Kitty seems to be average, but actually she is a mutant with the ability to phase through solid objects. When a benefactor offers her a spot at a school for mutants, she is excited to be able to study with other teens like her. But all is not well at the academy, and infighting among the mutants may lead to trouble with the outside world. Del Rey tries to bring the X-Men into the world of manga by focusing on teenage girl readers. Kitty is the girl next door, and this works to the story's advantage. The creators surround her with gorgeous boys to the point where the plot nearly bogs down but then bring things back by forcing Kitty to make tough decisions about the future. Artistic overuse of shojo cuteness and the unexplained decision to make Kitty the only female student are side effects of forcing superheroes into manga form, but by the end, real emotions begin peeking through. Libraries with shojo readers who also enjoyed the X-Men movies might find the best audience for this series.--Wildsmith, Snow Copyright 2009 Booklist

X-Men is renowned for being one of the most girl-friendly super hero comics franchises, so a shojo (girl's) manga "re-boot" of the series is not that far-fetched. The conceit of seeing the X-Men redrawn as supercute boys, or in the case of Beast, redrawn as an adorable human-size badgerlike thing, works without a hitch. 15-year-old Kitty Pryde, who has the mutant ability to slip through walls, enrolls in Xaviar Academy, where she meets classic X-men characters, most still in their teen years. By some unexplained twist of fate that could only happen in shojo, Pryde is the only female student (Storm is a teacher). This makes the formerly insecure girl very popular with her peers, so much so that she is asked to join the Hellfire Club, which is hilariously reimagined as a parody of Ouran High School Host Club rather than a sinister organization of wealthy elites. Telgemeier and Roman deliver a delightful script that will appeal to old fans while being friendly toward new readers or fans of the X-Men films. The art by Anzu (The Reformed) is over-the-top shojo parody, with lots of screentone and flowers. (Aug.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved

Though it's enjoyed by all ages and genders in its native Japan, manga still feels like a feminine and adolescent treatment for American audiences. Those stereotypes are underscored in this manga version of X-Men, with a storyline revolving around the team's teenage character Kitty Pryde-a girl who can literally walk through walls. But moreso than highlight Pryde's difficulty in controlling her sometimes dangerous abilities, the book focuses on the teen dilemmas of a new girl in school-choosing cliques, dealing with schoolboy crushes, and trying to find self-worth without becoming a social outcast. Like Marvel's popular X-men comics, the theme of acceptance vs. discrimination hangs over the plotlines. But this latest mutation of the X-men falls more in line with the Saturday morning cartoon versions of the super heroes (see X-Men: Evolution) than the comics (Uncanny X-Men) that started the fan frenzy. It's a clean, distilled teen-centric take on popular characters that are still compelling when they're drawn like angry cats or overjoyed waifs with large eyes. Verdict Give this book to preteen girls and boys, and they won't be wishing they had the original versions of the X-men; adults, not so much.-Robert Morast, Fargo, ND (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.