In this issue:

Super Summer Sale runs through Sunday.

"Mockingbird" reading & signing tomorrow night!

"Drag & Drop" summer activities for kids.

"Eat These Words" summer discussion series starts Friday.

May book reviews from A-Review-A-Day.

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Our Super Summer Sale runs through Sunday, June 25. Come and enjoy 45% discounts on selected titles and 40-75% off of selected "footnotes" - non-book items like toys, games, stationary, and more!

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Mockingbird Reading & Signing with Charles J. Shields: Wednesday, June 21 at 7:00 p.m.

Tomorrow night Charles J. Shields will be at Watermark for a 7:00 p.m. reading and book signing. Shields is the author of Mockingbird: A Portrait of Harper Lee, the first biography of the elusive woman who wrote To Kill a Mockingbird. If you've read the much-loved classic (and we know you have) or seen the recent film Capote, you'll want to be a part of this event. If you're unable to attend, just call or e-mail us, and we can reserve a copy of the book for you and have it signed.

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"Drag & Drop" Summer Activities for Kids

Watermark invites parents to "Drag & Drop" their kids off for a series of summer activities. The first is a Land-Locked Beach Party: We'll be celebrating the new book "Junie B. Jones, Aloha Ha Ha" on June 22nd at 4:00 p.m. The beach party is $3.50 per child and is recommended for kids ages 5-10. It will last approximately one hour and will include an activity bag and one of Watermark's signature cupcakes for each participant. You can sign your child up in advance, or just "drag and drop" them off for the event.

And don't forget your flip-flops!

Here are the dates of other upcoming "Drag & Drops":

July 7. Not Your Mama's Tea Party

July 11. Not Your Mama's Tea Party

July 21. Iron Chef Watermark Cooking Class July 25. Iron Chef Watermark Cooking Class Aug. 4. Wordplay Café Aug. 8. Wordplay Café

Check the Events page on the Watermark Web site for times and details:

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"Eat These Words" Summer Discussion Series

Each "Eat These Words" session will feature a guest speaker and moderated discussion, and each runs from 12:00 noon to 1:00 p.m. on a Friday:

June 23. Joyce Suellentrop, historian and former archivist with Newman University.

July 14. Darren DeFrain, director of the Wichita State University writing program and author of the novel "The Salt Palace."

August 11. Randy Scholfield, member of the "Wichita Eagle" editorial board.

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May reviews from A-Review-A-Day.

PICTURE BOOKS

"John, Paul, George & Ben" by Lane Smith:

MIDDLE READER BOOKS

"Al Capone Does My Shirts" by Gennifer Choldenko:

"The Wright 3" by Blue Balliett:

"Noisy Outlaws, Unfriendly Blobs, and Some Other Things..." by Lemony Snicket and the editors of McSweeney's:

"Coraline" by Neil Gaiman:

YOUNG ADULT and TEEN BOOKS

"The Dairy Queen" by Catherine Gilbert Murdock:

"Looking for Alaska" by John Green:

"The Geography Club" and "The Order of the Poison Oak" by Brent Hartinger:

"The Notebook Girls: Four Friends, Once Diary, Real Life" by Julia Baskin, Sophie Pollitt-Cohen, Lindsey Newman, and Courtney Toombs:

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What's this Manga Stuff, Anyway?

(a hopefully helpful introduction by Mark David Bradshaw)

If you've ever seen manga, you probably know the basics already: they come from Japan, and they're comic books. But "manga" (pronounced "MAW-n-gah") are different from American comics in interesting and important ways. (Oh, and the word can be either singular or plural: a manga, some manga, a whole lotta manga. Your choice.) Here are some high points to help you in selecting manga for your schools and libraries:

IT'S BACKWARDS: Because most are translated from Japanese, manga read right-to-left, and the front cover seems like the back to Western readers. Even inside, you follow the panels of the story from right to left as you move down the page. (There's a little lesson in cultural difference for your students right there: books work differently in different languages!)

WEIRD LITTLE SYMBOLS: Unlike the bright colors of most American comics, manga are usually in black and white, and they use a range of visual gestures to show emotion: storm clouds gather above an angry character, a love-struck person's word bubbles explode with hearts, or a miniature version of a character appears when he's acting childish. These operatic touches are comical and not to be taken literally, just like the stars and birds that circle the heads of squashed Looney Tune characters.

MANGA vs. ANIME: Manga are often connected to animated films and serials called anime (pronounced like "animation" without the final syllable). A story usually appears first as a manga and is later made into an anime, which fans can rent as videos or find on television channels like the Cartoon Network. Some really popular manga/anime series you may have heard of include Dragonball Z, Naruto, Fullmetal Alchemist, and Yu-Gi-Oh.

WHAT IS UP WITH THE EYES?: One of the most distinctive things about manga characters is that they tend to have big, saucer-like eyes. It's usually a visual shorthand for innocence (most villains have beady eyes) and a reminder that the manga style was partly inspired by American animators like Walt Disney.

FOR ALL AGES: Manga has sometimes gotten a bad rap for being violent and sexy because there's such a wide range of series, including many for adults. (Almost everyone reads manga in Japan, even grown-ups. It's HUGE.) But the main American publishers of manga, Viz Media and Tokyopop, are really good about labeling their books with age ratings: children, teen, older teen, and mature. The grade is shown right on the cover. Also, Watermark shelves adult manga and comics in a separate section from those for younger readers.

If you're thinking of adding manga to your school or library collection, here are a few popular, high-quality series to consider:

Naruto by Masashi Kishimoto (Viz Media, 1569319006, $7.95) is a series with strong appeal for boys and girls. The title character is a young boy at a training school for ninja. He dreams of being a great warrior, but he first has to fight his own prankster impulses in order to improve his skills and learn teamwork. The tone of the series is lively and goofy, with lots of creative ninja battles that display clever strategies. Cartoon Network airs an accompanying anime series. Naruto  is recommended for middle grades and young adult readers.

Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind by Hayao Miyazaki (Viz Media, 1591164087, $9.95) is a classic manga by the animator and director of the Oscar-winning film Spirited Away. In a world once decimated by great weapons, Princess Nausicaa (inspired by a character from Homer's "Odyssey") is a brave young woman trying to make peace between human kingdoms and the strange giant insects that live deep in the forests. She possesses great skill as a pilot and an unusual ability to communicate with animals. Her rich story carries a strong theme of peace and environmental stewardship. Nausicaa is also a Japanese animated film distributed by Disney. Recommended for teens.

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July is right around the corner...

Beth