The Peanutbutter sisters And other American stories

Hara's sophomore title is another shorts collection, featuring seven stories predominantly in black-and-white, interrupted by interstitial scenes that when puzzled together form "The Builders," a nearly wordless narrative drawn on a black background yet bursting with vivid blooms. These eponymous builders clad in furry bodysuits (with strategically placed openings) most resemble "The Peanutbutter Sisters." The siblings' late father "wanted us to have a true American name. A name that evokes heritage and love in this country. So he ditched his foreign name and made us the Peanutbutters." The trio sell dump-foraged treasures on eBay, travel on hurricanes, and return home via whale hitchhiking--although this time, they must resort to danger-riddled land travel. Most of the "Other American Stories" prove fantastical: two trees making "Tree Love"; an orgy hallucinator in "Verti-Go-Go"; naked vigilantes with explosive heads in "Bombadonna." The single realism-based story, "Walking with Tammy Tabata," introduces two students researching a Noh project, who decide "there can be different ways to be Japanese"--and, by implication, American. Beyond words, Hara's clever visuals underscore climate change, predators, mutable identities, and the longing for "home sweet home."

Hari (Nori) captures the zeitgeist in this sprightly genre-bending collection. In the title story, three energetic and entrepreneurial sisters--Georgia, Alabama, and Mississippi--experience the wider world through their yearly excursions off their island via hurricane winds. When the naive but tough trio alight in N.Y.C., they show off their knack for getting in and out of trouble. Other stories focus on human (or otherwise) connection, such as "Walking with Tammy Tabata," wherein two teens wander Brooklyn--its vistas, stark streets, and polluted shoreline lovingly detailed in black-and-white, fine-line art--seeking inspiration to write a contemporary version of a classical Japanese dance-drama; and "Living Things," as sentient beings from around the galaxy converge in 2099 for a race in Death Valley. "Verti-Go-Go" addressees the Covid-19 pandemic, as regular guy Brian has explicit visions of hedonistic orgies. Contrasted with his daily routine of sanitizer, masks, and social distancing, the bacchanalia's full-body contact, unconstrained bodily fluids, and exuberant joy captures a desire for human touch beyond the sexual. And more abstractly, in "Bombadonna," female figures with bombs for heads use destruction to create renewal. Through stories alternating realistic and fantastical, Hara creates worlds where anything seems possible--yet her big feat is capturing everyday experience. (May)