Title: Confidential Confessions Vol. 1 Volume(s): 6 Creator(s): Reiko Momochi Format: Unflipped; Right-to-Left Publisher: Tokyopop MSRP: $9.95 Genre(s): Drama Rated: Older Teen (16+)

CONSUMER ADVICE

Parents, you have a hard choice to make here: You could either let your kids read this, or you couldn't. A book like this is very hard to determine the oppropraitness of the book. If your child is 12 and under you might want to hold off on sharing this with your child, however if the child is over 13 then it might be something he/she SHOULD read and then have a discussion about it. If you are looking for a happy story look elsewhere, this story is grim and depressing.

In our society we have accepted a man by the name of Dr. Phil. Dr. Phil is a TV psychiatrist who helps people with all their problems. People go on his show, they spill their guts out to him, and then he solves all their problems within an hour of our life (Including commercials). I have watched this show FAR too many times with my mom, who eats Dr. Phil up like he was popcorn, yet I can never get into his lectures or anything! I mean he sounds like a nice guy, but I feel he doesn't always look at the whole picture, and since when did this guy have all the answers to life? Because he was on Oprah a few times? I'm not buying it. Especially since there are most likely tons of people who could use Dr. Phil's help a lot more then the people who go on his show for help to lose weight (Here's a hint people: Stop eating so much).

And that brings us to “Confidential Confessions,” a dark and unsettling collection of stories about real teenagers with real problems. In the course of this six book series, author Reiko Momochi will take a look at teenage Japanese girls with the following problems (In no particular order mind you):

Sexual Harassment
Prostitution
Rape
Suicide
Drugs
Stalking

The reason the author chose to make a series of stories about such controversial and unsettling topics is because in Japan it's tough if you're a girl. That might sound like something a girl in America says while deciding between what dress to wear, but in Japan this is a true statement in general for girls. Women are not thought of very highly in Japan, their problems tend to be ignored most of the time, and Dr. Phil isn't there to help those women out. Which is why it is importent for comics like these to made for Japanese girls. It's something for them to read when they are confused about something, and there is no one there to help them out. So with that out of the way let's look at the two stories in this book, starting with the first one named “The Door.” The story starts out with the teenage girl Manastu. Manastu is not a happy girl, she hangs out with lots of people but really has no friends and is unable to strike up a real conversation with anybody. She's unhappy with her life at home, she's always lonely despite all the fact that she goes to every party the school kids have, and she has a scary hobby of collecting her scabs from bruises and cuts. She hates her life so much she decides that she would rather kill herself then live the rest of her life hating herself and her family. Then one day she meets a girl named Asparagus, who will change her life.

Asparagus is also suicidal, and spends her free time cutting her wrists and legs, hoping that sooner or later she'll bleed to death. When these two meet, it will begin a down right frightening journey of these two people finding the perfect way to kill themselves, and leave their mark on the world. While reading this story you won't know what's scarier, the fact that these two are actually on a journey to kill themselves, or what DRIVES them to kill themselves! As to not give away too much of the story, it appears that Asparagus is the victim of the worst kind of bullying, and no one will believe that she's being bullied to the extent that she claims she is. Her family doesn't care a thing about her, she has no friends, and is shunned by the school for the pure fact that she's different. With a very realistic and disturbing ending (Which brings to the point that this story IS anti-suicide), this is a story that I feel teenage girls (And parents) SHOULD read!

Reading this story is like watching a video on sexual harassment: You don't enjoy watching the video as it's not pleasant, but it's something you should see so that you have an idea of what to do in case you ever become a victim of sexual harassment. There's also a second story in this book called “Mistakes,” which is about prostitution. However this story is harder to recommend because there's very little sympathy to be found for the lead female Yokshioka. You find out that when she was in seventh grade her brother's friends used to put the moves on her, and her mother was always too drunk to do anything about it, however then she decides to become a prostitute since she apparently can't trust love anymore. Yeah, whatever. To make a long story short she meets a guy, falls in love, decides to change, and then she gets caught prostituting again and probably gets what she deserves.

Now I'm not sure how bad her past REALLY was since this story is really too short to seriously get into her past, but there doesn't feel like much of a reason for this girl to start doing this terrible job in the first place! Even if there wasn't anyone there to listen to her story there were plenty of other ways she could have made it through life without prostitution. The problem with the second story is that it puts a character who needs sympathy into a situation that says otherwise, and this story just didn't click to be true to life at all. But even if the second story is weak in comparison to the first story, that doesn't change the fact that the first story is still a powerful, disturbing, and realistic look at a touchy subject. Many people won't enjoy this book, many people might not even want to finish it because it's so disturbing, but it's something that people SHOULD read! It's a wake up call that needs to be heard, in a way that must be seen to be believed.

Now I'm no expert, but I feel that this could change more lives then Dr. Phil ever will.

- -Review By Kevin T. Rodriguez- -