Say, Allen

An engaging and inspiring portrait of a young artist's determination to follow his dream. Those who are familiar with Drawing from Memory will be happy to pick up with Allen Say as a fifteen-year-old and learn about the first few years after he moved from Japan to the United States. Also an immigrant and coming-of-age narrative, the book stands well on its own and will resonate with a wide range of readers. Say's teenage years were unique and specific to the time period and place, but his trials, such as learning a new language, facing prejudice, and having a difficult relationship with his father, are universal. Serves as a testament to the positive influence a teacher or other invested adult can have in a young person's life. In Say's case, a kind high school principal changed the direction of his experience in the United States: "Yesterday I thought I was going to jail or to sleep in an orange grove. Today I leap four years in my schooling, and maybe have a job! One kind American changed my world." (Say's high school art teacher was also hugely supportive and encouraging; in his author's note, Say says, "I still wonder what my life would have been without [Mr. Nelson Price and Mrs. Laura Swope]. Would I be an artist today?") The striking images-a combination of paintings, sketches, and cartoons-immerse readers in Say's world. Throughout, Kyusuke (a popular Japanese-comic character, which Say's Japanese mentor based on him) appears as Say's "cartoon double," acting as a foil and providing levity: "That's it! Be like Kyusuke! Life's an adventure!"

This "patchwork of memories" ("and memories are unreliable, so I am calling this a work of fiction made of real people and places I knew") sequel to Drawing from Memory (rev. 9/11) takes the fifteen-year-old Allen to Glendora, California, where he is enrolled in what seems to have been a distinctly mediocre military academy run by one of his (miserable) father's old friends. That doesn't go very well, and Allen soon finds himself, happily, enrolled in a regular high school, taking classes at an art institute in Los Angeles, and working part-time in a printing shop. Throughout, Kyusuke, Allen's scapegrace comic-strip alter ego created by his revered Sensei, accompanies him in his imagination. Befitting adolescence, the tone here is sometimes sulky, even sarcastic, but, truth be told, Say can be so deadpan that it's difficult to know when he's kidding. The illustrations are a pleasing combination of watercolor cartoon panels—neat and nimble executions of the teen's days