Dear Myself (Yaoi) [Paperback]

After suffering from amnesia after a traffic accident at 14, Hirofumi suddenly regains his memory two years later—and forgets the events of his life while he had amnesia. To recover these memories, Hirofumi reads through a journal that he's kept, consisting of letters to himself, and finds out that for the past two years, he's had a boyfriend. Shocked to find out that he's gay, Hirofumi struggles with his forgotten past and his persistent boyfriend, Daigo, who refuses to give up their relationship. Eiki is the author of the previous yaoi manga The Art of Loving (and coincidentally, the granddaughter of former Japanese prime minister Noboru Takeshita), and she has a talent for depicting boys in love. She manages the sexual and romantic tension between her characters with grace, alluding to the passion and hormonal drive of adolescence through dialogue rather than graphic content. Her artistic style mixes the activity and energy typical of boys' love books for teens with the sophistication of titles normally reserved for older readers. The result reflects adolescent energy without cluttering the page. (Aug.)
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Grade 10 Up–Daigo took an unconscious Hirofumi to the hospital after a car accident. Two years later, Hirofumi's health returned, but he couldn't remember his former life. Instead he latched on to his rescuer, who turned out to be needy to the point of obsession. Over time, the boys entered into a romantic and sexual relationship. Hirofumi was told that if his amnesia ever cleared up, he would lose all memories of his life since the accident, so he wrote a letter in which he explained to his future self how his relationship with Daigo developed. This story begins the day that Hirofumi's amnesia vanishes, and he doesn't recognize this strange boy who is paying him so much attention. Even after reading the Dear Myself letter and his journal, Hirofumi has trouble accepting that he could have ever had a homosexual relationship. He continues to rebuff Daigo's advances, but Daigo's pleading (and his own unconscious physical memory) start to break down Hirofumi's homophobic walls. The book is filled with images of longing glances peeking out from beneath stylish bangs and has a striking image of the boys embracing on the cover. Some readers might find the ending romantically fulfilling. Others might wish for a team of social workers to help these boys (who both have histories of being molested by their elders) to deal with their problems and to develop as individuals. A thought-provoking story for mature readers.–Andrea Lipinski, New York Public Library
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