More Graphic Novels

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!

Graphic Novels

If you know me, you know I love graphic novels. I like the literary graphic novels more than the Superhero or the anime. I've probably read dozens of them by now. That is one of my purposes in writing this blog - to keep track of all the books I read! I read a lot of books, and unfortunately, my memory doesn't always keep them. I generally finish graphic novels very quickly and they disappear just as quickly from my mind.

Bayou by Jeremy Love is probably one of the most original stories I've read in a while. It takes place in the Bayou during the 1930s when racism and lynchings were rampant. Lee lives with her father on the Westmoreland's land and when the daughter, Lily Westmoreland goes missing, guess who gets blamed? Lee witnessed Lily get eaten by a giant who then disappeared into the Bayou. To save her father, Lee dives in and follows the light under the roots of a tree deep in the Bayou to a strange land of giants and gods. This was just volume one, and I can't wait to read the rest of this strange story.

Think you have a crazy family? Maybe you have issue that you blame on your poor upbringing? Maybe you just have Daddy issues? Let me tell you, most people have nothing on Laurie Sandell! The Imposter's Daughter: A True Memoir tells her story from being a young girl and wondering why her father stops the mail when he goes out of town; to a college kid who gets rejected by credit card companies because her father took out credit cards in her name and charged them up and never paid them off; to a young woman who with attachment issues and addictions to alcohol and ambien. This was a great way to tell a very unique story! I am not usually very big on true stories, but I flew through this book and enjoyed every minute of it!

The last graphic novel I'm going to talk about in this post is a lot different than the other two. Trickster: Native American Tales is a wonderful collection of Native American Legends and Folktales told by a number of different authors and artists. Matt Dembicki did a great job putting this book together! The stories all have a different feel to them. Some of humorous, some are dark, some are serious. Most of them explain why certain things are the way they are today. My favorite story was "Puapualenalena: Wizard Dog of Waipi'o Valley" about a dog who has to go steal a sacred trumpet back from trouble-making spirits in order to save his master. My favorite artwork was the first story, "Coyote and the Pebbles" which tells the story of how the stars got in the sky. I also read this with my daughter Zoe. She enjoyed the more "cartoon-y" looking stories like "Rabbit's Choctaw Tail Tale" and "Mai and the Cliff-Dwelling Birds". This was a great book for adults and very appropriate for kids!

More graphic novels to come!