A homeschooled girl’s mother abandons her, her father, and her three brothers, and she starts to attend a public school, where she becomes friends with “the freaks”. Oh, and it’s drawn in American manga style.

On the surface, this doesn’t sound like the type of book I’d be at all interested in, but Faith Erin Hicks has crafted an excellent story. Saying “If you liked Scott Pilgrim, but thought it was too gimmicky, and wish it focused more on family than love” is way too broad a stroke to paint this book with but it’s a start at explaining this book.

A police officer dad who has to cut his hair, her quarreling twin brothers, the ghost of..someone, a mysterious rift between one of her brothers and her new friends. These are all identifiable high school problems written in an entirely honest and engaging way without seeming trivial or melodramatic. Add in a maritime museum, volleyball, and a mohawk, and you have the ingredients to a fantastic American manga.