Forging an Art

This is hysterical.  Yes, you must have a certain sense of humor to appreciate what is in this book, and I’ll admit that it’s not the most socially acceptable sort of sense of humor, but with it, these comic strips are incomparably amusing.  Some of them take a few moments for the full effect to take over; it’s one of those “aha!” moments before I start snorting at an embarassing volume – read “loud” - that is uncontrollable once it begins.  This title is not for the squeamish or easily offended – in a way, it is like South Park.  You must be able to laugh at yourself as well as others, because there are certainly some pages that may speak to you personally, and not in a flattering way.  Suck it up and have a laugh with Nicholas Gurewitch, creator of the PBF.

With a 2010 release date, Jane Yolen’s original action-fantasy graphic novel, The Last Dragon, will be worth the wait.  The Nebula and Caldecott award-winning writer covers all ages and genres – nothing seems out of her reach.  I am particularly fond of  her children’s and young adult books (How Do Dinosaurs Say Goodnight? and Girl in a Cage, to name a couple of my favorites), and I have am pleased that she is in agreement with me on the subject of the Harry Potter series; that is, neither of us think they are well written.  It’s nice to have support from a reputable source in libraryland, especially when most librarians in my system are Rowling fans.

This graphic novel from Minx, which is a fresh and fun take on high school drama set in my high school era (1987), tackles some big issues in such a small volume.  Author Alisa Kwitney and illustrator Joelle Jones make a great team, combining Kwitney’s sarcasm with Jones’ simple but expressive art.  Fifteen/sixteen year old Shira doesn’t fit in with the other students at her Jewish school, but at least she has her dad and her grandma for support, along with her grandmother’s friend Minerva.  Unfortunately, her dad starts to date his secretary (how prime time soap opera is that?) and the world stops turning.  Shira is the odd man out but finds solace in the arms of bad boy Rafael, who teaches her the finer arts of shoplifing and kissing.  I wish I had this to read when I was in high school.

David Almond‘s latest work, a graphic novel illustrated by Dave McKean, film director and illustrator of several Neil Gaiman titles, is a short and powerful look at loss from the perspective of a young boy who finds himself the man of the family when his father dies unexpectedly.  Blue admits that he isn’t tough, and provides evidence in the character of Hopper, the local bully who gets away with his behavior because the adults use the traditional excuses and methods for dealing with “bullies” – ignoring and pitying them.  Blue imagines a savage boy living nearby, one who handles the bully the way Blue would like to himself, and the story takes a spectacular turn when The Savage comes to life, and Blue takes the first steps he needs to continue his life without his father but with the love he shares with his mother and younger sister.

The B has developed a fascination with the Babymouse graphic novel series.  It started yesterday when I brought the new Halloween title in the car to pick her up at school.  Within a few minutes, she was cracking up in the backseat, and asked me to bring home all the other Babymouse books I could find today.  I pulled them all from the shelf and have enough to keep her busy the next few days.

One of our teen patrons, preparing to re-take the ACT (“I didn’t think staying up all night on Friday would make a difference in my score”) alerted me to this site, which boosts your vocabulary while donating to the hungry:  Free Rice

Brought home the second volume of Flight yesterday as well as the fourth – when he finished the second, the LC said, well, I really like to read these in order, so where is three?  Three, I explained, is on its way from one of the branch libraries.  He sighed.  “I can’t read four without reading three first.”  Not sure if this is the autism or the 16 year old boy speaking here, but probably both.  The cat happily used volume four as a seat cushion when the book was left on the table.

Just posted new review at FBS for Lavinia, Le Guin’s latest.

as in the graphic novel, edited by Kazu Kibuishi, was just added to our young adult collection.  I brought it home to the LC, and left it on a table.  He picked it up, and finished it within an hour.  He made no comment, but laughed and said, “I’m done.”  All I can figure is that it was good enough to continue reading once he started, but nothing to crow about.  Reviews range from “must have” to “weird,” but in general it seems as if the art is more praiseworthy than the prose, and that the books (there are four) get better.  I did flip through it myself before bringing it home, and was struck only by the story by Khang Le, “Outside My Window.”  The art caught my eye, and the story was short and sweet.  So – I am off to dig up the other three volumes, two of which should be right outside my workroom door.