Jellaby by Kean Soo

I dare you not to be charmed by this graphic novel. Originally published as an online comic, Hyperion Books for Children acquired Jellaby for a 2 volume set for ages 10 and up. Produced primarily with dreamy shades of purple and black, a little deep pink peeks in on Jellaby & Portia, and Jason’s shirt receives some gold and green treatment. But that is it for color.

Portia and Jason are both 10, though the story is primarily Portia’s. Jellaby is the purple (lovable) monster that Portia discovers in her back yard one night after having a very unusual dream. Jason is in Portia’s class at school and both garner the esteemed status as outsiders. Portia has never made friends at the new school (and seeing that her book report is on “Reason and Emotion: Classical and Romantic Philosophies in Tom Stoppard’s Arcadia” it is any wonder), but Jason is the subject of bullying. (Jason who loves carrots –like the author- and wants to change Jellaby’s name to Fangzilla.) Together the kids try to help Jellaby find his way back home, wherever that may be. Add to this the mysterious circumstances of Portia’s father’s disappearance and the mysteries increase. I can’t wait for volume 2.


Archive of Jellaby to read online


Article from Newsarama on Kean Soo

Incredible Change-Bots by Jeffrey Brown

This small-sized graphic novel from Top Shelf caught my attention when it arrived with all my new stuff this week. Transformers are a big hit in my house these days and I quite remember their earlier popularity back in the 80s. Jeffrey Brown* gives us another version with The Incredible Change-Bots. To me they are Transformers more hilarious, more awesome alter-ego.

Change-Bots are from the planet Electronocybercircuitron, on which “their highly advanced society operates within a two-party government.” The parties: AWESOMEBOTS and FANTASTICONS. We have bots that change into trucks & cars of all kinds (normal), plus VHS tapes, a tape player, a microwave, and (my favorites!) a bowl of soup and a bag of microwave popcorn. Funny, no? Very.

After a shady election, the two groups battle, destroy their planet in the process, and wind up on Earth where they battle it out some more. That’s pretty much it. Brown’s wobbly and imperfect hand-drawn illustrations lend to the zine quality of the book. I think this is a great fun read for a teen who has a retro (and snarky) sense of humor.

*Who has certainly gained my interest. I have 2 more of his books on hold!

Tomo: I Was an Eighth-Grade Ninja

Okay, so the title got me…and then the cover, because our eighth-grade ninja is 13-year-old Hana. Yeah! Hana’s mother “was killed in an accident” and she is sent from Japan to San Francisco to live with a grandfather she’s never met. As she adjusts to American life (and the trials of pre-teen girl friendshipdom), the place she feels most at home is in her grandfather’s dojo practicing her karate*.

A second story weaves into Hana’s contemporary one. This story involves beasts who are searching for an ancient sword. They find a portal that links to Hana’s San Francisco and follow it through. Turns out Grandpa has a few secrets and Hana’s double life as a ninja begins.

This is an all ages, manga-styled comic. It will appeal to mid-elementary aged kids who don’t mind a saccharine-sweet story mixed in with some fantasy and martial arts. I was really confused at first when Hana went to church and a pastor seemed to be an important character. Turns out, this GN is produced by a Christian company. So far the religion is very low-key and could even pass over the heads of kids. The theme in volume 1 is making good choices and being a good friend. Amen to that.

*Honestly, these days I cannot think of karate w/o thinking of SpongeBob and Sandy.

Pink Slip by Rita Ciresi

My reading funk is subsiding. Part of it is the sheer necessity of having to catch up on reading for TLA, and the other part is re-reading books I love to remind me that I do like to read. So kind of out of the blue, I’m going to write about an author I love, who is *gasp!* not a YA author.

Years ago my girlfriend Sara gave me a copy of Pink Slip after the author gave a reading at the Borders store she managed. Sara is also an Italian Goddess-in-Waiting so it was a great book for her to share with me. The story is set in the 80’s, which automatically equals funny in my book. Lisa, our 25 year old heroine, quits her publishing job in NYC and moves to a picturesque suburban town where she is rather out of her element as a loud mouth, bullshit detecting, city girl. Not to mention one of the few people around who has a non-waspy name. (And one of the several points where I go, “Uh huh. Tell me about it.”) Lisa plans to use her job as an editor at a Fortune 500 pharmaceutical company as fodder for her Great American Novel on Corporate America. Falling for her boss - not part of the plan. I love this book. LOVE THIS BOOK. There’s a sequel, which I’m rereading now as well. I don’t find it as sharp as Pink Slip, but it is completely satisfying in that “what happens next” kind of way.

Baby Charlie

He took his time, but he's here! Congratulations to Patti, our newest Mommy, on the birth of her son!

Before Green Gables by Budge Wilson

Hang on to your hats, kids. This is going to be one long review. I don’t think I can cut it down.

The first thing I’m going to write is that I thought this was a very satisfying read. I am a huge Anne fan and I approached this prequel with natural reluctance and a bit of dread. As I read this story I thought quite a bit about why Anne means so much to me. I think part of it has to do with what I was reading when my mom plopped this book into my hands. She had already exposed me to Judy Blume and Cynthia Voight and I tore through all that those two had to offer at the time. (I’m about 8th grade here.) Anne was so different. It was, dare I say, historical. And romantic! I fell for the horse and carriages, handmade dresses, unusual language, and orphans. Add to it that Canada was completely mysterious to me. I loved how Anne is so smart and yet clueless about her heart or personal feelings. (Seriously, the formula for all of my favorite YA novels.) She’s independent and outspoken and unstoppable. And hilarious! I still admire her. I admit she became somewhat boring and irritating in her later years, but those first 3 books just rock.

[before I go on... Thanks to 7-Imp for posting a link to this great podcast of the release party for the book. It's about 20 minutes long and there is a brief interview with Budge. No spoilers! Go listen!]

possible spoilers from this point on

Back to the book. We meet Anne’s adorable parents, Walter and Bertha Shirley. They are everything you know they were going to be: smart, young, poor, hopelessly in love, and utterly overjoyed with their baby girl. Walter teaches high school geometry, which he loves loves loves. Of course you remember that Anne despised geometry. Bertha taught high school English and literature until she married Walter. Childbirth does not go well for her and so Joanna Thomas is hired to help out around the house. Mrs. Thomas is amazed (and jealous) at the loving home that Walter and Bertha have. Here are a husband and a wife who love and respect each other. This is not something known to Mrs. Thomas.

When Bertha dies of fever (influenza?), and then shortly thereafter Walter, Mrs. Thomas is the one who takes Anne, in part to have a piece of her beloved Bertha Shirley, but mostly to have their furniture and clothes for her own home and family. The Thomases have 3 daughters and the eldest is Eliza. Eliza loves Anne immediately and becomes her primary caretaker. It is Eliza who forms Anne’s character to appreciate stories, words, and beauty in the world. It is from Eliza that Anne learns to love and be loved. They only have 5 years together before Eliza leaves. Though Anne is bitter and heartbroken, Eliza’s influence has set Anne’s life in motion.

Anne is 5 and by this time Mrs. Thomas has had 4 boys. The older girls are all out of the house and it’s Anne’s job is to take care of the boys as well as dozens of other chores around the house. Mr. Thomas, as we are well aware, is a drunk. But here’s where the surprises came for me. We learn a great deal about Joanna and Bert Thomas. We learn who they were prior to marriage and how their lives have become what they are. Sure, bad choices were made, but they lead extremely difficult and poor lives. Mr. Thomas physically abuses Mrs. Thomas as well as the eldest boy (who is 1 year younger than Anne). While Anne is emotionally and verbally abused, she is never assaulted. Mr. Thomas made a solemn promise to Eliza when she left that he would look out for Anne, and he does actually kind of do this. He’s not perfect, but he tries. He’s also the first person to talk to Anne about her imagination and dreaming. I really found this fascinating. These are multifaceted characters. You could easily hate Mr. Thomas, and Anne certainly does not love him or his wife, but it’s not all black and white. This is a repeated theme.

After Mr. Thomas dies we know that Anne is given to Mrs. Hammond… who has 3 sets of twins… plus two older girls… for a grand total of 8 kids under the age of 4. Anne is 9 at this point, well versed in childrearing and the generally sucky unfairness of life, and has no romantic notions about how this could possibly be better than the Thomas household. Anne managed to go to school a little bit with the Thomases. A man from the school board (politely) forced Mrs. Thomas to send Anne to school, as it is law in Nova Scotia. Anne is keenly aware of this fact and throws it in Mrs. Hammond’s face when she tells Anne she cannot go to school because she is needed at home. Mrs. Hammond is not cruel like Mrs. Thomas. She’s a girl from Maine who married a lumberman and found herself, at 24, with 8 kids in Canada in the middle of a forest. My sanity would be a distant friend, too. Life with the Thomas brood was rather horrible, but it is Mrs. Hammond’s story that packs the most heart-wrenching punch.

The adults in Anne’s life are not just the Thomases and the Hammonds. There are 3 rather lovely teachers with whom Anne has brief contact but who flame her desire to learn. There is Katie Maurice. There are a few neighbors who genuinely love and help Anne. She is, after all, a peculiar and unusual child. Mr. Johnson is perhaps the most romantic and interesting of these characters. He knows Anne when she is with the Thomases and takes it upon himself to teach her 5 new words each time they see each other. It is he who first uses the phrase “depths of despair”.

After the Hammonds Anne finally goes to the orphan asylum. By this time, Anne’s spirit is nearly broken. What more can she handle? Thankfully, because she’s a bit of a workhorse (by force as a very young child and then habit by this time) she is selected to be the “11-12 year old hardworking girl” for a farmer brother and sister on Prince Edward Island. This announcement revives our Anne and in the final chapter she embarks on her journey from Nova Scotia to Prince Edward Island to the bench at the Bright River station waiting for Matthew and her new life.

This book is not marketed for youth. I really see no problem with a 12 year old reading this, but much younger fans of Anne may miss some of what Budge Wilson was trying to convey. Before Green Gables is very much the story of the adults in Anne’s life, and how their lives shaped Anne’s. Adult stories and issues may just breeze over the heads of those much younger than 12.

Kudos to Budge Wilson. It isn’t an easy task to write a prequel to such a beloved book and have it turn out this remarkably well. If you haven’t read Anne of Green Gables, don’t start here. This book is really for those who already know Anne. Shall I say, for Kindred Spirits.

[a note: I’m sure I missed several things, but one part of the story I did not discover is that period of time where Walter is away from Bertha shortly after Anne’s birth. In Anne of the Island, Anne goes to the little yellow house in Bolingbroke and is given a packet of letters from the woman living there. There was no mention, to my knowledge in the ARC that I read, of Walter leaving in the prequel.]

In related Anne prequel madness, Sullivan Films is producing their own prequel. This one ain't endorsed by LM Montgomery's estate. Can you blame them after this fiasco? Oh yes, I'll still watch it. Anne at 60 reflecting on her life? What's that? She is a "pawn in a legal battle"? Oh honey, sign me up. I need more opportunities to shout at my TV and shake my fist in the air. I don't care if it does have Shirley MacLaine. Michelle & Kerry & Deban, we're having an anti-party for this.

Breaking Up by Aimee Friedman

Chloe and her three best friends attend an arts high school that they've dubbed Fashion High. Chloe is an artist, Mackenzie is into fashion, Erika a musician, and Isabel a dancer. Chloe chronicles her friend's junior year in a comic book that deals mainly with the ups and downs of their friendships and their various relationships with boys.

So what is the storyline? Well, basically it follows the four friends and their friendship through a year of high school. There are warning signs right from the beginning of the year that things have changed and their friendships may not be as strong and iron clad as they thought they were. This inevitably leads to more and more hurt feelings, secrets, and eventually to fights that stem from misunderstandings, squabbles about popularity, pressures to have sex, decisions about who to date (should you secretly date a hot guy with a girlfriend? Is it worth it to date a boy who isn't popular...even if you really like him?) and so on. It deals with a wide range of everyday high school experiences with all of the melodrama but without feeling bogged down with too much angsty seriousness.

The comic is in black and white and I really liked the illustrator. The characters were clearly differentiated (unlike in Manga when half the time i can't figure out who is who). It was really cute and to my mind will appeal mostly to girls who are in upper elementary and middle school even though it features characters who are in high school.

Hot Lunch by Alex Bradley

Molly is a loner. She likes to wear huge headphones over her brightly dyed blue hair to signal that she is not open to conversation (even though they aren’t actually plugged into anything), she does not like the majority of students at her private hippie run high school, and she most certainly does not want to be a part of any group project. Especially not with Cassie, queen of all things normal (no wonder Cassie is having a hard time fitting in). So when the inevitable happens and she’s paired up with Cassie, she goes out of her way to be mean and not complete the project with her. After all, she has her standards.

Things escalate quickly and lead to the food fight to end all food fights which results in the lunch lady quitting and Molly and Cassie finding themselves assigned to work in the lunch room. Their punishment which really does fit the crime or in their principle’s words, the “solution that addresses their conflict,” is to work in the lunch room and cook a hot lunch everyday until such a time when the student body votes that they make better lunches than the previous lunch lady. And it must be stated that the previous lunch lady was no culinary genius. In fact, it is generally accepted that her food was only just edible. So it shouldn’t be a problem to be better, right? Well…only if the girls can get over themselves and work together. Which of course they can’t – leading to several hilarious situations that keep their situation on a downward course.

Molly is a bit of a pill. She is rude and mean and generally unapproachable. Cassie is enthusiastic, sweet, and tries very hard to get Molly to be friendly with her. But even Cassie has her limits. It’s when Cassie begins to push back and exact her revenge on Molly for her poor treatment that the book really starts to get going. Her sweet, innocent demeanor makes her strategy for payback all the more enjoyable.

Plainly put, this book was just a super enjoyable light read. I found the secondary characters all much more likeable than Molly, our narrator. There is Edmund, the kitchen help that may or may not be out to get them, Clyde, the dorky dessert maestro, and a whole other cast of quirky characters.

There were some twists and turns in the plot that I didn’t expect, very nice character development (especially with Molly – who does give up and repent her horrible meanness), and a very satisfying conclusion. Not to mention a heck of an attractive cover. Good stuff all around.

Undercover by Beth Kephart

Elisa is undercover. She is the type of girl who is quiet, blends into the background, and is more at home in nature than with other people. In her opinion, the only thing that makes her special is her ability to appreciate and notice nature and to translate this into poetry. This has only served to push her further undercover because she secretly writes love notes for the boys in her class. Not to them, understand, but for them. She helps them woo whichever girl it is they happen to like at the moment. They take her poetry, recopy it, and present it as their own. This doesn’t raise any problems until Theo, a boy she’s never really noticed asks for help. The trouble is that the girl he is wooing is insatiable. She wants new poetry everyday. This brings Theo and Elisa into increasing contact and Elisa is finding it more and more difficult to stay undercover.

There is a not so subtle comparison between Elisa and Cyranno de Bergerac, the play that Elisa’s class is studying in her English class. It is perhaps a bit too obvious, but it does work for the story and gives further insight into Elisa’s plight than would have been otherwise possible - not only for the reader, but for Elisa as well. As Elisa becomes more aware of herself and her own needs she is also able to reevaluate how she sees other people. Her mother and sister from whom she’s always felt estranged become more familiar and less distant. Her beloved father who is often absent on business is also able to reconnect with the family.

This book is pure poetry. Not actual poetry, although there is a lot of poetry included in the pages. More like prose that reads like poetry. It is lyrical and beautiful writing. A quiet novel that doesn’t strike me as something that will have extremely wide appeal, but that will have a deep and striking impact on those that pick it up. Elisa’s character develops gently from a girl who is quite reserved to someone who is willing to be noticed and knows that she deserves to be as well.

Someday This Pain be Useful to You by Peter Cameron

James is recently graduated and is headed off to Brown in the fall. Except he isn't sure he wants to go anymore. Instead he researches real estate in the Midwest and thinks what he really needs in life is a porch he can sleep on. Why go to college when you'll just be surrounded by people your own age - especially since you've never really liked people your own age?

As you can probably guess, James is depressed. He is an extremely intelligent young man who has never been able to make connections with people. Because of this he tries to convince himself that he just doesn't really like them and prefers to be alone. James uses language as a way to push people away. This works very well since the author's writing is spectacular. He has a way with words that makes James' voice extremely vivid and readable.

Even so, I found James to be an extremely unlikeable character. I almost wondered if James wasn't just depressed but also suffering from a personality disorder, or had a touch of the autism. Anything, really, that would explain his supreme inability to understand social situations. There is one situation in particular that made me think there was something fundamentally wrong with him (I don't want to spoil it, but it has to do with him creating a fake profile on a dating site and not ever really getting why the other person - or his mom - was so upset about it). To me his problems just seemed to go beyond depression and I found that I did not feel terribly sympathetic to his plight. I found him to be rather humorless, maybe a bit superior, and I wonder if that isn't the real reason I disliked him. Feeling sorry for yourself only goes so far and I find it a tiring thing I'd rather avoid, both in the books i read and the people I know. I'm a bit sad that I didn't end up liking James. The writing was terrific, but it isn't a book that I can say I truly enjoyed simply because I never rooted for James to emerge a better person. I wanted to shake him and tell him to get his head out of his ass. But mostly I wanted him to go away so I never had to think about him again.