Best of
Slice-Of-Life

2008

Princess Jellyfish 2-in-1 Omnibus, Volume 1


Akiko Higashimura - 2008
    She’s loved them from a young age and has carried that love with her to her new life in the big city of Tokyo. There, she resides in Amamizukan, a safe-haven for girl geeks who regularly gush over a range of things from trains to Japanese dolls. However, a chance meeting at a pet shop has Tsukimi crossing paths with one of the things that the residents of Amamizukan have been desperately trying to avoid—a beautiful and fashionable woman! But there’s much more to this woman than her trendy clothes! This odd encounter is only the beginning of a new and unexpected path for Tsukimi and her friends.

Stargazing Dog


Takashi Murakami - 2008
    He embarks on a road trip to escape it all, and he soon discovers the only one he can count on completely is his faithful, recently adopted dog, who helps him see the light at the end of the tunnel. Illustrating the valuable lessons of friendship and loyalty, this is a heartwarming tale of two endearing characters and their shared adventure into the unknown.

Toradora! Manga, Vol. 1


Yuyuko Takemiya - 2008
    Despite his inwardly sweet personality, his naturally sharp gaze and aggressive features give him the air of a delinquent thug, putting his chances at making friends, let alone a girlfriend, next to zero.It’s Ryuuji’s first day of his junior year in high school and it seems as if things are looking up. He gets to sit in between his only friend, Kitamura, and even better, the girl he’s secretly crushing on, Kushieda Minori. But just when he thinks the stars are aligned in his favor, he unwittingly crosses the ultimate mean girl in school, Aisaka Taiga. What's worse, the fierce Taiga happens to live right next door to Ryuuji and is Minori’s best friend! Can this school year possibly get worse?!

I Am Here! Omnibus Vol. 02


Ema Tōyama - 2008
    What if someone you met online turned out to be someone you knew in real life? In this volume, Hikage, Hinata, and Teru overcome jealousy and betrayal, and together learn valuable lessons about friendship, love, and forgiveness.This bundles features volumes 3,4,5.

Oresama Teacher, Vol. 1


Izumi Tsubaki - 2008
    But when she gets expelled for being a delinquent, her mother, fed up with her daughter's wayward ways, sends Mafuyu to an isolated school far off in the country. Determined to make the best of the situation and make her mother proud, Mafuyu decides to turn over a new, feminine, well-behaved leaf. But her fighting spirit can't be kept down, and the night before school starts she finds herself defending some guy who's getting beaten up. One slip wouldn't have been a problem, except the guy is…her teacher?! How can Mafuyu learn to be a good girl if her teacher won't let her forget her wicked past?

Kare Kano -- Vols 1-3 Collection


Masami Tsuda - 2008
    She's the number-one student at her school...or at least she was until she was shown up by the new boy, Soichiro Arima. He one-ups her in every department, and the worst thing about it is that he's sincere! With her ego in jeopardy, Yukino will do whatever it takes to regain the spotlight, but falling in love was never part of the plan.

A Triple Scoop of Rage with Giggle Sprinkles


Jim Benton - 2008
    . . or at least as true as it needs to be.This TRIPLE SCOOP OF RAGE WITH GIGGLE SPRINKLES includes these three Jamie Kelly diaries:#1: Let's Pretend This Never Happened#2: My Pants are Haunted!#3: Am I the Princess or the Frog?

The Complete Jack Survives


Jerry Moriarty - 2008
    This oversized, full-color edition gathers for the first time all of the strips and presents them in the way the author intended. Introduction by acclaimed cartoonist Chris Ware (Jimmy Corrigan).

Kitchen Princess: Search for the Angel Cake


Miyuki Kobayashi - 2008
    Before their tragic accident, her parents, both famous pastry chefs, made a promise to the grandmother of a classmate of Najika’s: to duplicate a white cake the elderly woman once tasted abroad as a teenager. Now Najika hopes to re-create the cake herself.With so few clues (it’s fluffy and heavenly) and so many possibilities, the trial and error might just go on forever. But Najika refuses to give up–-for one reason: She knows that all great masterpieces contain a distinct magic: a secret ingredient called love. Najika will need lots of it to make the wishes of Anju’s grandmother–-and certain other classmates–-come true. And who knows? With so much amour in the air, Najika might just find a little left over for herself!

Realities of Submission


Umm Zakiyyah - 2008
    Told in three parts, Renee's story tells of a stringent childhood in her father's church and her ultimate submission to the religion of her nature in young adulthood. As Renee embraces Islam wholeheartedly, the spiritual tranquility of her initial conversion begins to wane as she faces the often painful realities of navigating the terrains of the Muslim experience itself. At times humorous and at times painful, the story touches the reader's deepest thoughts and incites the familiar questioning of the human soul.

Lucy Maud Montgomery Short Stories, 1902-1903


L.M. Montgomery - 2008
    M. Montgomery, (1874-1942) was a Canadian author, best known for a series of novels beginning with Anne of Green Gables (1908). In 1893, following the completion of her grade school education in Cavendish, she attended Prince of Wales College in Charlottetown. Completing a two year program in one year, she obtained her teaching certificate. In 1895 and 1896 she studied literature at Dalhousie University in Halifax, Nova Scotia. After working as a teacher in various island schools, in 1898 Montgomery moved back to Cavendish. For a short time in 1901 and 1902 she worked in Halifax for the newspapers Chronicle and Echo. She returned to live with and care for her grandmother in 1902. Montgomery was inspired to write her first books during this time on Prince Edward Island. Her works include: The Story Girl (1911), Chronicles of Avonlea (1912), The Golden Road (1913), Anne of the Island (1915), Anne's House of Dreams (1917), Rainbow Valley (1919), Further Chronicles of Avonlea (1920) and Rilla of Ingleside (1921).

Spring, Heat, Rains: A South Indian Diary


David Dean Shulman - 2008
    Goats. Dry shrubs. Buffaloes. Thorns. A fallen tamarind tree.” Such were the sights that greeted David Shulman on his arrival in the South Indian state of Andhra Pradesh in the spring of 2006. An expert on South Indian languages and cultures, Shulman knew the region well, but from the moment he arrived for this seven-month sojourn he actively soaked up such simple aspects of his surroundings, determined to attend to the rich texture of daily life—choosing to be at the same time scholar and tourist, wanderer and wonderer. Lyrical, sensual, and introspective, Spring, Heat, Rains is Shulman’s diary of that experience. Evocative reflections on daily events—from explorations of crumbling temples to battles with ineradicable bugs to joyous dinners with friends—are organically interwoven with considerations of the ancient poetry and myths that remain such an inextricable part of life in contemporary India. With Shulman as our guide, we meet singers and poets, washermen and betel-nut vendors, modern literati and ancient gods and goddesses. We marvel at the “golden electrocution” that is the taste of a mango fresh from the tree. And we plunge into the searing heat of an Indian summer, so oppressive and inescapable that when the monsoon arrives to banish the heat with sheets of rain, we understand why, year after year, it is celebrated as a miracle. An unabashedly personal account from a scholar whose deep knowledge has never obscured his joy in discovery, Spring, Heat, Rains is a passionate act of sharing, an unforgettable gift for anyone who has ever dreamed of India.

らき ☆ すた ポケットとらべら~ず


Kagami Yoshimizu - 2008
    Alternate Series of Lucky StarThe series starts of with the girls getting magically shrunken and getting in all kinds of hyjinx.

THE LAST ROCK AND ROLL SHOW


William Daniel White - 2008
    It's just like riding shotgun in a 1950s whodunit. You can smell the fuel burning, quench your thirst with an ice cold Coca-Cola, and feel the raw power of that classic Detroit muscle. The Last Rock and Roll Show flawlessly blends the details of the fateful night we lost some of rock's true pioneers with an original tale of teenage dreams both tragic and triumphant. This is the kind of historical fiction music fans live for.

Jeff Benson or the Young Coastguardsman


R.M. Ballantyne - 2008
    please visit www.valdebooks.com for a full list of titles

きつねのよめいり 1 (Kitsune no Yomeiri 1)


高木 聡 - 2008
    Upon praying to a fox statue his life seems to take an unexpected turn for the better...or the worse.

Hold On to Your Horses


Sandra Tayler - 2008
    With a little help, Amy learns how to guide her ideas in constructive ways. This book was born because an impulsive child needed a metaphor for controlling her ideas. It is available now so that it can help other children as well.