This graphic novel is awesome! It is Diverse, Inclusive, magical, and fun! Moonstruck is set in a universe where centaurs and lesbian werewolves work together in coffee shops that serve everyone. Two werewolves, Selena and Julie are in the very beginning stages of a relationship and are still getting to know each other when they go on a date that includes Chet, their centaur friend, who ends up becoming human in an evil magic show and loses his horse butt. While funny, the graphic novel does an amazing job of showing how disastrous and emotionally traumatizing this is to him. The girls and their friends have to help find the evil magician that put on the magic show, get Chet’s butt back, and stop him from hurting others all while trying to figure out their feelings and new relationship!
The main character, Julie the werewolf, is pretty whiny and emotional, but she is a great representation of how feelings of others need to be respected and how to be kind. Overall, this was a great book!
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The world has been invaded by aliens that abduct teenagers and children from their families, people who are identified as "strong," and loaded up into robots that are taken to other planets (I assume). In this particular graphic novel, the two main characters, Sam and Wyatt, are twins who are trying to help other people from their town while searching for their parents. Wyatt, who has autism, classifies the aliens and helps Sam escape them. The two deliver food and supplies to other people under the code name "Bird One." When the aliens trick them by using a video of their parents to lure them to them, one of them is taken and the other has to find a way to save them on their own.
While the plot took a while to pick up, I enjoyed this graphic novel. The theme of working together and looking past weaknesses is one that really shines through the illustrations. The people of Elizabethtown learn to work together despite their differences to rally against the aliens that are ripping their families apart. ALL SUMMER LONG, a graphic novel by Hope Larson (illustrator of the Wrinkle In Time graphic novel) was a fun, quick read. 📚Austin and Bina have been friends their entire lives and spend every summer together. The summer before eighth grade, though, Austin goes away to soccer camp while Bina stays home and learns how to play guitar and indie bands. A really sweet sort of friendship and growing apart while staying friends and growing into who you are.
This book would definitely be a little too mature for a school library, but it was so much fun nonetheless! Nora is a white twenty-something working in a call center and has always dated douchebags. She finally finds the man of her dreams-he is funny, smart, kind, and loved to cuddle, BUT he is a bear. A real, live, American black bear. He breaks alot of her things, plays with her cat, eats alot of food, and juggles, but they make it work. Soon though, like bears do, he has to hibernate and they must be separated for all of winter. Sarah has to figure out if she can make it through the winter alone, despite her friends' and mother's protests, or let her Bear go.
Overall, this story was fun! The graphics are simple and stunning and help the reader feel how Nora is feeling. As a fellow twenty-something, I could identify with many of Nora's struggles and wanting for MORE. MY BOYFRIEND IS A BEAR is hilarious, fun, beautiful, and does not disappoint. Mucho thanks to Margot from Oni Press for giving me access to this ARC ahead of time. <3 Despite my Spring Break being a little cray with my family being in town, having a family emergency, and then hosting my ENTIRE Hispanic family at my home, I still found some time to myself to read and enjoy myself a bit. I read three books and watched two book movies, so overall it wasn't too bad.I started my break by being a hallway proctor for my schools' SAT and had enough time to finish TWO graphic novels: Speak the Graphic Novel and Gene Luen Yang's Secret Coders. Y'all. Speak the Graphic Novel was UH-MAZING! I didn't think it would be better than the actual novel, but I can confidently say that it holds up just as well as the original. Oh man, the graphics are freaking beautiful and do a perfect job of displaying Melinda's mood throughout the story. It really shows how she sees people and how her world feels like it is imploding. Honestly, I expect many awards for this book next year. Secret Coders though, was a bit lame. The story felt cheesy and kind of lame, but the coding lesson that is taught within it was so much fun! It was easy for me to understand and I have very limited coding knowledge. I would definitely use this in an upper elementary or middle school library for my kids who are wanting to learn about coding or who enjoy a quick mystery. I hope to see more from this series. Then my mom and I watched A Wrinkle In Time at the Alamo Drafthouse and I can again say that it did not dissapoint. I can't lie-I cried almost the entire time. Meg and her brother's world is even more beautiful in film, and the three Mrs. brought a new life to the book. My only complaints are that the twins were not in the film, nor was Aunt Beast. Although I read an article ahead of time preparing me for Aunt Beast's absence, I still missed her. I'm not an Oprah fan, but she did do a great job as Mrs. Which and being able to move Meg along. Tuesday was Obsidio's book birthday and it was very warmly welcomed into my home! I woke up early, changed my name (FINALLY) and went to pick up my copy from BookPeople. OMG I could not put this book down. I'm nursing a book hangover even now because that ending was something amazing and wonderful. I'm truly grateful for Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff for creating such a great world for us to live in for a trilogy. If you haven't read the rest of the Illuminae Files, get on it. I'll have a vlog on this one up soon, promise. And finally, I ended my week by taking myself on a matinee brunch date to watch Nick Robertson portray my favorite male protagonist, Simon Spier. The movie was PERFECT! The Spier family was just as quirky as I expected and while there were a few changes (*AHEM* Leah's crush* AHEM*) the film was great. It wasn't overdone and was a perfect portrayal of a teen coming to terms with his sexuality and navigating coming out. How was your Spring Break? What did you read?
A good story of an African American boy who was shot and killed by a police officer who mistook a coat hanger for a gun and the events that occur in his neighborhood because of it. It definitely demonstrates how others are affected and how a crowd mindset results from these events.
The illustrations were only in black and white and I thought distracted from the story because I couldn’t keep the characters straight despite the cast list in the beginning. Also, a lot of the dialogue seems to be in rap or mimicking Shakespeare because the students in the story are putting on Hamlet, so it gets confusing. Two stars overall. This adaptation of A WRINKLE IN TIME is absolutely beautiful! While the illustrations are simple with blue, whites, greys, and black as the only colors, they don't distract from the beauty of the book. If anything, they make it better. I had not read A WRINKLE IN TIME in more than a decade, so reading the graphic novel was a great way to touch up on what I didn't remember. I would not replace reading the novel with the graphic novel, though, because the text, while adapted as closely as can be, is not the same as reading the true novel.
If you haven't read the original novel, you MUST DO IT NOW! It is a beautiful story of hope and being strong when we are afraid. Meg Murry's father has been "gone" (reminds me of the father in Bruja Born and Labyrinth Lost) for a few years while working for the government trying to learn about time and space travel. Meg lives with her mother (a scientist), her twin brothers, and her strange younger brother, Charles Wallace. Charles Wallace is incredibly smart but pretends to be dumb as to not confuse or insult their neighbors. Meg and Charles meet Mrs. Who, Mrs. Which, and Mrs. Whatsit who explain to them what they must fight to save their universe as well as their father. Along the way, they learn about tesseracts and other planets. Overall, it is a great novel! Happy Valentine's Day, fellow nerds! I'm celebrating today by sharing my superhero soul-sister's latest volume with y'all! She's definitely my soul-sister because we both need to learn to practice self-care and need carbs and coffee to recover from well, life. ;)
And just when I didn't think she could get any more amazing-this latest volume gets FINALLY passed into my desperately awaiting hands (My library hold took almost three weeks!) and proves that Kamala just keeps getting better! Oh man, could Ms. Marvel be anymore awesome? She's quick-thinking and always looking to do what is right. Even when she has she has to choose between wrong and more-wrong-she always finds a way. In this installment, Ms. Marvel has to fight the people that she has vowed to protect when they try to fight back against her and other inhumans. *STOP! SPOILERS AHEAD!* She (like always) saves the day, but not without learning about herself and how she isn't immune to things like weariness, heartbreak, and hunger! In the last issue of this book, Red Dagger (from Ms. Marvel volume 6-when she goes to visit family abroad) has come to visit and helps her save a runaway train and helps Kamala realize that she has to take care of herself in order to take care of others. I can't wait for Volume Nine! I have not read THE GOLDEN COMPASS novel, nor have I seen the movie, but for someone who has always wanted to understand the hype around the series, but hasn't had time to read it, this graphic novel was PERFECTION! The illustrations are gorgeous and make keeping track of characters much easier than having to remember all of the names. I had no trouble at all understanding and following Lyra's story. It begins at Jordan College where she is under the care of the "Master" and overhears Lord Asriel speaking about "dust" to the other scholars. Roger, her best friend, gets taken by the "Gobblers," who are the General Oblation Unit, who we later learn are trying to find a way to separate children from the daemons (outward extension of their soul) to use the energy and dust created from the separation to find a way to get in to the "other world." This was where I got confused and had to do some digging, but thankfully, as the book goes on, we learn more about dust and this other world that is referenced. When Roger is taken by the Gobblers, Lyra sets out to bring him home but meets Mrs. Coulter (who is actually her mother) who is charming and buys Lyra nice dresses, but Lyra thinks that she is hiding something and wants to take the alethiometer from her, so she runs away. Lyra meets a band of "Gyptians" who tell her about her origins and who her true parents are and why she is being hunted by the General Oblation Board, she also meets their astronaut, Lee Scoresby, and an armoured bear named Iorek Byrnison. With these people, she sets off to the North (the Arctic) to find all of the children who have been taken by the Gobblers as well as setting Lord Asriel (who she learns is her father) free from the armoured bears. Lyra's team is a great way of showing readers that people of all different backgrounds (and species-haha) can work together successfully.
While the story was a bit hard to follow at times and required A LOT of re-reading, I thought the graphic novel was amazing. The pages displaying the aurora borealis were absolutely stunning. When Lord Asriel explains what Dust is to Lyra (and the reader) it is easy to understand with a visual explanation that the graphic novel offers. Overall, I give it four stars for amazing illustrations and a great story. |
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