Squad

Squad is a feminist horror story told in comic book format and was written for young adults aged 14 to 17. It was published in 2021. The story is about a new girl who is invited to join her high school’s most popular clique. Of course, all is not well with the group.

The publisher's summary:  

When Becca transfers to a high school in an elite San Francisco suburb, she’s worried she’s not going to fit in. To her surprise, she’s immediately adopted by the most popular girls in school. At first glance, Marley, Arianna, and Mandy are perfect. But at a party under a full moon, Becca learns that they also have a big secret.

Becca’s new friends are werewolves. Their prey? Slimy boys who take advantage of unsuspecting girls. Eager to be accepted, Becca allows her friends to turn her into a werewolf, and finally, for the first time in her life, she feels like she truly belongs.

But then things get complicated. As their pack begins to buckle under the pressure, their moral high ground gets muddier and muddier—and Becca realizes that she might have feelings for one of her new best friends.

Lisa Sterle’s stylish illustrations paired with Maggie Tokuda-Hall’s sharp writing make Squad a fierce, haunting, and fast-paced thrillerthatwill resonate with fans of Riverdale, and with readers of This Savage Song, Lumberjanes, and Paper Girls. 

I was not expecting this story to be about werewolves. The girls in the clique turn into wolves once a month and eat a boy who takes advantage of unsuspecting girls. They call it being hungry. The illustrations paired with each meal aren't too graphic so the story maintains light feel. I was amused at the authenticity of the dialogue. The girls say the word "like" all the time which is how kids today speak. 

The girls were able to control themselves after a kill so no one suspected them of murder. However, after Becca violates the rule not to kill anyone from their own school, the group begins to fall apart. All of the students in their high school constantly stare at them after the boyfriend of Ariana is accidentally killed by Becca. They are suspects in the eyes of their peers but the police are clueless. The story ends with Becca and Marley discovering that they are attracted to each other and go off into the sunset together. I was not expecting this either. 

All in all, Squad was a fun, light read. 5 out of 5 stars.

Art Club

Art Club Dare to Create was published on February 6, 2024. The story was inspired by the author’s own childhood and paints a picture of an aspiring young artist on a mission to prove that the arts are worth fighting for. The book was written with 8 - 12 year olds in mind and it is a graphic novel.

The publisher's summary:

Dale Donavan has heard the same lecture over and over again: Art will get you nowhere in life. A kid with a creative streak, Dale wants nothing more than to doodle, play video games, and create comics forever—maybe even as a full-time job one day. But between his grandfather pushing him to focus on his studies and a school with zero interest in funding arts programs, Dale feels like his future has already been decided for him. 

That is, until he comes up with the perfect plan: What if he starts an after-school art club, gathers a team of creative students like himself, and proves all the naysayers—his stubborn vice principal in particular—wrong? This might just work, but if the club isn’t financially successful by the end of the semester, the school with shut them down. This may be Dale’s only chance to show the adults in his life that a career as an artist is not just a dream but a possibility! 

The club doesn't get going until the halfway point in the story. The first half sets up the reason it was created as well as all of the obstacles that were put in the kids' way. The main obstacle is Mr. Ruffins, the school vice principal. He tasked the students with researching and writing a paper on a well paying career they are interested in. He hopes students will pursue math or science. Dale only likes reading comics so he takes a risk in writing his paper on the cartoonist field. This backfires on Dale but he convinces another teacher to sponsor an art club to show Ruffins that it can be profitable. If the club fails, Dale will flunk his class. 

The book teaches that there are many choices a student has to make before pursuing an art career. Dale is interested in becoming a comic book creator who does his own illustrations. Other students in the club like creating video games, drawing and fundraising. Their sponsor, Miss Jen'ae, begins with teaching the club members about different types of art and even takes them on field trips to art shows and comic conventions. Dale ultimately hopes that his school will resume teaching art classes.

Of course, there is a happy ending. Art Club is a fun read and is an ideal reading choice for a youngster interested in art. 5 out of 5 stars.

Saving Sunshine

Saving Sunshine is a graphic novel about Muslim American siblings who must learn how to stop fighting and support each other in a world that is often unkind to them. They are always being teased for having a funny sounding name or wearing a hijab. It was published in 2023 and won several awards including a Kirkus Best Book of the year and the New York Public Library Best Book for Kids for the year.

Zara and Zeeshan Aziz are twins who really can't stand each other. During a family trip to Florida where their mother received an award for best pediatrician of the year, their bickering, shoving, and insults reached new heights of chaos. As punishment, their parents sentenced them to the worst possible fate: confiscation of their cell phones and each other’s company! They are instructed to always stay together while their parents attend a medical conference. They are depressed beyond belief. Zeeshan loves to watch NASA videos on his phone while Zara takes photos of animals for her animal rescue group. However, when the twins find an ailing turtle whom Zara named Sunshine, it presents a rare opportunity for teamwork if, of course, the two can put their differences aside.

The book was written for kids aged 8 - 12. It's a sweet story with gorgeous watercolor drawings in muted tones. The Aziz family has to deal with alot of Islamophobia. The parents were born in Pakistan but emigrated to the U. S. as adults. The twins were born in New York but their classmates didn't accept them as true Americans. Mrs. Aziz wears a hijab and always encounters alot of stares and rude comments.

There were many facts about animals and outer space interspersed throughout the story which I enjoyed. It's always nice to learn something from a book. The book is a fast read and I recommend it for adults as well as kids of any age.

5 out of 5 stars.

Enlighten Me

Enlighten Me is a graphic novel by Minh Le. It features a young boy named Binh who gets in trouble at school after he hits another boy who has been bullying him over his Vietnamese heritage. He is afraid of being suspended but only receives a verbal warning from the vice principal at his school.  During the summer break, Binh's parents take him and his two sisters on a silent meditation retreat. Binh has to turn in his electronics and refrain from talking for an entire weekend. Of course, he is bored. However, when a Buddhist nun gathers all the kids to tell them the Jataka tales - the stories of the Buddha’s many past lives - Bình takes a fantastical dive into his imagination and starts to see himself in these stories. The questions remains, will he retreat further into himself or will he emerge from the weekend open to change?

This is a funny story written for kids 9 - 12. I learned a few new facts about the life of the Buddha that I have not read elsewhere in adult books. The Jakarta tales were new to me and I want to learn about all of them. While Bình is the protagonist of the story, the book is really an introduction into the life of Buddha. I was impressed that Bình found peace at the retreat but I guess that is the whole point of the book. The fact that he obtained this in the short span of a weekend seems like a fairy tale but, then again, it's a children's book.

5 out of 5 stars.

Okinawa

Okinawa is a manga story that examines the history of Okinawa, Japan and its military occupation by the U. S. It is a manga classic that was recently translated into English and it was published in the U. S. in August 2023.  I have not read any manga before but enjoy reading about history in comic form so I picked up this book. The comic won several awards: 2024 Andrew Carnegie Medal for Excellence in Nonfiction - Longlist, American Library Association Best Comics for Adults 2023, Booklist Editors' Choice: Best Graphic Novels 2023, and Washington Post Book World Editors' Staff Pick 2023.

The publisher's summary:

A peaceful, independent kingdom until its annexation by the Japanese Empire in the 19th century, Okinawa was the site of the most destructive land battle of the Pacific War. Today, the archipelago is Japan's poorest prefecture and unwilling host to 75% of all US military bases in Japan.

Okinawa brings together two collections of intertwined stories by the island's pre-eminent mangaka, Susumu Higa, which reflect on this difficult history and pull together traditional Okinawan spirituality, the modern-day realities of the continuing US military occupation, and the senselessness of the War. The first collection, Sword of Sand, is a ground level, unflinching look at the horrors of the Battle of Okinawa. Higa then turns an observant eye to the present-day in Mabui (Okinawan for "spirit"), where he explores how the American occupation has irreversibly changed the island prefecture, through the lens of the archipelago's indigenous spirituality and the central character of the yuta priestess.

Okinawa is a harrowing document of war, but it is also a work which addresses the dreams and the needs of a people as they go forward into an uncertain future, making it essential reading for anyone interested in World War II and its effects on our lives today, as well as anyone with an interest in the people and culture of this fascinating, complicated place. Though the work is thoroughly about one specific locale, the complex relations between Okinawan and Japanese identities and loyalties, between place and history, and between humanity and violence speak beyond borders and across shores.

Please note: This book is a traditional work of manga and reads back to front and right to left.

All of the drawings were done in black and white, not my favorite style but I wanted to read this history book regardless. The colorful cover design is deceiving. Also, I had problems following the story. Much of the plot action was shown in the drawings and I became confused between real action and the drawings of spiritual beings. In addition, the book shows the Japanese viewpoint of events which I knew beforehand. However, I was offended by many statements made by characters who were obviously anti-American. This is an unfair statement on my part because the book is from the Japanese viewpoint and, let's face it, the Americans were occupying Okinawa. I was unable to change my feelings though. Another reason I developed bad feelings about the book is that one month after the Japanese surrendered in WWII, they sunk a submarine off the coast of Okinawa that my uncle was on. Everyone on the U.S.S. Twiggs drowned. I did not expect to feel this way about the city of Okinawa but it was unavoidable.  

I am rating the book 3 out of 5 stars. I had problems understanding the action. This was probably due to it being a manga story but, nevertheless, I had issues with it.

Ash's Cabin

Ash's Cabin is a coming of age graphic novel by Jen Wang. It was published on August 13, 2024 and has been written for young adults in grades 10 through 12. 

The publisher's summary:

Ash has always felt alone. Adults ignore the climate crisis. Other kids Ash’s age are more interested in pop stars and popularity contests than in fighting for change. Even Ash’s family seems to be sleepwalking through life. The only person who ever seemed to get Ash was Grandpa Edwin. Before he died, he used to talk about building a secret cabin deep in the California wilderness. Did he ever build it? What if it’s still there, waiting for him to come back…or for Ash to find it? To Ash, that cabin is starting to feel like the perfect place for a fresh start and an escape from the miserable feeling of alienation that haunts her daily life.  But making the wilds your home isn’t easy. And as much as Ash wants to be alone…can she really be happy alone?  

 

The publisher's website states that this graphic novel tackles the topic of gender identity. I was not aware of this until the ending and I looked up the book. A classmate places her hand on Ash's hand and Ash's face lights up. I feel a little stupid for not picking up on the new masculine name but in my defense let me say the reader doesn't know what Ash's name originally was. In fact, in the first chapter I thought Ash was male. Her desire to learn survival skills didn't cause me to suspect anything either. It just sounded like a great adventure. Her withdrawal from her high school classmates didn't make me suspicious either. Half the kids in school are withdrawn. My only clue that she was gay was that hand.

I would not categorize the book as LGBTQ fiction. It's about Ash's six month long plan to camp in the wilderness and then her execution of the plan. She takes her beloved dog Chase with her and, as an animal lover, I enjoyed their exploits. She was only supposed to be gone two weeks but Ash lasted 42 days in the wilderness. After Chase became injured Ash should have taken him home. She didn't and that upset me some.

All things considered, Ash's Cabin was a fun read. 5 out of 5 stars.

Tender

Tender was published on March 12, 2024. It is a psychological thriller in comic format and is the author's debut graphic novel.

The publisher's summary:

Carolanne wanted a perfect wedding, a perfect husband, a perfect family. She carefully performs her own roles (gal pal, bestie, girlfriend, wife, and expectant mother) and manipulates those around her to try and get the results she wants. Her desire to control the uncontrollable ultimately becomes her undoing. When things don't go her way, she exerts dominance over the one thing she does have total control over: her body; until that "betrays" her. After suffering a horrible loss, Carolanne spirals into a literal, all-consuming delusion causing her body to produce symptoms of a hysterical pregnancy ― as a result of her slicing off bits of her own flesh and eating them.

Chicago cartoonist and educator Beth Hetland’s graphic novel debut is a brilliant psychological thriller that tears down the wall of a genre ― body horror ― so often identified with male creators. Heady and visceral, Tender uses horrific tropes to confront women’s societal expectations of self-sacrifice despite those traditional roles often coming at the expense of female sexuality and empowerment.

 

I won't lie. After finishing the book I had to read the summary above in order to figure out what I just read. The story alternates between time periods as you would see with any psychological thriller. However, I was not expecting it and was confused as to what happened in Carolanne's life. A re-read helped me understand.

The horror aspect of the book is from Carolanne's self mutilation. We only have illustrations to know she was doing this to herself. Some of the illustrations were so jarring that I couldn't look at them. It's only apparent that Carolanne was trying to have a perfect life from these drawings and that the pressure she put on herself had to come out somewhere. We read about her striving for the perfect relationship, perfect wedding and perfect motherhood. Unfortunately none of that actually happened.

The ending was unexpected. I am still thinking about it a week after reading the novel and have a sinking feeling in my stomach. The author deserves accolades for writing the usual date, wedding, baby story from the horror genre. It works.

Not recommended for kids. The drawings have nudity and self-mutilation. 5 out of 5 stars.

Displacement

Displacement is a graphic novel about the internment of the Japanese in America during WWII.  I have read 2 other comics on this subject and they all gave the same information. In this story our heroine Kiku is on vacation in San Francisco where her family is from. The displacements begin when she magically finds herself transported back to the 1940s when her grandmother Ernestina was forced to relocate to an internment camp. Living alongside her young grandmother and other Japanese-American citizens in internment camps, Kiku gets the education she never received in history class. She witnesses the lives of Japanese-Americans who were denied their civil liberties and suffered greatly, but managed to cultivate community and commit acts of resistance in order to survive.

What separates this account of the tragedy from others is the illustration. I like that the comic strips were larger, with 4 to a page. It made the dialogue much larger for me to be able to read on a cell phone. When reading other comics on my phone, I have to enlarge the page in order to be able to read. Then I have to reduce the page in order to turn the page. Author Kiku Hughes drew all the illustrations. This is her first graphic novel and I am very impressed with both her ability to tell a story and her drawing skill.

Hughes makes many insightful quotes in her book. One of them is:  "I think sometimes a community's experience is so traumatic, it stays rooted in us even generations later. And the later generations continue to rediscover that experience, since it's still shaping us in ways we might not realize. Like losing the ability to speak Japanese, losing connection to Japanese culture, they're all lasting impacts of the camps that travel down the generations." I never realized before that the generation who suffered through the internment experience would raise their children to be American, not Japanese. They felt it would make successive generations safer from the government. They made sure their descendants did not know how to speak Japanese or cook Japanese food. It was a strategy that the entire generation followed.

Displacement gives an honest history of the internment camps run by the U. S. government during WWII. While it is a sad story, it is one we all should know about. 5 out of 5 stars.

Seoul Before Sunrise

Seoul Before Sunrise is French cartoonist Samir Dahmani's first graphic novel to be translated into English. It is scheduled for publication by Humanoids on May 21, 2024. Thanks to Net Galley I received an advanced review copy of it. The book follows a young woman who sparks an unlikely friendship with a stranger and begins walking the streets of Seoul with her at night.

The publisher's summary:

Longtime friends Seong-ji and Ji-won are excited to begin university in Seoul, swearing to stay close in the big city, but from the moment they arrive, they begin to drift apart.

Her focus split between her rigorous accounting program and her overnight job at a grocery store, Seong-ji tries to make peace with the loss. It’s during her overnight shifts that she encounters an enigmatic young woman who spends her nights entering the empty homes of other people to paint and photograph these places. Now, the normally rational Seong-ji finds herself swept up in a dreamlike otherworld, made up of freedom and creativity. As she explores these quiet places, she uncovers not only an intimate portrait of strangers, but perhaps even herself.

But as the nocturnal walks reveal the possibilities of the future, they also force her to relive the pain of her lost friendship with Ji-won…

This is a coming-of-age story where Seong-Ji eventually discovers that she is in love with her childhood friend Ji-won. When she finally tells Ji-won of her feelings, Ji-won is horrified and immediately ends their friendship. However, Seong-Ji has found a new friend in the stranger, a ghost, who befriended her at the store she works at. The ghost helps Seong-Ji see life more clearly through the lens of that liminal space between the end of the night but before the sun rises.

Seoul Before Sunrise is an emotional and sad story. I felt bad for Seong-ji as she waited day after day for contact from her childhood friend. She was an unhappy person due to the loss of this friendship. Seong-ji admitted to herself that she doesn't make friends easily and didn't have any other friends. She was lonely. When Ji-won finally contacts her 149 days after they arrived in Seoul, she is ecstatic. The story ends with the ghost entering the store looking for Seong-ji. However, she no longer was employed there because she was fired for leaving the premises during her shift. It's a sad ending but realistic. The artwork was done in watercolor by the author. One of his paintings was selected for the book cover. He has a diffuse style that perfectly fits a story that takes place in Korea. 5 out of 5 stars.

Lunar New Year Love Story

I adore Gene Lien Yang's graphic novels. They are always comical and light reading even is the topic is serious. His novels are also clean reading, no sex or foul language. I was not aware of his newest title until last week and immediately bought a copy. It is fantastic! This one is about a couple who cannot get it together during their senior year of high school. There are a few magical creatures as characters as befitting a Chinese story.

The publisher's summary:  

She was destined for heartbreak. Then fate handed her love.

Val is ready to give up on love. It's led to nothing but secrets and heartbreak, and she's pretty sure she's cursed—no one in her family, for generations, has ever had any luck with love.

But then a chance encounter with a pair of cute lion dancers sparks something in Val. Is it real love? Could this be her chance to break the family curse? Or is she destined to live with a broken heart forever?

Yang gives us realistic characters. Valentina, or Val, grew up with just one parent, her father. When she finds out the he lied about her mother' death she stops speaking with him for almost a year. Val's best friend Bernice is also raised by a single parent, her mother. Bernice cannot stand to be without a boyfriend and within 24 hours of a break up she finds a new love. We all knew someone like that when we were growing up. Val is the complete opposite. The boys in the story are typical Chinese Americans while their parents live a very Chinese life in the U.  S. 

Another reason I enjoy Yang's novels is that they are the same length as a traditional novel. Lunar is approximately 350 pages. This allows him to create fully formed characters and an extensive plot. The relationships among the kids in the story revolve around lion dancing. They are all taking a class on how to dance under a lion costume, as you would normally see at the Chinese new year and other special occasions. Val's relationships with two boys generally take place while they are sharing a costume to dance under. Val cannot decide which boy she really loves. A magical dragon has given her one year to find true love. If she fails then she must give the dragon her heart and foreswear future love interests. Val believes that her family will always be unlucky in love and is not sure that she can find true love.

The illustrations by Leuyen Pham are gorgeous. She has used primarily a red and pink color pallet to fit with Val's love of Valentine's Day. There are some panels colored in blues and greens but all the colors are bright as I like them. Her character's faces illuminate their emotions so when there is no dialogue in a panel strip, the reader knows how the characters are feeling. 

Lunar New Year Love Story is the perfect Valentine's Day story. It would make a great gift for both kids and adults who like comics.  I am rating it 5 out of 5 stars.

Open Borders

Open Borders the Science and Ethics of Immigration was written by Bryan Caplan, an economics professor at George Mason University in Fairfax, Virginia. In his first graphic novel, he makes a bold case for unrestricted immigration providing the reader with plenty of information on the topic.

The publisher's summary:

American policy-makers have long been locked in a heated battle over whether, how many, and what kind of immigrants to allow to live and work in the country. Those in favor of welcoming more immigrants often cite humanitarian reasons, while those in favor of more restrictive laws argue the need to protect native citizens.

But economist Bryan Caplan adds a new, compelling perspective to the immigration debate: He argues that opening all borders could eliminate absolute poverty worldwide and usher in a booming worldwide economy―greatly benefiting humanity.

With a clear and conversational tone, exhaustive research, and vibrant illustrations by Zach Weinersmith, Open Borders makes the case for unrestricted immigration easy to follow and hard to deny.

The book was entertaining and informative. Before reading this novel I had no idea that there was an economic factor to immigration. The author writes to the layperson so you don't need to know much about economics in order to understand what he is saying. What Caplan says about the economics is that people who emigrate will get jobs and pay taxes. Their children will be well educated and contribute to society. He believes that this is a win win for everyone even if it costs you something up front when they first arrive.

Some of the author's arguments seemed preachy. In the middle of my read, I realized that he has footnotes at the back of the book for every argument that he makes. However, there is no notation on the page advising that these notes exist or where he obtained his facts.  I ended up re-reading the book in order to get his, and my own, facts straight. His data comes from good sources and his arguments for open borders are compelling. Caplan mainly argues that low-skilled immigrants should be allowed unrestricted entry into the U. S.

5 out of 5 stars.

Where the Body Was

I was excited when I found out Net Galley would provide me with a copy of this comic. Author Ed Brubaker writes awesome stories and this one is no different. The story takes place in Summer 1984 in an abandoned boarding house on Pelican Road that junkies have taken over. 

The story opens with an introduction to the boarding house. We meet the couple who were the original owners as well as their neighbors. After they pass on the boarding house falls into disrepair and junkies and other criminals move in. A girl who thinks she is a superhero, wearing a mask and a cape, has a crush on Palmer who is doing drugs with a woman he is sleeping with, Toni. In order to get cash for their fix, the couple burglarize homes. She threatens him with going to the cops if he doesn’t stop. Palmer tells everyone that he is a cop and flashes a badge at anyone whose behavior he does not like. Despite this, I found him to be a sympathetic character. Another character that I liked was Ranko. He is a homeless man who sees everything happens on the street even though no one sees him.

There were alot of characters introduced in the beginning and I didn't even try to remember who was who. I knew I would get them straight during my read which I did. Each of these characters get to narrate their own chapters and the reader begins to see the well crafted plot through their eyes. The body was not introduced in the book until the halfway point. 

Normally I would complain about this but the story was so absorbing that I didn't even notice its absence. 

Where the Body Was is an entertaining mystery that satisfies. Comic fans will want to read this one. 5 out of 5 stars.

Cool Japan Guide

I picked up this graphic novel guide to Japan last month because I will be traveling there in March. It is, as the title suggests, very cool. When you first open the book you are introduced to our guides, Abby Denton and her husband Matt. In each chapter they offer some Japanese words that would be helpful to know, as well as information on hotels, food, Japan apps, festivals, night spots, touristy places, other travel resources and they explain the bath and toilet differences between Japan and the U. S. Unless you see a sign that says "western toilet," you will either get a squatting toilet or a fancy one that cleans and dries too. As the book's back blurb states, this is the first travel guide to be written from a cartoonist's perspective. 

The book looks like a children's comic, but it isn't that at all. I found it easy to read and insightful.  Because of the comic strip format, I will most likely remember many of the tips that are shared inside its pages. Another reason that I liked the large format for the comic strips is that my middle aged eyesight needs bigger drawings and dialogue boxes in order to read comfortably.  I have often picked up the book to dream about what I can do during my travels. The answers to my ongoing questions about my trip are easily found within its pages and I just love this guidebook.

5 out of 5 stars.

Read less

White Faced Lies

In China, local companies hire white (but not necessarily qualified) Americans to lend them credibility. Cons such as these, known as "face jobs", are instances in which Chinese companies hire foreigners to pose as professionals to lend credibility during meetings, press conferences, and other events where "face" is paramount. This fictional account of one man's experience working in this industry is the subject matter of the book.

Veteran "face-jobber" Stanley Becker has been in China for ten years trying to earn money to build a ranch in China. When a young man, Jared, approaches him and explains that Stanley is his long-lost father, Stanley lets him tag along on jobs. Since some of these jobs are considered two man jobs by employers, Stanley had to find someone anyway to work with him who doesn't need the money.  Stanley needs the entire payment for these jobs in order to keep his ranch so he lets Jared pretend to be his assistant. There is just one problem though. A Chinese factory worker whose brother died from drinking tainted soda wants revenge from the CEO of the soda manufacturer. Stanley posed as this CEO on one of his jobs.

The writers, Eric Flanagan and Sam Voutas, are filmmakers. The book's plot was originally intended to be a movie script. When they realized that China was not a viable shooting location, they decided to make their story into a graphic novel.  It is a funny, fast read that shows how much research they did into this industry.

5 out of 5 stars.

Movements and Moments

Movements and Moments is a collection of 7 short comics about influential indigenous women in developing areas of our world. Each story is about 30 pages long. My favorite one is the first story in the book Let the River Flow Free. It's about the women of the Cordillera tribe in the Phillipines who fought the government to stop plans for a dam that would flood their native lands. We also read about 1930s Bolivia when a self-described Anarchist Cholas form a libertarian trade union. In the Northern Highlands of Vietnam, the songs of one girl’s youth lead her to a life of activism. Equally striking accounts from, Chile, Ecuador, India, Nepal, and Peru weave a tapestry of trauma and triumph, shedding light on not-too-distant histories otherwise overlooked.

What these stories have in common is a commitment to resistance in a world that puts profit before respectand western notions of progress before their own. Movements and Moments is an introductory glimpse into how indigenous people tell these stories in their own words. These seven stories were selected from an open call across forty-two countries to spotlight feminist movements and advocacies in the Global South.

Global: One Fragile World

Publisher:  Sourcebooks Young Readers

Publication Date:  April 11, 2023

Reading Age:  10 - 14

Pages:  144

ISBN:  1728262194

Global: One Fragile World is told from two alternating perspectives. One is a child living in the Arctic and one living in the Bay of Bengal. Both kids are dealing with the destruction of their homes and lifestyles from weather related events. Sami and his grandfather live in a village along the Indian Ocean. They earn their living by fishing. But the ocean is rising and each day they work harder but bring back fewer fish. Yuki lives in the Canadian North where warming temperatures are melting the ice. Polar bears have less food to hunt and are wandering into town looking for something to eat. Yuki is determined to do something to help the bears.

Both climate change subplots are suspenseful and are told with alot of emotion. The reader doesn't know how these two kids will survive. Sami and Yuki have terrifying experiences that they must endure but they are able to get through them with the aplomb only a child can exhibit. We also get a short account of Myanmar immigrants to the Bay of Bengal.

The reason I picked up this middle grade book was due to the richly saturated colors that illustrator Giovanni Rigano used. The drawings have been done in the traditional comic strip format and show detailed expressions on the characters faces. At the end of the story the author gives information about global warming. 

5 out of 5 stars.

The Naked Tree

The Naked Tree is a graphic novel version of a 1970 novel by the same name written by Park Won-suh. It paints a portrait of a Korea torn apart by what westerners call the Korean War. Koreans call it the American War. Cartoonist Keum Suk Gendry-Kim, author of the graphic novel Grass, brings this story to life with her bold, black and white drawings.

The story begins in 1951. Twenty-year-old wallflower Lee Kyeonga ekes out a living at the US military Post Exchange where goods and services of varying stripes are available for purchase. She peddles hand-painted portraits on silk handkerchiefs to soldiers passing through. When a handsome, young northern escapee and fine artist is hired despite waning demand, an unlikely friendship blossoms into Kyeonga's first romantic crush. However, her love is already married with children.

It was interesting to learn about how Koreans lived during the American War. While I read alot of history books I have never heard the perspective of the Koreans during this era. Their economy was in pieces as the war raged on and many families lost loved ones due to the American bombs dropping on them. This is Kyeonga's story though. It is told from her perspective and the reader gets a glimpse of her experiences working at the PX. She has an awful encounter with an American GI who tells her that he will liberate her in a hotel room, falls in love with that sensitive married artist, and tries to deal with the deaths of two brothers from American bombs. I feel badly for the Koreans who were living such a bleak existence and I must agree with Kyeonga's mother when she cries "how can the gods be so cruel?"  

The title of the book comes from a painting of a tree with no leaves. Kyeonga views it as a naked tree. Her telling of this story is magnificent. 5 out of 5 stars.

The Middle Ages

Eleanor Janega is the author of this graphic history of the medieval era. She has done a fantastic job of portraying this 1,000 year era with all its complexities. 

The publisher's summary: 

The Middle Ages: A Graphic History busts the myth of the ‘Dark Ages’, shedding light on the medieval period’s present-day relevance in a unique illustrated style. This history takes us through the rise and fall of empires, papacies, caliphates and kingdoms; through the violence and death of the Crusades, Viking raids, the Hundred Years War and the Plague; to the curious practices of monks, martyrs and iconoclasts. We’ll see how the foundations of the modern West were established, influencing our art, cultures, religious practices and ways of thinking. And we’ll explore the lives of those seen as ‘Other’ – women, Jews, homosexuals, lepers, sex workers and heretics. Join historian Eleanor Janega and illustrator Neil Max Emmanuel on a romp across continents and kingdoms as we discover the Middle Ages to be a time of huge change, inquiry and development – not unlike our own.

This month I have read 3 books on the Middle Ages. This graphic novel is the best of them. It gives the reader an accurate and comprehensive overview of the era in an easy to understand way. The comedy from this format helps the reader remember details. I love it!  The book is not a graphic novel in the usual sense but rather a book with funny memes on most pages that match the writing. While it is Eurocentric the author has included the contributions of other regions on the globe to Europe. It has the feel of a young adult book which I don't think it is. The illustrator Neil Emmanuel, though, is a well known children's book illustrator. While the book cover is colorful, all of the drawings are in black and white. The writing is casual. The author surprisingly refers to one pope as a dude. 

I loved this mini history of the Middle Ages. I would recommend it to both adults and young adults. 5 out of 5 stars.

The Great British Bump Off

The Great British Bump Off is John Allison's newest comic series. Parts 2 through 4 will be published throughout the next few months with a paperback of all 4 of them coming out in November 2023. It is a graphic murder mystery that takes place on the set of the Great British Bakeoff tent. 

When Shauna Wickles enters the Bakeoff, she expects that she will delight the judges, charm the nation and meet a few friends along the way. She did not expect to be an amateur sleuth investigating the poisoning of a fellow contestant. It is up to her to figure out who the killer is while avoiding elimination from the contest.

The comic is as delightful as a British traybake. The cast of characters is diverse. There is the retired grandmother, Shauna, a choir director, street musician, dental technician, meteorologist and a pharmacist to name a few. Some contestants are pleasant while others are "competitive."  This is a goofy rendition of the British TV show that female readers will definitely like. It might be too sacharine sweet for superhero comic readers though. 

I loved the comic and am rating it 5 out of 5 stars. I am looking forward to the release of part 2 next week.

Paris

Paris is a graphic novel about a penniless American artist, Juliet, who travels from America to Paris to study painting. To make ends meet, Juliet paints portraits of wealthy debutantes. One of her subjects is Deborah, a young English woman suffocated by an overbearing aunt and the narrow expectations for her life by her aristocrat family. Juliet is equally as confined by the rigid academic structure of her art education and finds an unlikely kindred spirit in Deborah. Both woman love art and it brings them together.

While the book cover is in color, the entire novel was drawn in black and white. The style is French and all of the drawings are intricate, full page drawings. If you are familiar with the French satirical newspaper Charlie Hebdo, then you will understand what the pages look like. This style is not one I particular like but I must admit it fits the story and there are many comic lovers out there who are attracted to this style. I was disappointed that there was no color inside the pages. I felt there was a promise of color inside because the book cover is so colorful.

Regarding the story, it was pretty predictable.  There were no surprises or drama either. The author, Andi Watson, used alot of French dialogue, some of which I could understand due to my high school French classes. There was much that I did not understand but since there wasn't much of a plot, it didn't really detract from the comic. In general, I was disappointed that there wasn't more to the story.

2 out of 5 stars.