she certainly identifies with other self-identified freaks, and finds herself falling in some way for the essence of freakdom. Or, perhaps, for a particular person, a performer who performs at a 'freak show', and who draws Emi into that world. This is not the kind of freak show where people are put on display in a way that undermines their humanity, but a place where self-proclaimed freaks perform for each other. It is inspired by similar performative events created by Andy Warhol in his art studio in the 60s.
But this story is not all about performance in a public sense, but also about performance in private spaces. In relationships in particular. And it is about Emi's private world, in which she is trying to balance performances of daughter, babysitter, teenager, friend. Perhaps trying to understand whether the performance of self is different from 'being' one's self.
There are many little mysteries Emi comes into contact with, which shake her world up and also build her sense of a world becoming more complicated, and therefore, whole. There is a shy but firm dignity Emi's character holds onto throughout the story that makes it unique and uniquely engaging and endearing. A beautiful story. I only wish it were a bit longer, allowed itself to simmer a bit more in its complexities. Everything resolves a bit too quickly at the end.
September 18, 2016
If I had not first read Skim and This One Summer I might have liked this more, but this title, in the Minx series for young girls, while well written, does not have sister Jillian Tamaki as artist, which seems like the perfectly in sync collaborative team for both of them. This one is about an insider who chooses to be an insider, or a geek who wants to be a geek, or something like that. Fine writing of story and dialogue by Mariko Tamaki, and just okay art.
March 8, 2009
Cybils YA Graphic Novel Award winner
I surprised myself by being engaged by this iconic YA search for identity where Emi, a self-proclaimed geek, dares to attend a Freak Show, after being captivated by its star, the Amazing Poppy Galore, at a mall. At this point in the story, the words fail and the image takes over: Poppy is full-page glorious, "covered in silver and pieces of mirror. Like a disco ball..." Emi dares to dream that even she could remake herself into Emiko Superstar.
I noticed some interesting features of this book, both in the text and in the pictures. For one, the main character is biracial, Japanese & Canadian, without it being mentioned in the story. Also, the book is illustrated in black and white. The choice of b&w instead of color suggests a darker, sadder mood than, say, Rapunzel's Revenge, the elementary grade Cybils Graphic Novel Award winner.
I found it easy to read the text, because the symbols were clear, that is, when a character was speaking, the words were in a speech bubble whereas if a character was thinking, the words were in a text box instead. I also noticed that I was looking at the illustrations differently than I do in a picture book. I scanned the illustrations in the same way I usually scan text, since in this case, the story is told visually.
I looked for evidence of development of plot, character. setting, theme and point of view, as I know that a criticism often leveled at graphic novels is that they are poor literature. Here's an example of how the graphic format enhanced the style: The narrator tells us "The path to the stage was a black sky dotted with eyes, all looking at me", which would have sounded cheesy if it wasn't a tiny text box, surrounded by 3 small panels of Emi, two of her worried face and one of just her nervous hands and then 11 pairs of expectant eyes.
I am a reluctant reader, when it comes to graphic novels, and no wonder, since I don't know how to read them. From a pair of articles in Horn Book (Graphic Novels 101, archived online at hbook.com, March 2006), I've come to understand that reading a graphic novel entails not just traditional literacy but also what they call 'reading between the panels', that is, the reader actively participates in the text by drawing conclusions about what's happening in between the panels. Beyond this, the illustrations in graphic novels don't just illustrate the story, they can be analyzed in terms of literary elements, for example, we can be viewing a scene, literally, as the character is viewing it, thus placing us inside the story. Illustrations can also be analyzed in terms of visual elements, such as size, shape, layout and use of white space, for example, large panels grab our attention and invite careful examination, while a series of small panels suggest action and movement. As Hollis Margaret Rudiger notes in Reading Lessons: Graphic Novels 101, "...the pictures...(don't) jut supplement the story. They (ARE) the story".
I surprised myself by being engaged by this iconic YA search for identity where Emi, a self-proclaimed geek, dares to attend a Freak Show, after being captivated by its star, the Amazing Poppy Galore, at a mall. At this point in the story, the words fail and the image takes over: Poppy is full-page glorious, "covered in silver and pieces of mirror. Like a disco ball..." Emi dares to dream that even she could remake herself into Emiko Superstar.
I noticed some interesting features of this book, both in the text and in the pictures. For one, the main character is biracial, Japanese & Canadian, without it being mentioned in the story. Also, the book is illustrated in black and white. The choice of b&w instead of color suggests a darker, sadder mood than, say, Rapunzel's Revenge, the elementary grade Cybils Graphic Novel Award winner.
I found it easy to read the text, because the symbols were clear, that is, when a character was speaking, the words were in a speech bubble whereas if a character was thinking, the words were in a text box instead. I also noticed that I was looking at the illustrations differently than I do in a picture book. I scanned the illustrations in the same way I usually scan text, since in this case, the story is told visually.
I looked for evidence of development of plot, character. setting, theme and point of view, as I know that a criticism often leveled at graphic novels is that they are poor literature. Here's an example of how the graphic format enhanced the style: The narrator tells us "The path to the stage was a black sky dotted with eyes, all looking at me", which would have sounded cheesy if it wasn't a tiny text box, surrounded by 3 small panels of Emi, two of her worried face and one of just her nervous hands and then 11 pairs of expectant eyes.
I am a reluctant reader, when it comes to graphic novels, and no wonder, since I don't know how to read them. From a pair of articles in Horn Book (Graphic Novels 101, archived online at hbook.com, March 2006), I've come to understand that reading a graphic novel entails not just traditional literacy but also what they call 'reading between the panels', that is, the reader actively participates in the text by drawing conclusions about what's happening in between the panels. Beyond this, the illustrations in graphic novels don't just illustrate the story, they can be analyzed in terms of literary elements, for example, we can be viewing a scene, literally, as the character is viewing it, thus placing us inside the story. Illustrations can also be analyzed in terms of visual elements, such as size, shape, layout and use of white space, for example, large panels grab our attention and invite careful examination, while a series of small panels suggest action and movement. As Hollis Margaret Rudiger notes in Reading Lessons: Graphic Novels 101, "...the pictures...(don't) jut supplement the story. They (ARE) the story".
May 29, 2009
Emiko Superstar by Mariko Tamaki and illustrated by Steve Rolston won the YA Graphic Novel category of the Cybils earlier this year.
Emiko is a geeky and awkward teenager who wants to find her place in the world. She's an Asian Canadian growing up in Toronto. The book covers her summer vacation where she is baby sitting for a dysfunctional family and spending her nights as a performance artist in a club that draws its influence from Andy Warhol's Factory.
Emiko Superstar drew me into the story with the very first scene where she arrives home dressed like an escape from the Factory. She's minus a shoe and completely disheveled. She stumbles home and passes out on her messy bed. The rest of novel explains how she got to this point.
The story is about taking risks and the consequences that come with taking the wrong ones. Emiko risks arrest from attending the late night events at the Factory where any number of illegal things are going on. She also risks her personal health from the lech who runs the place. She also risks grounding from her parents if they find out about her late nights.
What the book does well is show a teenager's view of how the world works and the mistakes she makes with her assumptions. She's caught up with the phenomena of being popular and famous but is afraid at first to take the necessary risks to hone her skills. She's also taken in with showy attitude, being swept away with the obnoxious husband's bragging about his toys and possessions instead of seeing how manipulative he's being.
Emiko though isn't a perfect angel in an imperfect world. She gets her moment of fame through lying and stealing. She gets her source material from a diary she had no business reading and certainly no business copying from. The diary though does give the novel the chance to introduce a more adult lesbian story than Skim (also by Mariko Tamaki and also a Cybils nominee). By making the lesbian side plot strictly between two adults, it gives more room to show the risks, consequences and rewards of coming out.
Emiko is a geeky and awkward teenager who wants to find her place in the world. She's an Asian Canadian growing up in Toronto. The book covers her summer vacation where she is baby sitting for a dysfunctional family and spending her nights as a performance artist in a club that draws its influence from Andy Warhol's Factory.
Emiko Superstar drew me into the story with the very first scene where she arrives home dressed like an escape from the Factory. She's minus a shoe and completely disheveled. She stumbles home and passes out on her messy bed. The rest of novel explains how she got to this point.
The story is about taking risks and the consequences that come with taking the wrong ones. Emiko risks arrest from attending the late night events at the Factory where any number of illegal things are going on. She also risks her personal health from the lech who runs the place. She also risks grounding from her parents if they find out about her late nights.
What the book does well is show a teenager's view of how the world works and the mistakes she makes with her assumptions. She's caught up with the phenomena of being popular and famous but is afraid at first to take the necessary risks to hone her skills. She's also taken in with showy attitude, being swept away with the obnoxious husband's bragging about his toys and possessions instead of seeing how manipulative he's being.
Emiko though isn't a perfect angel in an imperfect world. She gets her moment of fame through lying and stealing. She gets her source material from a diary she had no business reading and certainly no business copying from. The diary though does give the novel the chance to introduce a more adult lesbian story than Skim (also by Mariko Tamaki and also a Cybils nominee). By making the lesbian side plot strictly between two adults, it gives more room to show the risks, consequences and rewards of coming out.
December 22, 2009
I LOVED this one! Emiko doesn't really fit into any mold and she feels out of place where ever she is, which I can totally relate to. She is labeled a nerd/geek, but she's not really, she's just uncomfortable around people. Her summer is typical. Lousy. While at the mall she has an experience that changes her life... and no, its not a sale at the Gap.
I loved the story. In high school I was uncomfortable and unsure of how to act. The one thing that I loved to do was write. It was the perfect outlet for me and that's when I truly felt comfortable.
The illustrations were absolutely perfect. Emiko was cute, but you could tell that she felt unsure. I loved the freckles. :)Henry is the rumpled (love interest?) and older outlet that helps her to discover where her talent really lies. He's drawn in a cute, kinda nerdy, kinda like one of the musicians in the band Reel Big Fish. (No one's going to know who I'm talking about, but it took me a million minutes to remember what band he was from so I'm adding it.)
Anyway, it definitely gets my stamp of approval.
I loved the story. In high school I was uncomfortable and unsure of how to act. The one thing that I loved to do was write. It was the perfect outlet for me and that's when I truly felt comfortable.
The illustrations were absolutely perfect. Emiko was cute, but you could tell that she felt unsure. I loved the freckles. :)Henry is the rumpled (love interest?) and older outlet that helps her to discover where her talent really lies. He's drawn in a cute, kinda nerdy, kinda like one of the musicians in the band Reel Big Fish. (No one's going to know who I'm talking about, but it took me a million minutes to remember what band he was from so I'm adding it.)
Anyway, it definitely gets my stamp of approval.
December 23, 2010
The fate of the Minx imprint is really a crying shame. For an all-too-brief moment, DC Comics was publishing these fantastic narratives about teenage girls who were not even remotely the assumed norm, delivered in the form of extremely viewable and readable graphic art. Sadly, these books were published under a false imprimis ("'Minx'? Srsly???") and not under any other and didn't have a great fate.
This is a great story about being mixed-race, about transitioning from one grade to another and not wanting to stay in the same cliques, about self-expression, about living in a world that is more complicated that you are allowed to acknowledge, and about the powers that be. It is extremely smart.
This is a great story about being mixed-race, about transitioning from one grade to another and not wanting to stay in the same cliques, about self-expression, about living in a world that is more complicated that you are allowed to acknowledge, and about the powers that be. It is extremely smart.
November 11, 2013
This description on the back says it all:
"Watch Emi go from dull suburban babysitter to eclectic urban performance artist."
A quick read of a graphic novel, it could have gone deeper in a bunch of directions. I was actually surprised it was stand alone because I would have liked to know more of the story of the woman she babysat for, as well as Poppy. Of course, I've read that Minx Books isn't around anymore, so perhaps any plans that were there fell through.
"Watch Emi go from dull suburban babysitter to eclectic urban performance artist."
A quick read of a graphic novel, it could have gone deeper in a bunch of directions. I was actually surprised it was stand alone because I would have liked to know more of the story of the woman she babysat for, as well as Poppy. Of course, I've read that Minx Books isn't around anymore, so perhaps any plans that were there fell through.
May 23, 2009
Minx. I had serious issues with what Emi does - she copies out diary entries of the young trapped suburban mother she's babysitting for, and turns that woman's pain into performance art in order to impress a bunch of sleazy disaffected hipsters. She never owns to her dishonesty, and while there are happy endings all round, it just doesn't sit right with me.
February 16, 2009
Ok, first of all, I love the MINX books. I know they aren't perfect, but they go a long way for me. I like them not only because I read them nostalgically for my teenage self, who probably would have loved them, but also because I think they are just cute, interesting stories that are a nice breather from un-minx books. When I read in September that Minx is giving up the ghost, I felt genuinely bummed. I'm glad my local library carries a bunch of Minx titles so I can work through the cannon after it disappears from store shelves.
Anyway, Emiko Superstar feels like a chapter of a book that wasn't written. The entire story takes place in one summer. I definitely wanted to know more about where Mariko Tamaki was bringing Emiko from, and where she was going to go post-Freak Show. There were some great subplots that could have really filled out a larger book, like the life of the suburban mom who Emi babysits for, and the character of Poppy could have her own series. The art is okay - passable, not thrilling. The writing is the highlight.
Anyway, Emiko Superstar feels like a chapter of a book that wasn't written. The entire story takes place in one summer. I definitely wanted to know more about where Mariko Tamaki was bringing Emiko from, and where she was going to go post-Freak Show. There were some great subplots that could have really filled out a larger book, like the life of the suburban mom who Emi babysits for, and the character of Poppy could have her own series. The art is okay - passable, not thrilling. The writing is the highlight.
January 17, 2009
I picked this up at the library and started flipping through. Only after a close look at the back cover did I realize that I have read another of Tamaki's graphic novels, Skim. I liked Skim, but it seemed a little light-weight and unfocused. This book definitely comes out of the same ethos as Skim. Emi is a geek who doesn't even fit in with the other geeks. She almost accidentally stumbles upon this non-conformist group of people, where each person is weirder than the last and many are performers (particularly, performance art) at the Freak Show (a sort of open-mic thing). Emi transforms herself into one of the Freaks, and starts performing too. The ending wasn't very satisfying - there just wasn't much there - and while I enjoyed the reading experience, it was also a little hollow. Good subject, good writing, decent characters - just needs more substance!
March 21, 2009
My new crush is on Mariko Tamaki. I loved her book Skim, and this is more proof that she's up-and-coming in the graphic novel universe. I can't wait for her to write something else. And she should update her website. :)
Anyway, the book. This is a story of a girl who decides to leave the geeks and join the freaks. You know I like a book with that premise. I want to tell you more, but I don't think it's necessary. I LOVED it. I want to LIVE it. This is far and away the best Minx title so far (and I've read all but four).
Anyway, the book. This is a story of a girl who decides to leave the geeks and join the freaks. You know I like a book with that premise. I want to tell you more, but I don't think it's necessary. I LOVED it. I want to LIVE it. This is far and away the best Minx title so far (and I've read all but four).
March 14, 2013
This graphic novel was just kind of 'meh' for me. I wish the story was a bit more fleshed out. I did appreciate that Emi is a chubby girl, but no one talks about it because it isn't an issue, and I liked her artsy tendencies (despite the fact that her art was stolen from someone else). I think it's probably good for teenagers (the target audience), but I would have liked to see more.
July 28, 2015
Read this in my attempt to track down more girl-centric graphic novels at the library to suggest to patrons. It's a fun read and might appeal to the girls who like Drama.
February 13, 2010
Good story. Kind of made me excited about writing and making art again. Thanks, Mariko.
Also nice previews of other books published by Minx Books in the back. I'll look for these titles.
Also nice previews of other books published by Minx Books in the back. I'll look for these titles.
July 2, 2015
Loved it. Funny and
sad
sad
February 7, 2016
Como é que uma história tão simples conquistou-me desta maneira?
Não sei explicar.
Gostei de tudo.
Do traço.
Do enredo.
Das personagens.
Do início.
Meio.
E fim.
Uma delícia de comic.
October 7, 2015
This was ok. Not great, but not bad either. It was an enjoyable hour reading it.
May 11, 2009
A lot of the "Minx" books just make me feel kind of, um, old? But this one is special.
September 26, 2021
To me, the only way I can describe the story is that things happened, but they didn't really develop. Basically every side character is more interesting than the main character, which is kind of the point because the main character is supposed to be a geek having a lil identity crisis, but it's a bit frustrating because I'd much rather read about the other characters' stories. The story felt incomplete overall, which is a shame because I think it has a lot of potential. I enjoyed the theme of borrowing someone's life/identity as an artistic outlet and method to find one's own identity. I related to that a lot. I just wished there was more. This comic felt like an outline of the story.
August 12, 2018
Addictive. I smashed through this, borne along by very well drawn characters & scenes and a number of unanswered questions. When the answers come, few are very surprising, so the dramatic tension of the last few pages isn't particularly thrilling. It is a book for teen girls, I suppose; God knows they've got enough tension in their lives as it is.
It's strange how much of the narrative is carried by dubious or plainly immoral decisions, and even stranger how few of these decisions have consequences for the people who make them.
It's strange how much of the narrative is carried by dubious or plainly immoral decisions, and even stranger how few of these decisions have consequences for the people who make them.
July 16, 2018
I love Minx books because they seem like boring contemporary YA lit, but there's always something more to them. An authenticity, but also a sense of wonder. Emiko Superstar is structured like a geek-becomes-popular story, but her popularity isn't at school or a mainstream performance club, it's at one of those gross hipstery warehouse venues where people do performance art. I actually just went to a show like that for the first time in a long time, so this had all the more impact.
July 26, 2020
I could’ve finished this book on the same day that I started it but I read it in between patrons at my job. This is a YA graphic novel featuring a coming-of-age story. Emiko is slowly introduced into what I would call the world of punk, but she’s done so in a way that is still suitable for older kids, because punk is obviously very political. The characters all had a strong sense of self and it was surprising the amount of care and thought put into each scene despite this book being very short.
April 3, 2021
Strong high school art kid throwback vibes! I thoroughly enjoyed the depiction of both the banal and the magical - accurately captures that mix of discomfort and possibility that comes with being a self-defined misfit. The scenes at the Factory are deliciously packed with detail and the eclectic cast of characters' distinct looks, voices, and mood come through.
July 2, 2021
Interesting look at a pivotal summer in a teens life, where she moves from passively resenting but obeying her parents to exploring her own dreams, but with a lot of stumbles as she doesn't differentiate between toxic and noble dreams -- should she steal? Do other people matter? What is she willing to give away?
August 22, 2024
I remember seeing this circulating on my Goodreads feed since middle school, and it's alright honestly. Emi's intentions with attending the "freak" show were with plagiarism... of her babysitter employer's diary! Now that's seriously messed up.
Props to Mariko Tamaki and Steve Rolston to visualizing the punks, goths, and more outcast kids that were frequent visitors of the freak nights! 👏
Props to Mariko Tamaki and Steve Rolston to visualizing the punks, goths, and more outcast kids that were frequent visitors of the freak nights! 👏
July 12, 2019
I really enjoyed this fast read. Emiko is a high school student who has to find something to do for the summer after losing her job. She finds a new job but something better as well -- an opportunity to try something new.
July 14, 2023
From the depths of my TBR pile comes Emiko Superstar by Mariko Tamaki - I've read some of her newer stuff since adding this one, and I'd say I prefer them. This wasn't terrible, but it maybe felt a little underdeveloped? The art style was alright.
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