Staff Picks: Spring Vibes

When he was younger, Aia was a model and considered promising until he suddenly quit. Now he's almost out of high school and still quietly hoping to become a makeup artist, but afraid to go for it. Then he meets Jun, the tall classmate teased for her freckles, and decides they will enter the school fashion contest with her as his model. Neither of them realizes how this moment will become a turning point for their lives.

This manga is on this list because Bless is about fashion, makeup, modeling, ambition, so many things that feel bright, promising, like seeing the first blooms of spring. We follow Aia and Jun as they start to come out of their shells and overcome their issues to truly embrace who and what they want to be, alongside an interesting cast of side characters. Readers of Paradise Kiss might enjoy this slightly less dramatic view of life as a student in the fashion industry.

Shannan Prukop

In the opener for this season's themed series, Haru, a small blue bird who can't fly, and their friend Yama the pig find a strange glowing item while playing in the woods after school. Haru immediately has a bad feeling about this thing, saying it's cursed, but Yama thinks that maybe she just needs practice using it to unlock its magical powers. Yama starts to fear the item when it becomes uncontrollable, and she can't get rid of it; it ends up back in her pocket no matter what she does. This led Haru and Yama to go on a journey to determine what to do with this mysterious item before anyone gets seriously hurt.

Those looking for the otherworldly qualities of Spirited Away and the quirky humor of Adventure Time will enjoy this graphic novel, equal parts visually stunning and eerie.

Death of a parent, ghosts

Tayla Cardillo

As the COVID lockdown sweeps across Japan, Nokoru adjusts to working from home, which forces him to confront his work-life balance and the lack of care in his living space. As he starts to nurture his home and recall old desires, he also learns about his next-door neighbor, Natsu, a graduate student in archeology. Over time, the two become closer, with Nokoru often second-guessing or dismissing Natsu's gestures of more than friendship. She couldn't possibly be interested in him...could she?

This unexpectedly sweet and earnest romance, set at the peak of the early COVID pandemic, feels so spring-y because there's so much hope and happiness in it. And a rarity for manga, this story is also complete in one volume, so hand it to readers who like romance but don't want to commit to a series with double digits of volumes to get through.

Shannan Prukop

Juniper, an apprenticed baker, and Hadley, a musician, are friends in the town of Larkspur. As might be expected of a fantasy town, people of all sorts live there, and in general, everyone gets along, but misunderstandings still happen. When Juniper and Hadley offer to go into the forest for some unusual ingredients, they find out firsthand that this is the case, solving the mystery of missing crops and the trails of glowing goo, which turns out to be an opportunity to make a new friend.

This is an incredibly gentle, cozy fantasy; it's very low stakes, with no real prejudice or violence, just a soft journey through a few days in the lives of Juniper and Hadley. In some ways, The Baker and the Bard is very reminiscent of K. O'Neill's work, or Basil and Oregano by Melissa Capriglione; it's definitely part of a growing number of fantasy food-centric graphic novels that have been coming out in recent years. Pick this one up to add more variety to the fantasy diet of your library shelves.

Shannan Prukop

In The Flower Garden, two friends meet to plant flowers to save the bees and are transported on an adventure when they shrink down to bug-sized to experience their backyard garden from a new perspective. They see flowers being pollinated up close and meet a gnome named May, who takes them to her underground home. With rainbow colored flowers and spreads filled with green, this graphic novel for young readers is a little slice of spring in a book.

Anyone looking for a cure for cabin fever should pick up this book.

Tayla Cardillo

Nothing says spring like spring cleaning! Have you been curious about The KonMari Method, but the idea of reading a book about cleaning sounds a little... dry to you? Now you can enjoy the wisdom of organization guru Marie Kondo in manga form. In each chapter, our author and tidying consultant guides us from deciding to tidy up our space to keeping it orderly once we've organized everything. There is even a narrative element to this how-to guide. Marie is helping 20-something Chiaki Suzuki tidy her space so she can feel better at home and even make room in her life for romance.

For anyone looking to step into spring with a little less stuff in their lives.

Tayla Cardillo

After Mary Lenox’s parents die, she goes to live with her uncle Archie in New York City. There, she finds a quiet house heavy with rules and grief. When she discovers a dead garden on the rooftop, Mary, with the help of her new friend and cousin, works to revive it.

With touching, frank discussions of complex emotions, readers looking for healing stories about grief and nature will find comfort and maybe inspiration in this story.

family death

Megan Rupe

Sprites used to exclusively care for plants; then humans came, and sprites found they were no longer needed. But is that true? When Wisteria sees a girl struggling to revive her family’s garden, she starts using her magic to help.

With a soft, warm palette, lots of beautiful plants, and a positive story about the power of working together, The Sprite and The Gardener will appeal to fans of gentle fantasy, such as K O’Neill's Tea Dragon series.

Megan Rupe

Luna is unhappy about moving from California to DC and having to live with her stuffy maternal grandmother. Things start looking up when Luna makes a new friend; together, they start learning about nature, a departure from Luna’s usual dislike. Through her new hobby, she also gains an opportunity to connect with her nature-loving mother, who passed away when she was a baby.

With vibrant nature scenes and touching character dynamics, readers will enjoy this charming story about using change to grow and flourish.

Megan Rupe

This story begins with Hana meeting a mysterious stranger in one of her college classes. They are quickly enraptured with each other, but this man has a secret; he is a wolfman and can transform into a wolf at will. Hana is undeterred by her lover's secret, and they start a wonderful life together. But soon after the birth of their second child, the wolfman dies in a tragic accident, leaving Hana to raise two children, who are part wolf themselves, on her own. This story is a portrait of the joys and hardships of motherhood with motifs of starting over, growth, and renewal throughout.

Anyone looking for a story of perseverance and resilience after loss will find something beautiful and heartfelt here.

Depiction of character death, depiction of a dead animal

Tayla Cardillo