Books like Alice 19th, Vol. 1

I found this manga on an Alice in Wonderland list. In fact it is minimally related, although the original Alice may have been the author's initial inspiration. The only solid connections are the main character's name and the presence of a rabbit.At first I was disappointed and felt that, although well done, this series would not be for me. There is a lot of emphasis on realistic early-teen issues like crushes, sibling relations, shyness, mean classmates, etc. which don't particularly interest me; I was going to review, "not for me, but recommended for teens and preteens." However, Alice and Kyo and even the annoyingly perfect and popular sister grew on me. They are much more nuanced and less overwrought than the run-of-the-mill manga teens. Also, I had no trouble keeping the characters straight, which is rare in this genre. And then, weird stuff started happening. I won't spoiler even the concept, but I thought it was pretty interesting and played well with Watase's interest in communication and honesty. I don't think this would be my Favorite Series Ever even if that spot weren't already taken by Natsume's Book of Friends, but I'll definitely be picking up at least the next volume.Maybe eventually she will explain the significance of the number 19 in the title.