A mix between a YA novel and a graphic novel, So Punk Rock And Other Ways to Disappoint Your Mother was funny. A little predictable – but funny. Did you read Fat Kid Rules the World? The book about making the fat kid a rockstar drummer? Well… yea. Happens again. Predictable like that. All of the characters do/learn pretty much what you’d expect but the Jewish kid twist makes it just different enough that I didn’t feel like I’d heard this story before. Fifty times.
None of these are on the Cybils list, one is a sequel, one was just plucked from the library shelf, and one was a recommendation from… I have no idea who or where.
First, book two in the Gunnerkrigg Court series – Research. Excellent, as I expected. We learned more about Annie’s past and more about The Court and more about the Forest, too. I can’t wait for the third book.
Next, Fables: Legends in Exile. Don’t be fooled by this book, it’s probably not appropriate for the younger graphic novel fan. Prince Charming is a rogue and there’s a relatively graphic sex scene – it’s in Prince Charming-ish prose but younger kids won’t get it and will ask you what the heck that means, middle-ish age kids will get it and snicker or and maybe uncomfortable by it. I found it funny as hell. The whole book was funny – a young librarian told me that there was talk of making this into a TV series, no idea of that’s true but it would be terrific. I’ve just reserved book two, can’t wait to visit the Animal Farm…
Last, and a wee bit disappointing, Scheherazade. I might have just had really high expectations for this book, a compilation of comics written/drawn by women. How awesome, right? Well, yea. It was awesome but the drawings left me bored in some cases and the stories left me scratching my head. There were some great comics tucked away in here, though. And I am glad I read the book. Not every comic can speak to every person, I’m ok with that. (It was nice to see Sarah Varon’s Robot Dreams tucked inside – we read this book ages ago and really loved it. I think I’ll grab Chicken and Cat from the library next week.)
Three graphic novels Read More »
Well now I know the backstory to the graphic novel I read last month. Still enjoying the Stonekeeper series and am glad I went back and got Amulet. But, now I need book three to see what happens next. Is the Elf King’s son good or bad? Does the mother recover?
(187 pages)
The Stonkeeper: Amulet (Book 1) Read More »
Nothing to write home about, really.
Frankie Pickle and the Closet of Doom doesn’t even feel like a graphic novel to me. It’s more children’s chapter book and add some comic style dryings every now and then. And I really didn’t enjoy the story very much either.
The other two are YA graphic novels, not children’s graphic novels. Outlaw: The Legend of Robin Hood was pretty darn good if you like Robin Hood but boy was it dark. And there were a few attempts to update the language that I thought were kind of lame. But, it wasn’t horrid. I guess I have a similar reaction to Edgar Allen Poe’s Tales of Death and Dementia. I like Poe but I felt the like the graphics softened it up, lightened it up – it wasn’t nearly as dark as it should have been. I don’t want to laugh at the end of The Telltale Heart, do you?
I’m sad to be finished with the graphic novels. I think last year’s nominees were better. This year … I’d like to see the Secret Science Alliance and Gunnerkrigg Court win.
The Last of the Cybils Graphic Novels Read More »
OK It’s not that two of them were bad, they weren’t bad. They just were not great. And with the number of really great graphic novels on the market right now – they have to be great or I’m easily bored.
First, Crogan’s Vengeance. I didn’t like the story very much. The drawings bored me. Ho hum. Liz said she thought it was kind of boring too but I suspect she liked it more than I did – possibly because some of her sister’s pirate fixation rubbed off on her so she kind of thinks anything pirate is cool. (The only reason not to get this for younger kids would be violence – it’s all black & white so there’s no gore – but pirates do kill each other….)
Next, Dreamer. Ugh. It’s nicely drawn – really nicely drawn. But I truly hate the story. I hate the flighty girl. I hate her bouncing around between her own time and the Revolutionary War. I hate the way the guys treat her and I hate the way she treats the guys. If you’ve got a boy crazy, romantic 14 year old in your life – maybe this is her kind of graphic novel. Blech.
Thank goodness for the Secret Science Alliance! I didn’t expect to like this one. I don’t really like science and I tend to not like books about geeky nerdy kids who don’t fit in and are mistreated by the cool kids. This book – excellent. All of the normal things happen to the nerdy kid but the book doesn’t stop there. The storyline gets a twist – and the SSA is born. The drawings are fabulous. Liz kept stealing the book from me so she could look at the pictures. At first, I didn’t understand WHY she was doing this but once I sat down with the book – I got it. I didn’t want to stop looking either. But, as soon as I finished it – the kid grabbed the book from me and took it up to her room to look at it all over again. (This is another graphic novel without a single hint of sex or drugs.)
More Graphic Novels – One great, two not so much Read More »
I’m finally making time to read some graphic novels from the Cybils list and I’m enjoying them quite a bit.
I didn’t expect to like Adventures in Cartooning but it was amusing. Cute easy drawings that did make it seem like cartoons and graphic novels could be created by anyone. And, descriptions and explanations about cartooning told in story fashion. Really quite nice.
I was grouchy about The Stonekeeper’s Curse: Amulet because it’s the second book in a series and I hadn’t noticed it. Why was the mom sick, (yea yea, bit by a spider but how, why?), why does the girl have that stone? Now I need to go back and read the first book. Hmph.
I don’t think either of these will win … but I could be wrong. The Adventures in Cartooning book might appeal to the judges.
Two more Cybils graphic novels Read More »
Love, love, LOVE Gunnerkrigg Court. Liz also loves it and is anxious for the next book, (wait til I tell her she can read all the Antimony and friends that she likes online…) Brilliant story. Brilliant characters (I’m a fan of Kat, myself.) Brilliant graphics. Great Cybils selection, I can see this winning. In fact I hope it does win. I’m tempted to buy these, that’s how much I love the first book.
The first graphic novel from the Cybil’s list and it was a fun one. Joey Fly Private Eye is everything you’d want in a private eye – if you wanted a private eye who is an insect. His assistant is pretty annoying though. Scorpions are like that, I guess. Joey Fly will be a great graphic novel series for the younger crowd. Not a teen sex/drug scene in the whole book. Kind of refreshing.
Joey Fly, Private Eye: Creepy Crawly Crime Read More »
I almost forgot to read Castle Waiting! Liz took it up to her room and never brought it back again… until I asked her where it was because it was due back to the library in three days…
Unfortunately, it’s taken more more than three days to read it due to the crazy that is my life. So, I owe a 10 cent fine on an excellent graphic novel. I can live with that.
Did I mention this is an excellent graphic novel.
Liz really liked it. She read it in the car. She read it in the living room, while the TV was on, she read it and read it.
I understand why. I did want to keep reading it and reading it. But I also enjoyed putting it down because of the nice ribbon bookmark built into the book. I really liked that. Nice touch for that book.
Fairy tales with a lot of odd twists.
What a way to finish a set of books! Life Sucks and Kin: Good Neighbors were excellent.
Vampires and Fairies. Fabulous. Liz and RJ agree with me about Life Sucks and I’m betting they’ll both love Good Neighbors as well. Holly Black rocks fairy stories. Twiddling my thumbs til the library database comes back online tonight so I can work on reserving more graphic novels in these series’ – there are more available, right? Kin’s ending, in particular, leaves us begging for volume two.
The last of the Cybil Graphic Novels Read More »