YA Review:My Tokyo Summer (Abby Denson)

Abby lives in the United States and loves comics, zines, and punk music. Yuuko lives in Japan and loves manga, American movies, and creating art. When Yuuko visits New York City and sees a comic that Abby made, she writes a letter to Abby and they become pen pals. Later, Abby takes the opportunity to enroll in a summer university program in Japan, and the two girls get the chance to meet in person. What follows are charming and funny adventures in Tokyo as Abby and Yuuko explore the city together. Things get even more exciting when they decide to combine their talents and make a comic to sell at Comiket, one of the largest comics conventions in the world. This will be an extraordinary summer of life-changing friendship!

“My Tokyo Summer” by Abby Denson, illustrations by Utomaru, invites readers to go on a trip to Tokyo with Abby, a girl from the United States who loves reading and writing comics. When a girl from Japan, Yuuko, happens to come to America and sees one of Abby’s comics in a store, she writes a letter that begins a long-term friendship between the two girls.

Abby eventually travels to Tokyo to meet Yuuko. Abby’s enrollment in an art program in Japan allows them to spend time together and work on their own comic. They plan to sell it at an event called Comiket, which is a large comic convention they attend together while Abby was in Japan.

The book touches on different aspects of Japanese culture, including foods eaten there, how to travel around town, and the like. The girls’ relationship inspires them to continue their friendship long past Abby’s time in Tokyo, showing that you can find good friends in the most unexpected ways. The illustrations also do a nice job vividly depicting the way in which Abby views life in Tokyo and how her life and Yuuko’s life intertwine as they get to know each other better.