Argh! Here where I'm stuck for another month, three or four inches of snow greeted me this morning (so much for almost May!). But if anyone can convince me summer is coming, that would be the inimitable Shaun Tan. This, his latest title, immediately pulls...
Absolutely no doubt that you could read either of these titles separately and find two engaging standalone stories. But read them together and you're guaranteed a much more satisfying experience that reveals Kathie's love of frogs, the significance of "[only] me in grade three" meeting someone...
Salem Brownstone, once the proprietor of the Sit & Spin Laundromat, gets an ominous telegram (on Halloween, naturally) calling him to New Mecco City, Azania to "take immediate possession of his [late father's] house and the contents therein." His mourning – "[a]fter all these years of...
While watching evening TV that's been interrupted by a special bulletin about the unending "wave of child abductions in Lisbon," Eurico nods off, only to be jarred awake by the ringing telephone. He's late again to his pizza delivery job, where his boss thinks he's...
Although our son incessantly watched various versions of the Avatar series on television and even more often on DVD, I had little knowledge for years of who's who or what's what. The casting controversy of the 2010 film version disastrously directed by M. Night Shyamalan is what...
This has been my go-to article of late: "The One Thing White Writers Get Away With, But Authors of Color Don't" by Gracie Jin. In the few blurbs I've briefly perused online about Lost Memories, I haven't seen any mention of author Kim Fay's ethnic...
Get ready to ring in the new year ...
Clearly this image is not doing justice to the book's spirited cover with its bright lime green train and fluorescent orange doors. To appreciate its vibrancy is reason enough to go find the real book! See that jauntily ponytailed, smiling little girl? She's definitely inviting...
Well, I seem to be totally out of order here: so I read The City of Death (Book 2) first because I had a judging deadline, then backpedaled to catch up by sticking this Fortress (Book 1) in the ears (Bruce Mann narrates well enough, although I...
Okay, so we're skipping ahead here, because I had to read this for a book judging requirement – and, in reading out of order, also confirm that it can narratively stand alone even without its prequel. I can't reveal any trade secrets, but I can...
In case you weren't already aware, whenever you happen upon a McSweeney's McMullens title, get ready for unpredictable high-jinks and not a little guffawing. Also, always remember to start with the cover: go ahead, it's made to come off ...
Okay, so both Book 1 and Book 2 of this intergalactically stupendous series start out almost the same (Book 2 has an extra, well-placed, close-up "Gyaaaaah!" thrown in), but don't be misled into thinking you've already read it, done that, check! "What's next for Andy Go?" the...
So here I find myself facing a bit of a conundrum: how best to tell you about this whimsical delight without spoiling that giddy sense of discovery ...
Since I temporarily seem to find myself in Utah – although I admit it's not quite as frightening here as I thought it might be, ahem! – I figured this spookfest would not be complete without a Utahn Halloween manga, right? Jess Smart Smiley, who "lives in the bewitching mountains of Utah,"...
An unnamed lady with "an enormous beehive hairdo" – in glorious auburn, no less! – chugs down the road ...
Since we're talking four volumes here, allow me attempt to offer a set-up without too many spoilers. "One thousand years ago," a boy named Teito Klein (not sure of the kanji for 'Teito,' but his last name means "small" auf Deutsch – you'll find many German-inspired references throughout)...
Certain books make me terribly selfish – because once I finish a post, the book gets cleared off my desk and either shelved or shared. British author/artist Grahame Baker-Smith's FArTHER – the many meanings in the title alone, achieved with just the lower-casing of that single 'r' provokes goosebumps...
Okay, for the latest full Avatar experience, might I suggest you do a bit of catch-up homework first: To find out what prompts this eponymous ‘search,’ you’ll need to read the three-part Promise which reveals why family relationships matters so much, especially to Aang and Zuko; then...
The top of this debut volume proclaims, auf Deutsch, "Poesie des Widerstandes," or 'Poetry of the Resistors.' Poetry is certainly visible in the alpine landscapes and the swirling energy of the constant movement; most pronounced, however, is the tragedy of what happens across the panels...
Winner of China's National Children's Literature Award, Black Flame is an engrossing, often heartstring-pulling adventure told from the point of view of a majestic, lion-like, blue-black Tibetan Mastiff. Two things kept going through my head as the pages turned swiftly: 1. the novel reads like an older...
