Description
MOTHERS was nominated for the 2024 American Manga Awards / US Manga Awards,
Here are the judges comments on the book:
“Beautifully drawn, touching short stories.” – Brigid Alverson, School Library Journal
“I did not expect this anthology to rip my heart out, tear it apart, and put it back into my chest.” – Renee Scott, NYPL
“Entrancing modern fairy tales and human dramas by a small-press artist new to English translation. More like this, please!” – Shaenon Garrity, Otaku USA, Publishers Weekly
Here are some excerpts from the book:
read the story “Wolf of the Woods”
The print edition is offset printed on a luxury cream paper stock, with a sewn binding. The cover features gatefold flaps spot printed with a mix of red and blue inks on uncoated paper, showcasing brand new artwork created by Umi specially for this, their first collected edition.
Words about MOTHERS
“A gorgeous collection of intimate and delicate short stories that speak to the heart. I would advise to read them little by little and letting them sink in, as you can tell how the author poured their soul into each one of them.” – Solace
“A collection really well drawn slice of life stories. Their premises were really unique and had deep emotions. My favourites were ‘Body’, ‘A Good Day for Tiramisu’, ‘Dragonfly Sora’, ‘Rapunzel Today’, and ‘Mothers’.“ – Jerry Chen
“Mothers collects twelve stories about small but significant moments of kindness enacted in uncommon ways. Umi Kusahara’s short manga are accented by touches of the fantastic but grounded in a reality that doesn’t pull its punches. These stories are particularly concerned with grieving and the emotional impact of loss, which is represented delicately but without sentimentality.
In the piece that lends its title to the collection, “Mothers,” two women visit the hospital beds of two teenagers who have only barely survived a horrible car crash. Each woman has a complicated relationship with the patient she visits, but they find sympathy and support in the connection they create with each other. As in the other stories in the collection, the catharsis lies in the moment of clarity when the characters can be finally honest with themselves about what they want and what will make their lives worth living.
Umi Kusahara originally self-published these short manga stories as dōjinshi, and it’s wonderful to see work like this in translation. Kusahara’s delicate but assured shōjo-inspired artwork is lovely, and it’s a joy to bask in the sweetness of her worldview.” – Kathryn Hemmann, Goodreads
