I realize it has been awhile since my last post. The end of the school year is always a busy time, plus I was reading one VERY HEAVY book and another rather long one. I will write about those in another post (or posts), leaving this post solely to the four graphic novels I have read recently. Two of them are autobiographical and the other two sci-fi...kind of... you'll see what I mean!
The first graphic novel I will write about is
The Shiniest Jewel: A Family Love Story by Marian Henley. This is a great book about adopting from Russia. It goes through the joys, challenges, and sadness-es of the adoption process. If you have gone through or are going through this process now, or if you are thinking of adopting a child internationally, this is an excellent book to read. It really illuminates that adopting is a very intense process and should not be undertaken lightly.
Smile by Raina Telgemeier is about when the author was in middle school. A few months before she is supposed to get braces on, she races her friends to her house, slips, falls, knocks one tooth out and pushes the other up into her gum and damages her jaw bone. The story is primarily about Raina's journey in and out of braces, retainers, fake teeth and the like, but it also deals with friendships in middle school and then high school. I really enjoyed this book and so did my (almost) 8 year old daughter. I think it turned her into a graphic novel enthusiast!
The third graphic novel I will write about is based on one of my favorite books, one which I have read quite a few times.
Pride and Prejudice and Zombies by Jane Austen and Seth Grahame-Smith is an amusing book, though not necessarily well put together. There were many parts where I snickered at Elizabeth's reactions to Darcy, her mother and her sisters... references to pulling out their still beating hearts, imagining chopping their heads off, etc. There were an equal number of parts that left me scratching my head as half of the transitions were left out! I guess what all this comes down to is that if you are a
Pride and Prejudice fan AND a zombie fan, you might like this book. If you're not into either one of these, probably not.
The last graphic novel was a very interesting tale. It was kind of a take-off on
The Invisible Man, but updated and (I think) with a different plot.
The Nobody by Jeff Lemire starts with a strange man walking into a small town. He is considered strange because he is complete covered in bandages. Rumors run rampant through the town about why the man is there, what he is doing in his motel room and why he is covered in bandages. A 16 year old girl, daughter of the owner of the local diner, befriends him and starts to try to unravel his story. This book was good and worth a read!
I really love reading graphic novels. Sometimes I get myself into a book and I have a hard time finishing it. I get demotivated and reading a graphic novel (or four) really helps. I can finish one in only a few hours, so I can feel accomplished! I hope you enjoy these books as I did!
