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.

Little White Duck: A Childhood in China by Na Liu and Andres Vera Martinez

Da Qin and her little sister are growing up in China during a time of change.  Chairman Mao has just died, leading to the country opening slightly to the Western world.  La Liu remembers moments that made an impact on her life.

This is a memoir, but it does not tell the story of Na Liu's entire life.  Rather it is a series of short stories, small moments from her childhood.  While we don't learn all about Na Liu's life, we are given a clear glimpse into the life of a child in China growing up after the death of Mao.

The first story Na Liu tells is going to the funeral of Chairman Mao, and recalling how incredibly sad her parents were.  Both of Na Liu's parent's were able to make advances for themselves because of the government - her mother had polio as a child and the government paid for her care, Na Liu's father came from a farming family, but was able to pursue an education because of a government sponsorship.  It was nice to hear these stories where Communism worked the way it was intended to work.

Another story is about Na Liu and her sister learning why they must eat all their food - the starving children in China.  Na Liu's family was not wanting for food, but later, when she visits her father's family she horrified to see how other people live.

I thought Little White Duck did a good job of illustrating what was going on in China during this time.  There were struggling peasants, and there were those who only wanted to be good citizens.  Na Liu and her sister try to make sense of it all through their child's understanding, and it's hard.

The art was beautiful.  It was done in very muted colors.  There were really nice bright spots, even the red was dark.  Lots of grays and blue-greens and browns.  It reflected the military like feeling of the world Na Liu is growing up in.  There is order and everyone does their part, no one steps out of line.  The panels were also orderly and regular.  At the beginning and end of the book, there were lovely double-paged spreads of Na Liu and her sister flying over China on a crane.

A great middle-grade book for explaining about children growing up in different parts of the world and during different time periods.

Chicagoland Detective Agency: The Drained Brains Caper by Trina Robbins, illustrated by Tyker Oage

Megan Yamamura, anime lover, and writer of haiku, has just moved to Chicagoland and unfortunately for her, is now starting summer school at Stepford Preparatory Academy.  Megan knows something strange is going on on her first day: why are all the kids so...weird?  Will she be able to find out what's going on at Stepford Prep?  Or will she become one of them?

As the name of the school suggests, all the kids were being brainwashed by an evil scientist.  Megan is captured, but escapes with the help of Raf, her computer programmer friend.  The two manage to destroy the evil scientist's computer program and free all the kids.  They also find a super intelligent talking dog, which they free and take home.  The three then form the Chicagoland Detective Agency.

I've read a few graphic novels by Trina Robbins, and they're always fine.  Some better than others.  I love reading her histories of comics.  I think that is her strong point, rather than the fictional stories.

I read the first two Chicagoland stories: The Drained Brains Caper and The Maltese Mummy.  It looks like the bad guy is the same in each story.  She always escapes at the end, and will no doubt keep showing up to cause more mischief.

While neither plot nor dialogue is especially stunning, what I did like was that the fact that Megan's a girl and Raf's a boy played no part whatsoever.  Sometimes Megan needs saving, and sometimes Raf needs saving and they work together and help each other out.  They have different strengths and weakness.  So that was nice.

The art is black and white, and clearly manga influenced.  Mostly traditional panels, with a few full-paged spreads.

Waiting on Wednesday: Perfect Scoundrels by Ally Carter

"Waiting On Wednesday" is a weekly event hosted by Breaking the Spine to spotlight an upcoming release that we're excited about. This week I'm waiting on Perfect Scoundrels by Ally Carter.

Katarina Bishop and W.W. Hale the fifth were born to lead completely different lives: Kat comes from a long, proud line of loveable criminal masterminds, while Hale is the scion of one of the most seemingly perfect dynasties in the world. If their families have one thing in common, it's that they both know how to stay under the radar while getting--or stealing--whatever they want. No matter the risk, the Bishops can always be counted on, but in Hale's family, all bets are off when money is on the line. When Hale unexpectedly inherits his grandmother's billion dollar corporation, he quickly learns that there's no place for Kat and their old heists in his new role. 

But Kat won't let him go that easily, especially after she gets tipped off that his grandmother's will might have been altered in an elaborate con to steal the company's fortune. So instead of being the heir--this time, Hale might be the mark. Forced to keep a level head as she and her crew fight for one of their own, Kat comes up with an ambitious and far-reaching plan that only the Bishop family would dare attempt. To pull it off, Kat is prepared to do the impossible, but first, she has to decide if she's willing to save her boyfriend's company if it means losing the boy.  (Summary from GoodReads)

What can I say? I loved the first one, and I haven't read the second yet but I know it's going to be delightful. Ally Carter does a rather superb job of making an engaging heist plot with intriguing and hilarious characters.

Perfect Scoundrels comes out Feb. 5th.

Who Could That Be at This Hour? by Lemony Snicket

The chance we've all been waiting for - the opportunity to learn about the elusive Lemony Snicket.  Snicket, who has had an unusual education, begins his first assignment with his chaperon.  Unfortunately, plans have changed causing Snicket to break his promise to a friend.  Now he and his chaperon are in the practically abandoned town of Stain'd-by-the-Sea trying to locate a statue, which may or may not be priceless, of the Bombinating Beast, which may or may not have been stolen from its owner.  Of course, there is much more going on than meets the eye.

Who Could That Be at This Hour didn't quite have the snap the A Series of Unfortunate Events books did.  It's very much written the same way.  Very tongue in cheek.  Use of sophisticated words which are then explained.  Adults aren't very smart and children are.  It didn't accomplish these things as well as in past books.  It felt a little forced and weighted down.

This is a beginning of a four-part "biography", so it was laying a lot of groundwork.  Many questions are left unanswered (of course), and knowing Lemony Snicket, it's entirely likely they will never be answered.  I think what made this difficult to get into is that we don't really know any of the characters.  Everyone is so shrouded in mystery, the reader doesn't really have any idea what's going on.  Sure, there's a mystery that's trying to be solved, but the mystery that's the focus of the book is clearly not "the right question."  So while this makes things mysterious and interesting, it also left me with a disconnected feeling.  I got into it more as it went along, I had a harder time at the beginning.

One thing I had a lot of fun with was the casual references that are made to books, I enjoy figuring out what ones they are.  For example, "I'm reminded of a book my father used to read me...A bunch of elves and things get into a huge war over a piece of jewelry that everybody wants but nobody can wear."  "I never liked that book...There's always a wizard who's very powerful but not very helpful."  Hehe.  The only one I wasn't familiar with is a book about a lawyer and a tap dancer.  Anyone know it?

Fans of Lemony Snicket's other books will be eager to get their hands on this one.

Paper Valentine by Brenna Yovanoff

Hannah has a serious problem.  She is being haunted by the ghost of her dead best friend, Lillian.  She doesn't know why she's there, or what to do.  And then someone in Hannah's quite little town begins killing girls.  Lillian pushes Hannah to find out who is behind the murders, sending Hannah far outside her comfort zone.

This was a creepy murder mystery.  Hannah is the girl who always looks happy and sweet.  In her hand-made vintage dresses and her pasted on smile, Hannah tries to convince herself that everything is fine.  Of course, everything is not fine.  Even if Lillian weren't haunting her, things wouldn't be fine.  It's never come right out and said, but Hannah seems to feel guilty about Lillian's death.  Lillian was anorexic, and slowly starved to death.  Hannah knew.  It's never gone into detail, but it seems Lillian managed to avoid treatment essentially the entire time.  Hannah knew and could have gotten her help.

Now, Lillian never leaves Hannah alone.  But it isn't the real Lillian, and having her there is not comforting, only frightening and a burden.  It becomes harder and harder for Hannah to pretend.  Then young girls start being murdered, and there's no way to act like everything is going to be just fine.  Lillian encourages her, but Hannah herself feels herself drawn toward the dead girls and begins trying to find a connection between the girls that were murdered.

Hannah is also drawn to Finny Boone, a boy with a poor reputation, and certainly not the kind of boy a girl like Hannah would be seen with.  But Finny seems to be able to see Hannah's sadness and confusion under her smiles and pretty clothes, and seems willing to take the time to find the true her.  Even with all the terribly things happening around her, Hannah is able to begin finding herself, which includes shaking off the expectations of others.

It's never made clear why exactly Lillian was able to stay, or why Hannah was able to see and communicate with ghosts.  I guess it wasn't necessary to the story.  It's just something that happened.

This is a great pick for high school students looking for something more edgy than a supernatural romance or a realistic fiction book that deals with serious issues.  In terms of the mystery, there weren't really any clues to try and figure out who the murder was yourself, it wasn't that kind of mystery.  The focus was more on Hannah trying to find herself.
 
Paper Valentine will be available January 8, 2013.

The Darkness Dwellers (Kiki Strike #3) by Kristen Miller

The Irregulars are back for a final mission.  Kiki Strike is determined to state her claim on Pokrovia, and then ending the monarchy forever, all before her evil aunt and cousin can claim the throne for themselves, and who will stop at nothing to get Kiki out of the way.  Meanwhile, the other Irregulars are dealing with another mystery of their own.  One which involves proper manners and the catacombs of France.

Well.  This was a bit of a disappointment.  I loved the other Kiki Strike books.  Loved.  They were smart and sassy and well thought out and engaging and really just all-around awesome middle school reads.  It's been so long (five years) since the last one came out, I'd despaired of there being any ending to the story.  So I was all excited when I saw there was going to finally be another one.  But this just felt like Kristen Miller said "All right!  I'll write an ending to the Kiki Strike story if you'll all just leave me alone!" and then she banged it out to be done with it.  The Darkness Dwellers was only OK.   It dragged terribly in some places, and then completely skipped over the part that seems like it should have been the most important.  There were all sorts of side plots going on that seemed unnecessary and then didn't really get resolved.