"I want to tell you a real love story," whispers a pen-wielding Misako, a graphic-novel version of comic artist Misako Takashima, on the first page of the 2007 book, "Rock and Roll Love."

"It was my first love story," she adds coyly.

So begins the English-language comic book, in which the New York-based Takashima , aka Misako Rocks!, tells the tale of a Japanese girl going to a Missouri high school as an exchange student. There, she falls in love with a cute American musician and works hard to win his love, with the support of her caring friends.