A tale of hapkido, first love, and recycled gifts-a graphic novel with real heart.

Dik Seong Jen-better known as “Dixie”-lives on the edge of LA’s Koreatown, where she practices Hapkido both as a an emotional outlet and as a way of connecting with her culture-but ever since she developed a crush on Adam, a fellow Hapkido student, her concentration has been shot.  When she spends the enrolment money meant for a Hapkido tournament on an elaborate gift for Adam…well, things start to get interesting.

Re-Gifters is is a graphic novel-comics.  I really enjoy the black and white art in this book-its energetic, slightly skritchy lines capture the both bustle of an after-school party and the furious action of a hapkido tournament.  Each character is distinctive and expressive in their own way.  The narration is engaging, the captions are full of sly humour, and the dialogue is  natural.

All of the characters-even the less sympathetic ones, are treated as human beings-this is a story about how love makes fools of us all.  Dixie is an engaging heroine-struggling to be true to herself even when her hormones seem to get in the way.   This is a light teen comedy that never gets too heavy but it never looses the courage of its convictions, either.

If you’re looking for more girl-centered graphic novels-The Plain Janes and Good As Lily are good choices-or take a stroll over to the manga section and thumb through Fruits Basket, and for the more mature reader, Nana.

Grade Level:  4+ (This is a rough estimate-when I type a sample of a text into the grade-level calculator, it comes at about grade 3-4-but not all of the meaning is in the text.  The subject matter is geared towards intermediate students).

Rating:  ★★★★