The Eternal Smile by Gene Luen Yang and Derek Kirk Kim

Rating: 4/5 Stars

Genre: Graphic Novel

Release Date: 4/28/2009

About the Book: A collection of three stories about the world we live in, told in a graphic novel. First up is a fantasy about a princess, a frog king, and the boy who sets out to defeat him. The second story is about a money scheming frog and a mysterious smile that appears in the sky. And finally, a tale about Janet, and her Nigerian Prince who wants her to send money and promises to send more to bank account if she only helps him out.

GreenBeanTeenQueen Says: I really enjoyed American Born Chinese when I read it after it won the Printz award, so I was excited when I came across this one at my library. It combines Gene Leun Yang's storytelling with Derek Kirk Kim's artwork (who I know from his Minx comic, Good As Lily). The result is a great collection of short comics that are fun to read.

What I really like about Yang's writing is that there's always a little twist that I never see coming, but still totally fits with the story. It works in each one and I'm never disappointed. Kim's artwork stands out and he makes each story have a different feel-you can see samples of the panels on the Amazon page. I love the way everything blended together and each story flowed well with the art.

I enjoyed all three stories and how each one had a deeper story than what first appears on the surface, but my favorite had to be "Urgent Request," the last story in the collection. There was something about Janet that made her a sympathetic character and I really liked how Kim drew her and was able to get her emotions across the page. Her story was bittersweet and I really liked it.

If you need a way to convince someone that graphic novels and comics aren't all about superheroes and cute Japanese girls, give them The Eternal Smile. It's a graphic novel for non-graphic novel fans, and for those who have long enjoyed the format.