Manga is worldwide phenomenon: One of the most widely read types of literature in its home country of Japan, it has crossed the world to become a very popular category here in the United States.
With burgeoning collections in libraries and bookstores around the U.S., manga has faced an increasing number of challenges and bans (some of them even in Japan!). CBLDF has been on the forefront of defending manga here in the U.S. and abroad. Executive Director Charles Brownstein recently traveled to Japan for the Manga Freedom speaking tour.
Often, manga is challenged because of its foreign source — many of the people who want manga banned simply don’t understand it. CBLDF works to educate people about manga, and recently released CBLDF Presents Manga: Introduction, Challenges, and Best Practices, an authoritative yet accessible handbook designed to help librarians, educators, and parents navigate the vast and popular field of manga.
Made possible with a grant from the Gaiman Foundation and published by Dark Horse, CBLDF Presents Manga is a handbook designed to provide a concise and informed overview of manga — its history, genres, and issues. This educational work delves into the history of manga, its major demographic divisions, its most significant creators, and the challenges it has sometimes faced in North America. An expert panel of writers, including not only scholars of the medium but veterans of the manga industry itself — professionals who have worked from both the North American and Japanese sides of manga in publishing, editing, review, and library services. Edited by Melinda Beasi of Manga Bookshelf, CBLDF Presents Manga is written by Manga Bookshelf columnist Sean Gaffney, Ed Chavez of Vertical, Erica Friedman of Yuricon and ALC Publishing, Shaenon Garrity of Viz Media and Otaku USA, and Robin Brenner and Katherine Dacey of School Library Journal.
If your child or students are interested in manga and you want to learn more about the category, you can pick up a copy of CBLDF Presents Manga here!
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