I keep looking for a new novel by Joe Hill but am always disappointed. After looking for the zillionth time, I decided to give in and reserve his graphic novel, Locke & Key. It took me a few pages to sort out who was who and what the heck was going on but then – excellent. Now I’m going to have to keep looking for the next book in the series. The guy needs to write more quickly.
First, graphic novel Emiko Superstar, by the author of Skim. Loved Emiko, more than I loved Skim. I’m looking forward to Liz reading it. I think she’ll like it. Also hoping there’s an Emiko sequel.
Next, On the Farm, listed in the Cybils under poetry. Errr, well yea it is, I guess. Mostly I really liked the woodcuts and ink (TW did not like them at ALL – she said the animals were creepy.)
After that, How to Heal a Broken Wing – didn’t expect to love it. Loved it. Great story. Great drawings. But, if I had a small child I would be worried that my small child would find it perfectly acceptable to pick up a dead (or injured) pigeon and eww. no. those things are dirty!
Last, but not least, a book I loved and hated. More than Friends, a YA poetry anthology written by a man and a woman, from his perspective and hers. Really interesting and pretty stereotypical – which was what I both loved and hated about it. I can’t decide if my teen girls (or young adult girls) should read it or if I should hope they never see it.
Let’s see… I read Yellow Elephant because the Cybil Imaginary Menagerie was so interesting. Yellow Elephant was wonderful. If my daughter ever has a child, she will have to own it. She may need to own it even if she does not have a child.
Then, RJ showed up with a book that she was SURE I would love. And I did, sort of. But not for reasons she thought I would love it. is a sarcastic or maybe humorous take on the puppies and dogs in pop art, from what just happens to be my childhood. I loved flipping through the pages of those dogs that I have known and loved but I did not love the “humor” attached, in most places.
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I finished Duel! a few days ago but didn’t feel like blogging it by itself. It’s ok but boring. In fact, I cannot figure out how you can make a duel between Burr and Hamilton boring – but after reading this… well it’s possible. Yes indeedy.
And then there was graphic novel Three Shadows. Oy. Liz read this and she really liked it. I had high hopes. And then I read it and OY! She liked this? I mean I get why a 10 year old would like a story about a father who turns into a Golem but… man… this thing was deep. And depressing. And drawn in dark dark colors, not pretty at all. And not really a happy ending, in the sense that 10 year olds generally understand happy endings.
Imaginary Menagerie – wow. The pictures are fabulous. The poetry is a little ho-hum but not bad. What TW and I wonder about is how many small children have had this book read to them and then had nightmares. Hobgoblins and Trolls and the like are scary creatures and both the images and the poetry don’t soften them up any. I’ve never read The Yellow Elephant but I’m reserving it at the library now.
A graphic novel, There’s a Wolf at the Door was not bad – Liz liked it but not as much as Rapunzel’s Revenge or Jellaby. It was a little “young”, a little lightly drawn, and the wolf’s clothes reminded me of the ringmaster at the Flea Circus we saw yesterday. I kept getting distracted by that.
Chester’s Back was a bit of a disappointment. I just don’t get that kind of humor and I’m not sure picture age kids get it either. But then again, maybe they do and I’ve just forgotten?
The Savage was too much “book” and not enough “graphic novel”. I see now why Liz could not get into it – particularly after just finishing Rapunzel’s Revenge. Too many white pages full of text and no graphics – too “savage” of a story.
Skim was excellent and I’m glad Liz read two pages and put it down. It’s too old for her. I wish RJ would read graphic novels, I think she’d like the story quite a bit.
Of all the graphic novels on the Cybils list, I was most interested in Rapunzel’s Revenge. I almost put off reading it ’til last because I was afraid it would interfere with my reading of the others. I was so sure it was going to be the BEST – and apparently I was right about that since it did win the Cybil.
Rapunzel’s Revenge is a great book. It’s wonderfully drawn. It has fantastic characters. It’s just “tense” enough for young kids to read without being too scared but “tough” enough for older kids to not be bored.
If all graphic novels were like this one, I’d be a total convert to the genre. And by the way, Liz loved it too.
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Jellaby is the graphic novel that Liz picked up rather than finishing Into the Volcano. She finished it pretty quickly and when I asked her about it, she never even mentioned the boy who was a primary character in the book. She talked about the girl and the really scary man (that really scary man was something she mentioned quite a bit, I’m surprised she didn’t dream about him herself!)
Anyway, I read it – and yes indeed, there is a scary man. There’s also a couple of weird kids and a weird purple monster and a dysfunctional mom and bullies at school and wow, that’s a lot of stuff happening in a really short graphic novel that has fewer words than a lot of graphic novels I’ve read.
It’s a busy little book and it ended with a cliffhanger, so now I have to go and get the next Jellaby book for Liz – but not for me, I don’t care enough to read anymore of them and besides, she’ll tell me what happens.
PS. Liz still says Chiggers is the best graphic novel we’ve read this year.
First Cybil for the weekend, Big, Bad Bunny. Ho hum. It was cute but I don’t think it’s a book any of my kids would have crawled into my lap to hear over and over again.
Next, Mo Willems strikes again! I love new my toy isn’t nearly good as Don’t Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus but… it’s got something that made me smile all the way through it. Even when I read it a second time, over TW’s shoulder. (How come the elephant has a name but the pig is just “piggie”?)
Last one, graphic novel Into the Volcano. Great illustrations. Pretty decent story. I have a feeling Liz won’t like this one as much as the last couple of graphic novels I’ve given her, but we’ll find out this weekend. Updated: Liz liked it but not as much as she liked Chiggers. It took her all weekend to finish it – not normal graphic novel behavior for her. She usually refuses to put them down until she’s finished them.
Chiggers was a lot more popular with my 10 year old graphic novel lover than it was with me. She read it first and reported that “it was better than good but not quite great” – I read it and thought it “ok but not quite good”.
But, I’m really not a huge graphic novel fan.
The idea was a good one. Summer camp and teen girls. Freshmen or not quite freshmen in high school. The mean girl thing. The feeling like you don’t fit in. The feeling like everyone changed and you’re still you. Very good idea and I suspect that’s why Liz liked it and I didn’t.
She’s not a summer camp fan. While she’s not a teen, she is in a new place and trying to figure out where she fits. And again, she really likes graphic novels.
I think she would say this should be in the finals for a Cybil award.