Jane, the Fox & Me by Fanny Britt, illustrated by Isabelle Arsenault

Helene used to be friends with a group of girls at schools.  But now they all make fun of her, calling her fat.  Helene has no one now.  She finds comfort in reading Jane Eyre.  Jane had no on either, but she was still smart and capable.  The final straw comes when Helene is humiliated in front of everyone on a school trip.  Not even Jane Eyre is enough anymore.

This was lovely.  A heartfelt story about bullying, the feeling of isolation, and the impact a single person can make by reaching out to another.

Helene takes things especially hard because the girls who are now tormenting her were once her friends.  Helene doesn't really know what happened, but now she has no one.  No one will talk to her.  She is a social outcast.  Helene works her way through Jane Eyre, finding a companion in isolation and comfort that things can work out OK, even for someone who is friendless.  Helene begins to despair when things take a bad turn for Jane, and she has to go on a retreat with her whole class.

It's on this retreat that Helene, feeling more alone than ever, sees the fox.  The fox is beautiful and approaches her.  But even this magical moment is ruined and makes her feel like a freak.

I was confused throughout the book by how Helene was draw.  All her ex-friends are calling her fat.  She's sure her mother is ashamed of her.  But she didn't look overweight at all.  It all becomes clear toward the end when Helene goes for her yearly physical and her doctor informs her she's right on track.  Helene insists she's fat.  The doctor informs her she isn't anything of the kind.  The kids at school calling her fat got into her head until Helene truly believed that she was.  And the kids calling her fat were just being cruel.  It was based on nothing.

The illustrations were for the most part in gray and black, reflecting Helene's depression and feelings of isolation.  The only color was when we saw Jane Eyre.  Jane's life had a little color in it, although Jane herself was still all black and white.  For Helene, everything is gray until the fox appears.  The fox is bright with color.  A fleeting brightness in Helene's life.  But then it's gone and everything is black again.

As Helene makes friends with Geraldine, color begins to come into Helene's world.  Not right away.  But after making a friend and realizing she isn't actually overweight, we begin to see a few spots of color.  On sneakers and tee shirts, in the trees, and it ends with Helene walking into a world of color.

Amulet: Escape from Lucien by Kazu Kibuishi

The sixth book in Kazu Kibuishi's Amulet series finds Navin and Alyson stranded in Lucien, a supposedly abandoned city, in a search for a beacon that must be activated.  Meanwhile, Emily, Vigo and Trellis head back into the Void with Max, where they confront the Voice itself.

Such an exciting volume!  Some really crucial and dramatic stuff happens!  I can't tell you what because it would totally ruin it! 

You definitely need to start from the beginning with this series.  I skipped a couple and I know I'm missing things.  I need to go back and read them all straight through.  It's definitely a series worth reading.

The development of the characters continues to build in each book.  We learn more and more about them, what motivates them, how far they are willing to go for their desires or their friends.

We meet some new characters that clearly are going to become a bigger part of the upcoming story, and some old characters we haven't seen in a bit are brought back in.

The art is beautiful as always.  Since I had an ARC, most of the book was black and white, but the first section was in the full color.  There are beautiful double paged spreads, close ups on characters to show emotion and the images always enhance, not just support the story.


I wish I could say more, but I'm hesitant because I want everyone to go and read this series and enjoy it!  Highly recommended.

Escape from Lucien comes out August 26, 2014.

Sisters by Raina Telgemeier

Raina Telgemeier returns in this companion to Smile.  Raina always wanted a sister, but Amara isn't the fun friend to play with Raina had in mind!  Amara is grouchy and likes to keep to herself.  Their relationship only becomes more strained as they get older.  It all comes to a head when they're trapped on a family car trip from San Francisco to Colorado.

As with all of Raina Telgemeier's books, this was cute and sweet and thoughtful.  I didn't enjoy it quite as much as Smile or Drama, perhaps I had unrealistically high expectations.  I just didn't feel like there was a much to this one as there was to the others.  And the ending felt unfinished and sudden.  I still loved reading it, and fans of Raina's will be delighted with this.

Raina's siblings don't come into Smile very much.  Smile is mostly focused on Raina's relationships with her friends.  In Sisters, we get to see the family dynamics.  The book goes back and forth between the present day with Raina, Amara, their little brother and their mother setting off on the road trip, and when Raina and Amara were little.  We get to see Raina as a toddler wishing for a sister, and her disappointment that Amara didn't turn out to be the sister she was hoping for.  We see Amara's personality beginning to develop, which is a demanding, independent, and rather grouchy one.  Both sisters have a love for drawing, but it doesn't seem to be something they can share and do together.

The family is going to visit Raina's mother's sister, who they haven't seen in years, and Raina will get to spend time with her cousins.  She's very anxious about fitting in and making sure they like her.  Amara doesn't care.  Raina has learned to tune out problems at home, which include her parent's constant fighting, Amara's tantrums, and her little brother's general noise, by listening to music.  Music is clearly an important part of her life, but she comes to realize that she's missing out on a lot by plugging herself in.

As the family returns home, Raina's mother tells the siblings that she and their father need some time apart.  Raina is surprised, but Amara isn't.  The book ends with the hope that the sisters will begin to support each other more.

The ARC I had wasn't in full color yet, but the pages that were in color had a slightly darker color pallet.  More greens and browns and yellows than her others, I think.  As with her other graphic novels, the story is told through standard panels with Raina's adorable and friendly looking characters.

Sisters comes out August 26, 2014.

This One Summer by Mariko Tamaki and Jillian Tamaki

Rose and her parents have been going to Awago Beach since Rose was five.  Rose loves it there, and loves seeing her summer friend, Windy.  This summer, however, things are not the same.  Rose's mother is acting odd, and her parent's keep fighting.  Rose and Windy find themselves witnessing the drama of the local teenagers and taking sides.  Everything seems the same but different.

Beautiful coming of age story.  There's so much that's left unsaid, that doesn't need to be said because of the power of the illustrations.

I don't think it's ever explicitly said how old Rose is.  My guess is 12, maybe?  She's in that in-between stage.  She isn't a teenager, not in high school yet.  She's too old to think of herself as a kid anymore.  She's getting crushes on boys, thinking about getting breasts and her period.  Her best summer friend, Windy, is about a year younger than she is.

It's unclear for most of the story what's going on with Rose's mother.  Is she sick?  She does appear to be very thin and drawn.  She portrayed coughing a few times.  But we come to understand that Rose doesn't know what's going on with her mother either.  Just that she very withdrawn, often short-tempered, doesn't seem to have to patience for things they've always done.

Rose is close with her father.  He laughs and jokes and teases her.  She feels abandoned when he leaves to go back to the city in the middle of their summer.  Now Rose feels she's completely on her own, trapped with her mother who isn't acting like her mother.

Windy's relationship with her mother is a sharp contrast to how Rose feels about her own mother.  Windy's mother seems open and passionate and outwardly shows her love for her child.  All the things Rose feels like are missing right now.  Although it's never said, Rose also feels some resentment toward her mother for wanting to have another child.  Why doesn't her mother feel like she is enough, like Windy's does?

Rose finds herself witness to the drama of the older teenagers of Awago Beach.  Rose has a crush on Doug, who works at the town store.  His girlfriend, Jenny, gets pregnant.  Doug won't talk to Jenny or call her.  Rose immediately falls into defending Doug in her head.  What if Jenny's lying?  What if it's not Doug's?  What if Jenny is cheating on him?  That Jenny is a slut.  Rose has no base for any of this thinking, really.  She has none of that "girls should stick together" mentality.  She just wants the boy she likes to be a nice, good guy.

There's a theme of children and childbirth.  Wanting babies, not wanting babies.  Being too old to have one, being too young to have one.  It gave the story a life-cycle feel.  Beginnings and endings.  Summer beginning, summer ending.  Growing up, getting older.

The art if just beautiful.  It's black and white, but the blacks have shades of blue and gray.  The quietness and peace of the summer that Rose so loves is reflected.  Through uses of close-ups and wordless panels, we get a clear understanding what the characters are thinking and feeling.

Quiet, beautiful, powerful story.  Highly recommended.  

Lost at Sea by Bryan Lee O'Malley

Raleigh is fairly sure she doesn't have a soul.  She's also fairly sure a cat stole it.  She hates cats, but they always seem to be around her.  She's not good at interacting with people.  She doesn't seem to feel what other people feel.  And everything's always just so horribly confusing and mixed up all the time.  And now she's in a car with three classmates who she hardly even knows on a never ending road trip, and isn't even sure how she got there.

Raleigh's story slowly unfolds.  She's in a car with three other kids she doesn't seem to know super well.  It's unclear we're they're going to or heading from all how they all ended up in the same car.  Raleigh is very much trapped in her own head.  Her thoughts swirl in turmoil and confusion.  She's not good at interacting with people, or reading people.

In bits a pieces Raleigh reveals her background that got her to where she is now.  At the same time, the four teens are trying to get back home, dealing with car issues and trying to find hotels.  Raleigh starts to warm toward the others, although she's hesitant about opening up to people.

The whole "my soul was stolen by cats" thing was weird.  But her new friends take it in stride when she finally tells them this and they gamely sneak out cats to see if they can find Raleigh's soul.

The drawings are black and white and lack detail.  For the most part it was presented in traditional comic book frames with a few full paged spreads.  The darkness of the drawings and the lack of detail fit perfectly with Raleigh's confused and worried mind.

I found the ending a little unsatisfying.  It just ended after the big reveal.  There wasn't much more to conclude things.  We don't really know what happens.  I think it captures a teenager's angst and confusion well.

A little spoilery

Bad Houses by Sara Ryan, illustrated by Carla Speed McNeil

Lewis' works with his mother, Cate, running estate sales; sorting through dead people's belongings and getting them ready to sell.  Anne lives with her mother, Danica, and a house stuffed full of all the things Danica is unable to part with.  Lewis and Anne get to know each other after meeting at an estate sale.  Anne is trying to understand why people keep things and leave things, and what makes something important.

Such an interesting story.  I liked the juxtaposition of Lewis and his mother running the estate sales, and Anne and her mother, who live in such disorder.  One family whose job it is to clean up and arrange and get rid of things, and another incapable of getting rid of things.

I found myself strongly empathizing with both Anne and Lewis, but Anne is particular.  Maybe because I like to keep thing pretty neat and clean.  I felt her shock, horror and betrayal when she found her mother and filled her room with junk in order to clear out the living room so she could invite her new boyfriend over.  Anne's room was her one safe space, where there was no clutter or mess.  Now her safe haven had been infiltrated and there wasn't any place left for her.

I was frustrated at both Lewis and Anne's parents for their selfishness, even though I knew that there was a lot more going on than selfishness.  I wanted to shake them and say, "Can't you see what this is doing to your kid?  Don't you care?!"  Of course they cared, but they had their own issues to deal with as well.

We have two stories going on.  We have the story of Lewis and Anne, who meet and start dating and fall in love, and struggle with their own personal problems, and we have the story of Cate and Danica, or in particular, their back story, and how what happened in the past is effecting what is happening to Lewis and Anne today.

Spoilers

The Property by Rutu Modan

After the death of her father, Mica and her paternal grandmother Regina Segal travel to Warsaw in an attempt to claim property lost during WWII.  Regina has not been back to Poland since she was sent away to Israel before WWII.  But Regina is carrying a secret.  She has other reasons for coming to Warsaw.

Rutu Modan is the author of Exit Wounds, which is on my "to read" list and had a lot of positive buzz when it came out.  There's been lots of buzz about The Property too, and it's started showing up on "best of 2013" lists.

We have two parallel stories happening, Mica's and Regina's.  Mica doesn't know what her grandmother's actual purpose in Warsaw is.  All she knows is that her grandmother initially wanted to come to Warsaw to claim this property, but upon arrival she wants nothing to do with it.  Mica sets out to find the property herself.  She has to deal with a snoopy and interfering friend of her aunt's (who has plans of his own) and meets a young Polish man.  All while trying to figure out what on earth is going on with her grandmother.

Spoilers

Relish: My Life in the Kitchen by Lucy Knisley

Lucy Knisley's most vivid memories are of how things tasted.  She grew up with a foodie father and caterer mother in the middle of New York's blossoming food scene.  Her memoir tells the love story of her relationship to food, and provides many tasty recipes along the way.

Lucy tells vignettes of her life which all revolve around food in some way.  She recalls her quest for the perfect chocolate chip cookies; her trip to Mexico with her mother and her friend Drew's family (their moms got the flu and the two of them ran all over San Miguel eating cheap food); working in a cheese shop like her mother; relating to her father through food.

As well as giving us a picture of her life, Lucy gives us some of her recipes.  Of course, they are told through image and words, it's a comic, after all!  Her recipes include huevos rancheros, veggie sushi (I feel like I could actually make sushi now!), and shepard pie, among others.

At first I thought the art looked much different than it did in French Milk.  Then I realized, no, it's not the art that looks so different, it's the colors.  The style is the same, but French Milk was in black and white, so the lines were much more clear and detailed.  Relish is done in bold, almost muddy colors (I didn't love the color palette), causing the illustrations to appear less detailed.  I still like the style, which is very cute.

Relish is great, because it not only tells the story of the love of food, but also the story of an awkward kid growing up and making mistakes.  Great for young adults and adults alike.

The Silversix by AJ Lieberman & Daren Rawings

Phoebe has been living on her own since her parents died a year ago.  When a strange man comes looking for her, Phoebe runs for it, taking with her the moon registry her parent's left her.  Phoebe gets nabbed by Child Welfare Services and finds herself living in a home for orphaned children.  She meets five other kids, all who have the same moon registry, all signed by Phoebe's father, all whose parent's died on the same shuttle explosion.  The Silversix set out to find the truth of their parent's deaths, and maybe bring down the most powerful company on Earth.

It was fun, but a lacking in details.  Some kids won't care.  But there wasn't a whole lot of world building. Craven Mining controls pretty much everything, because they control the Hydro-2, some kind of energy source.  But I wasn't totally sure what, exactly, Hydro-2 was, how it was mined, why there were steel bubble, and why there couldn't be any open space.  So I had a lot of questions.  Oh, I was also confused about what the transmission that was sent to Phoebe's location before the shuttle blew up.  What was the transmission?  It wasn't the moon registry, all the kids already had those.  So...what exactly was it that they were looking far? Whatever

So yes, there were holes.  A fair number of holes.  But despite that, it was still an enjoyable read.  Phoebe is spunky, determined and resourceful.  The friends she makes are a rainbow of ethnicities, and they create for themselves their own kind of family.  All does not go smoothly.  The kids get to use their various talents to get themselves out of trouble.

The ending also happened rather quickly, and was again lacking in detail.  Suddenly they're all heroes and Craven is in jail and no more Hydro-2 and all the open space comes back.  Hmm, the more I write about this the more I realize that there was a lot missing from this story.

The art was cute and cartoony.  I didn't like the color pallet so much, I thought it looked a little sickly, that maybe that was intentional to create a feel for the world.  The format was traditional comic panels with very little breaking out of the mold.

Delilah Dirk and the Turkish Lieutenant by Tony Cliff

Erdemoglu Selim is a lieutenant in the Turkish Janissary Corps, and he doesn't love it.  What he really wants is to live a quiet life and make tea.  That becomes impossible when Delilah Dirk, a swashbuckling adventurer, is imprisoned, and then escapes the Turkish palace.  Selim is swept up and along with Delilah Dirk, and soon he must decide if this life of adventure is really for him.

Oh First Second.  Do you ever get it wrong?  So much fun!  I love how Delilah Dirk is totally unapologetically herself.  She makes no excuses, and has little patience for waffling. 

The only disappointment was that this was billed as Delilah Dirk's story.  I mean, it is called Delilah Dirk and the Turkish Lieutenant.  But it was really the Turkish Lieutenant's story.  It was from Selim's point of view and was his story of his meeting and joining Delilah Dirk.  That didn't stop it from being a fun graphic novel.  I liked how Selim and Delilah Dirk worked together and played off each other. Although she ended up being a secondary character in her own book, Delilah Dirk is certainly not in the background!  I wonder if all the books will be from Selim's point of view.  I hope more of the stories will get to revolve around the title character.

After Delilah Dirk rescues Selim from being beheaded because he's suspected to be in league with Dirk herself, their first adventure is stealing treasure from the Evil Pirate Captain Zakul.  Selim is skeptical, but goes along with it, and soon they're blowing up bridges and running from pirates and escaping in flying boats.

Her outfit is kind of odd, don't you think?  When Selim is first interrogating Delilah Dirk he says, "Why do you dress like this?  Certainly you would look more at home on the street corner."  Delilah Dirk is about to give him a snappy reply, when she's distracted with how delicious the tea is.  And we never get back it.  Why does she dress like that?  She's always in motion.  Sword fighting, jumping out windows, making speedy getaways.  I'm trying to decide if her outfit doesn't make sense for her character, or actually dressing in this way does make sense, because she's Delilah Dirk and she's going to wear whatever she damn well pleases.  Unclear.

While I don't think this would be above middle schooler's heads or anything, the content does deal with battles and stabbing people with swords.  A lot of people die at Delilah's Dirk's hands.  So just a heads up.

The art appears to be digitally created (I think) but I found it very pretty and the colors are nice and bright.  It has a mostly traditional comic book layout, although there were some lovely full page spreads and great action scenes that broke out of the panels.

Primates: The Fearless Science of Jane Goodall, Dian Fossey, and Birute Galdikas by Jim Ottaviani and Maris Wicks

The true stories of three scientists who changed the way we think about primates forever.  Jane Goodall, Dian Fossey and Birute Galdikas were all recruited by anthropologist Louis Leakey and set out, with little to no training or background, on field research that would result in discoveries that advanced our understanding of the link between humans and primates.

Another triumph from First Second!  Seriously, can they do anything wrong?  I don't think I've read anything from First Second that I haven't loved.

This is a great middle grade graphic novel that does an excellent job at showing how each of the three women got her big break, the research she did, discoveries made, and also the toll this kind of work took on her personal life.

Jane Goodall was the first to be discovered by Louis Leakey.  Jane had always wanted to study animals, but for a while her work had nothing to do with animals.  She jumped at the chance to visit a school friend in Kenya, and there she met Louis Leaky, who was working in Nairobi.  She started out working as Leakey's secretary, but soon had the chance to study chimpanzees.  So off she went, with no schooling in anthropology or sciences, no advanced degree.  She named the chimpanzees, much to other scientist's disgust (scientists usually would number them), but when Jane observed chimps using tools and eating meat, she earned the respect of her peers.

Blue Bloods The Graphic Novel by Melisa De La Cruz, adapted by Robert Venditti, art by Alina Urusov

The Blue Bloods vowed that their immortal status would remain a closely guarded secret. And they kept that secret for centuries. But now, in New York City, the secret is seeping out. Schuyler Van Alen is a sophomore at a prestigious private school. She prefers baggy, vintage clothes instead of the Prada and pearls worn by her classmates, and she lives with her reclusive grandmother in a dilapidated mansion. Schuyler is a loner...and happy that way. Suddenly, when she turns fifteen, there is a visible mosaic of blue veins on her arm. She starts to crave raw food and she is having flashbacks to ancient times. Then a popular girl from her school is found dead... drained of all her blood. Schuyler doesn't know what to think, but she wants to find out the secrets the Blue Bloods are keeping. But is she herself in danger? (from Goodreads)

As the title makes clear, this is the graphic novel adaptation of the popular Blue Bloods series.  I have not read the original book (it wasn't one of the vampire series I got too) so I can't really comment on the adaptation, unfortunately.  The story seemed to move along well, and it certainly was pretty to look at.

Schuyler is out main character and our outsider who just doesn't fit in in her exclusive and well-off high school.  Sky's mother is in a coma and she lives with her aunt.  When she learns she's a Blue Blood, her whole life is turned upside down and she's desperate to find answers.  Her love interest is Jack Force, the most popular boy in school and sister to the most popular girl in school, Mimi.  Jack and Sky, of course, feel some kind of deep connection to each other neither of them understands.

So, you know, nothing new.  It's a supernatural romance.  But it's certainly entertaining, and the art is beautiful.  Everyone in it is gorgeous - tall and thin and beautiful, men and woman.  It was a fast read, and takes you through the first book in the series. 

Will & Whit by Laura Lee Gulledge

Will fears the dark.  She spends most of her time creating beautiful lamps from found objects and helping her aunt with the antique store.  Keeping busy helps Will to ignore the sadness she is feeling.  When hurricane Whitney sweeps through town and causes a prolonged blackout, the darkness forces Will and her friends' secrets into the light.

I really liked this.  Laura Lee Gulledge is author of Page by Paige, also a graphic novel I very much enjoyed.  I thought her story-telling improved in this one, and I love her artistic style.

Will is sad.  That is clear.  We know she's only lived with her aunt for about a year, so clearly something has happened to both her parents.  But like the dark she fears, Will pushes unpleasant thoughts aside by working on her lamps.

She has two wonderful friends, Noel and Autumn.  Noel has a crush on Autumn but can't bring himself to tell her.  Autumn is a bit insecure when it come to boys and can't believe that anyone could like her.  Before the hurricane strikes, Will and her friend become involved in a town carnival some other kids their age are putting on.  But then the blackout hits, and Will gets recruited to figuring out how to light the now dark space.

The hurricane forces a lot of things out into the open.  I liked that contrast - the lack of lights force things out into the light.  With no electricity for days, everyone is outside and interacting with each other.  Relationships are made and broken.  Will has a chance to face her fears, and to be honest with both her friends and her aunt about how she's really been coping this last year.  She's asked to create an original art piece for the carnival.  Will has only ever created from other objects before, and it gives her a chance to express her thoughts.  What she creates is truly beautiful.

The art is done in black and white, with lots of shading and shadowing.  I liked how Will's fear of the dark, and her other fears and sadness, were portrayed.  They were all shown in the shadows of other objects.  Will might be riding a bike, and in the bike's shadow we see a bicycle built for three with only one rider.  When Will has to turn off her flashlight, in its shadow we see a sword, something she wished she had to protect her from the dark.  It was beautifully done.  It tied in so perfectly with Will's finally art instillation, where she uses shadow to create something herself.  Intentionally.

We are Published!

Super exciting news!  Remember how almost a year ago now Anna and I were working on an article about women and graphic novels and collection development?  Well it's finally be published!  Yay!  We are published authors!  In a professional periodical!  It is all very exciting.  Our article, Not Your Mom's Graphic Novels: Giving Girls a Choice Beyond Wonder Woman will be published in the 2013 volume 30, issue 3 of Technical Services Quarterly.  It can be read online, but alas, it is not free.  Sorry about that.  I hope that if you have any interest in the history of women in comics and graphic novels or are creating a graphic novel collection for your library you will take the time to give it a read.  We wrote it for our fellow librarians!  Enjoy!

Peanut by Ayun Halliday, art by Paul Hoppe

Sadie is starting a new high school.  She's nervous about fitting in and making friends, so she does a strange thing.  She pretends to have a peanut allergy.  It starts innocently enough, but soon Sadie realizes it has spun far outside her control.  The only way out is to tell the truth, but what will it cost her?

I loved this.  A great story with an incredibly relatable character.  It might sound like what Sadie did was crazy, but really, it's not.  Probably almost everyone has done something like it, although not to the extreme Sadie took it.  You want people to notice you and like you, so you tell them something that maybe isn't completely true.  A fabulous trip you didn't actually take, a famous person you don't really know, the cool job your brother doesn't really have.  It's so easy, and now you're interesting and exciting.

For Sadie, it started simply enough.  After starting at her new school and feeling a bit out of place, she told some girls she had a severe peanut allergy.  It gave her something to talk about.  Something that set her apart and made her different.  She didn't think about the consequences, or what it really meant.  Soon she's getting called down to the nurse because she hadn't filled out allergy forms, being asked where her EpiPen is, and realizing that she can never invite her friends over to her house.  What if one of them mentioned her "allergy?"  What would her mom say?

Sadie realizes this was a bad idea, but her new friends are always so concerned for her and watch out for her.  She even has a boyfriend.  Everyone's being so sweet and thoughtful.  How can she confess she was lying?  How will she explain herself?  They'll hate her.

Sadie's grappling with a lie that gets out of control was realistic and relatable.  You know she's in the wrong, and yet, it's hard to not hope she figures out a way to fix things.  Of course, it all blows up in her face, and she has to face the consequences.  Which she does, and it's not easy.

I enjoyed the Paul Hope's art.  It's sketches, really, with some of the close-ups more detailed.  Despite the lack of detail most of the time, there was never any trouble figuring out characters thoughts of emotions.  It was always completely clear.  The illustrations are completely in black and white, except for Sadie.  Sadie is always wearing a red top of some kind.  Was this some kind of scarlet letter thing?  Just to set her apart?  It was striking, whatever the reason was.  I liked the layout a lot, made up of irregular panels overlapping with larger pictures.  It was very easy to follow, and broke out of the boring straight panel mold.

Princeless Book One: Save Yourself by Jeremy Whitley, art by M. Goodwin

Like her older sisters, when she turns 16 Adrienne is placed in a tower guarded by a dragon and forced to wait to be rescued by a prince.  But when Adrienne discovers a sword hidden under her bed, she decides to change her own story.  Teaming up with her guardian dragon, Sparky, Adrienne escapes from her tower and sets off to free her sisters.

This was awesome.  In all different ways.  First of all, people of color! Yay!  A whole family of Black princesses! Bedelia, who befriends Adrienne and joins her on her adventure, is white, as is the pathetic prince who tried to rescue Adrienne and ended up running from the dragon.  So far there haven't been any characters of color beside Adrienne and her family, but I have high hopes.

Next, seriously kick ass female characters.  We have Adrienne and Bedelia, who are both doing something that is not typical for woman and have gotten tired of hiding it.  Adrienne has decided she's not going to wait around to be rescued for her life to start, and does it herself.  Bedelia is a blacksmith, but has been letting everyone think that it's her father that does the work, because who would buy armor from a girl?  Bedelia make Adrienne some amazing armor, and then joins her on her quest.

When Adrienne first comes into Bedelia's shop and asks to see the armor, Bedelia shows her the "Women Warrior Collection," which is made up of the stereotypical bikini tops and bottoms.  Clearly harkens back to Xena and Wonder Woman.  Adrienne wonders why armor for woman couldn't be like armor for men, only fit for a woman.  The Woman Warrior armor is so revealing, it would be easy to get killed.  Bedelia thinks about this, agrees, and proceeds to make not a costume, but armor for a warrior women.  Thank you, Jeremy Whitley, you are awesome.

On top of this, it's a good story.  Sparky burns down Adrienne's tower, so her parents think she's dead and have sent knights out to kill the dragon.  Adrienne first heads back to her father's castle to get her little sister, only to discover she's already been taken away somewhere.  Adrienne's brother, Devin, is at odds with his father, who does not think he is fit to be king.  Devin is the only one who knows Adrienne is really alive.  When this first book ends, Adrienne and Bedelia are headed off to rescue Adrienne's sister Angelica.

For the most part the layout was typical comic layout of mostly regularly panels.  It did break of out of this at times, in particular when there was fight scenes, which made these scenes especially striking.  I liked the art, it fit well with the fantasy story.  In terms of representations of woman, the female characters seen so far all pretty much have the same body type - slim, even Bedelia, who's part dwarf and super strong.  Hey, you can't have everything.

Overall, awesome!

Emiko Superstar by Mariko Tamaki

Emiko's best friend moved last year and now she's trying to fit in with the other girls at school. What ends up happening though is a growing feeling of alienation that pushes Emiko to find connections with performance artists who live on the fringe. As Emiko develops a growing sense of self, she also starts performing by reading the diary of an alienated wife that she babysits for. As the story progresses Emiko must decide whether or not she's reflecting her own self or just a reflection of the people she has grown to care for.

I really wanted to love this. I thought the themes were really strong, the setting was fantastic, and the portrayal of underground performance art was new. I unfortunately thought the characters were rather weak. Well maybe that isn't the best explanation, the characters didn't live up to the rest of the story. They were a bit under-developed and underwhelming. Emiko never seemed to really find her sense of 'self.' I liked her development as a performer and her growing confidence in that, but I didn't really feel like that would necessarily mean that she had a new definition of self. Which is the payoff that I was searching for and never ended up getting. Emiko found a group of people that she connected with, but instead of defining herself she let the group define her which I think kind of undercuts the entire arch of the story.

Then there was the subplot of the family that Emiko babysits for. I found this to be quite fascinating and kind of wish more time was spent with it. I thought that the ambient tension and frustration that the family was going through was quite poignant.

To sum up:

• I liked the artwork
• I loved the setting
• I liked some of the secondary characters
• I thought the main character was weak
• I thought the themes were underdeveloped, though well chosen

Overall this book was only okay, it had the potential to be great but never reached the heights I wanted it to.

A Game for Swallows: To Die, To Leave, To Return by Zeina Abirached

The Lebanese civil war has been going on since before Zeina was born.  It is a daily part of life.  Because of the bombings, Zeina, her little brother and mother and father live in the foyer; the only safe space in the apartment.  One evening, Zeina's parents go to visit her grandparents, and have not returned as bombing intensifies.  The other tenants from the building come down to keep watch over Zeina and her brother.

It amazing how things can just become part of everyday life.  The fact that there were snipers hiding at the end of your street, and you have to walk a certain way so you won't get hit.  The fact that bombings are any everyday occurrence, and sometimes people die, or your home gets destroyed.  That it takes hours to get a dial tone on the phone, that you can't go near windows, that you wait on long lines for gas.  And somehow there's still the belief that it's "more or less safe" there.  Because it's home, and that's how things have always been.

The foyer of Zeina's apartment is the safest place in the apartment building, so usually all the other tenants make their way down to them during heavy bombing.  Zeina's parents are not there, having gone to visit her grandparents.  But they left an hour ago, and haven't shown up yet.  All through the night, the tenants and children find ways to amuse themselves.  The adults also show differing opinions on what course of action should be taken in regards to the war.  Fight, leave, wait.

That evening, a shell lands in what was Zeina's bedroom, and the next day everyone has to find new places to go.  A few leave Lebanon, but most find other people to stay with.  Despite the constant danger, most do not seriously think about leaving.

The illustrations are striking.  Done in black and white, the pictures are deceptively simple.  The first few pages are of the streets, and it took me a minute to realize that there were bullet holes everywhere.  It just kind of blends in.  The style reminded me a lot of Persepolis.  

Much like Little White Duck, this is another excellent middle grade level book that allows young people to see what life is like for children growing up outside of the United States.

Saga by Brian K. Vaughan, art by Fiona Staples

The native people of the planet Landfall and the native people of Landfall's moon, Wreath, have been at war for generations.  Much of the galaxy has been pulled into the war and forced to chose sides.  Alana and Marko are from opposite sides, but fall in love, run off together, get married and now have had a child.  And now both sides want them dead.

I had heard nothing but good things about Saga.  I finally read it.  It was just as awesome as everyone said it was.  More!  I need more!  And now, please and thank you.  I read the trade paperback, which collects issues 1-6.  There are currently 8 issues out, with the 9 coming out this month.

How can I begin to extol the awesomeness of Saga?  First off Alana and Marko are great characters.  Yes, they have the whole star-crossed lovers thing, but not in an annoying stupid I-can't-live-without-you kind of way.  Although they clearly love each other very much.  They are an equal team, they have each other's back, they are very funny, and they are going to save their child if it's the last thing they ever do.  Alana is tough.  She has a sarcastic edge to here.  Marko seems to be the more introspective and thoughtful, but Alana is the one who pulls him back when he goes into a rage.  Their relationship seems so natural and genuine.  You know, they really seem to care and like each other.

The world is really interesting and I'm looking forward to learning more about it.  There are all different sorts of creatures in this world, since there are all sorts of planets involved in the war.  Alana's people, from Landfall have wings, but don't seem to be able to fly.  Marko's people, from Wreath, have horns and have some kind of magical ability.  There's also a strange planet of robots (but robots that can procreate?  Interesting) with televisions as heads.  The prince of the robot kingdom is one of the one's hunting down Alana and Marko.  He also seems to be suffering from post traumatic stress syndrome after being in a particularly  gruesome battle.

Then there are the bounty hunters that have been sent to search for Alana, Marko, and their child, who after much discussion is named Hazel.  The two we meet in volume 1 is The Stalk and The Will.  The Stalk is this incredible looking body of a spider, armless torso and head of women but with spider eyes being, and The Will seems to be a human.  The Will is a confusing man.  He's paid to kill people, but is also trying to free a six-year-old child from the sex-slave trade.

Fiona Staples' illustrations are great, as always.  There's always such detail.  People have facial expressions that fit with their personalities.  People have different kinds of body types.  Not everyone looks the same.  The world around the characters are drawn with as much detail as the characters themselves.  With scenes that are provocative, it never feels explicit or done to titillate.  There is a sex scenes between he robot prince and his wife.  The Stalk is topless.  But these things are not sensationalized.  They just are.  They are part of the world, and they are not there purely to thrill the reader.

Hand shakes all around.  Everyone should read it.  Yes, everyone.  And I need to find myself the next issue.

X-Men: Season One by Dennis Hopeless, art by Jamie McKelvie

Professor Charles Xavier has recruited five extraordinary teen mutants for his "high school" - a place where they will learn to fight together to protect the world from other, dangerous mutants.  Jean Gray has her doubts about Professor Xavier, and his seeming willingness to put she and her friends in harms way.  After all, they're just kids, trying to deal with major self revelations and crushes!

It's another X-Men reboot, but this time, the story is being told by Jean, which is cool.  Professor Xavier is not being portrayed as infallible, and the kids question him and struggle with his ideals, which they don't really share.  It's hard protecting people who hate you!

We have the five original X-Men - Jean, Angel, Beast, Iceman and Cyclops.  We get to see all their angsty teen interactions, which is lots of fun.  Jean at first has a crush on pretty-boy Warren (Angel), and it nothing but annoyed with Scott (Cyclops) who's super intense and does nothing but train.

Hank (Beast) and Bobby (Iceman) are best friends.  I enjoyed seeing how Beast is the smartest and most thoughtful of them all.  He's a science genius and an inventor and becomes incredibly frustrated that it's only his fighting skills that are looked for, not his intellect.  He actually leaves the X-Men for a time, much to Bobby's distress, and it's Jean who's able to bring him back.

By the end of this first volume, the X-Men are beginning to act more like a team, and they've also all emerged alive from their first serious encounter with Magneto.  They also have to struggle with the fact and Professor Xavier and Magneto are friends.  Who, like, play chess together sometimes.  That's a very difficult thing for the teenagers to accept.  Isn't Magneto evil?  Aren't they trying to defeat him?

I thought this was a great start to the series.  I love that we're seeing everything through Jean, and I really like the fact that the X-Men act like the teenagers they are, with all the usual teen problems on top of the fact that they're trying to save the world, and are clearly not ready for it.  It will be fun to see them learn to control their powers.  Especially Jean, who's already starting to see she's far more powerful than she though.