Mothers Confused About Manga

a support group

I recently unearthed an old hard drive with videos from my firstborn (now 18) as a baby. Talk about life flashing before your eyes. My favorite was this clip of her not yet a year, paging through a well-loved book, pretending to read.

The one thing I was certain I had nailed in parenting was instilling a love of reading in my kids.

But the only thing my two older teens seem to read nowadays is One Piece manga (or One Piece fanfiction) on their phones. Of course, everything counts and I try not to be snobbish, but I can’t help sprinkling recommendations out to them the way I used to plate a hopeful pile of peas onto their toddler plates.

Playing on my 16-year-old’s fondness for digital reading, I started emailing stories to her school account—something she can access on her chromebook during classroom lulls. Her reported favorites included The Lottery and The Yellow Wallpaper.

Then my oldest came home the other day gushing about her Lit class discussion of “My Papa’s Waltz” and “One Art.” So there’s some heartening music to a bookish mother’s ears.

They both celebrated birthdays this month. And along with the manga they requested, I snuck in some titles of my own I thought they might enjoy:

Educated by Tara Westover

Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin

The Postcard by Anne Berest

The Gift of Fear by Gavin DeBecker

It’s last-ditch strewing at its finest, modern breadcrumbs that may lead them back to the deluxe and abandoned copies of Oliver Twist and Jane Eyre I foisted upon them last summer.

Or not.

My own mother was always trying to get me to read as a teen and I refused her efforts until I discovered my own reading path. Like a wheel I was certain I’d invented.

Maybe I’ll just content myself with making a list of books I think would be worthwhile/enjoyable for them to read someday. To keep until it’s wanted.

What are the books you would put on such a list? I’d love to hear!

Lacy

P.S. For the uninitiated, One Piece is a 1,128-chapter manga series that’s been ongoing for nearly 30 years! My understanding is that it’s about pirates with superpowers. But my children would probably tell you that I’m wrong in that understanding.

P.P.S. Another thing I found on that hard drive: the birth of my 16-year-old daughter in an inflatable kiddie pool by the side of the bed. We watched the video together and reliving that moment with her was possibly one of the most impactful experiences of my life. Technology, amiright??

P.P.P.S. Probably my list of books would just be a catalog of everything I’ve curated to live on my shelves, so—maybe I don’t need to make it after all…