Grass

During World War II, the Imperial Japanese Army ran comfort houses — military brothels — throughout Japan and its occupied territories. The comfort women forced to work there were often not women at all but young girls who had been kidnapped or sold into sexual slavery. The exact numbers are still debated by scholars, but

Big Questions

Two birds are scavenging for food; one of them has a tendency to go off on philosophical tangents. Nearby, their friends are waiting for the old lady and her intellectually disabled grandson to come sprinkle crumbs of food in the usual spot. It’s a typical day until a giant egg falls from the sky and

Quickies: Shortcomings & Billy Lynn’s Long Halftime Walk

Shortcomings by Adrian Tomine Publisher/Year: Drawn and Quarterly, 2007 Format: Hardcover Pages: 104 Source: Library What it is: A graphic novel that explores the sticky issues of cultural identity. Ben Tanaka is a 30-year-old Japanese American who runs a movie house in Berkeley. His longtime girlfriend is Miko, who is also a Japanese American but embraces her culture way more than