Manga High: Literacy, Identity, and Coming of Age in an Urban High School

Based on a four-year study, Manga High explores the convergence of literacy, creativity, social development, and personal identity in one of New York City’s largest high schools.

Since 2004, students at Martin Luther King, Jr., High School in Manhattan have been creating manga—Japanese comic books. They write the stories, design the characters, and publish their works in print and on the Internet. These students—African-American and Latino teenagers—are more than interested in the art and me...