Shoplifter HC
Publisher: Pantheon
Release Date: September 2, 2014
Price: $19.95
Creator: Michael Cho
Format: 96 pgs., 2-color, Hardcover
ISBN: 9-780-3079-1173-5
Age Rating: N/A
ICv2 Rating: 3.5 Stars out of 5
 
While the price seems high for its slight size, the contents of the book are good enough to stand out.  Readers looking for a thoughtful book about life will find a good story here, one well illustrated by this first-time graphic novelist.
 
Corinna graduated from college with a degree in English and moved "temporarily" into an advertising job, only to find the job and its demands sucking the energy out of her life.  Her boss, clearly another former English major, quotes poetry to justify their work.  When faced with writing ad copy for a product she finds hideously offensive, she has to take a longer look at her life and her future.  Her interactions with a convenience store clerk, a cat and a photographer all weave through the choices she has made and needs to make.
 
Cho's artwork is expressive and well executed.  The writing is believable and interesting.  Most of the characters are well-rounded and realistic.  The question of job security versus life's goals and dreams is one that many people ask, and in this case the answers are not easy.
 
That is also the story's only weakness.  Some readers will be quick to ask why she didn't have her life crisis sooner, while others will wonder why she had it at all.  She's quick to say "I can't do this and that," when in fact a lot of people do manage to be both creative and mundane.  She never even tries that middle ground.
 
For adults and teens.
 
--Nick Smith: Library Technician, Community Services, for the Pasadena Public Library in California