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Jane Austen: Her Heart Did Whisper by Manuela Santoni , 95 pages. GRAPHIC NOVEL. Graphic Universe (Lerner), 2016.  Language: G (0 swears); Mature Content: PG; Violence: G. BUYING ADVISORY: MS, HS - ADVISABLE  AUDIENCE APPEAL: AVERAGE This is the story of Jane Austen’s family dynamics, the discovery of her writing talents, and her romantic experiences. This graphic novel hinges on the axis of her relationship with Mr. Lefroy, who enters Jane’s life as an arrogant character. Jane falls in love with him, and he her. When he leaves town, they continue corresponding and get engaged, but when Jane visits him after their time apart she realizes she does not love him anymore. This relationship is suggested to inform much of her writing.  I want to love anything that even mentions Jane Austen, but this was only okay for me. I thought the lack of color, all the illustrations are black and white, was a little monotonous and boring given the high emotions of the story. It is interes...

The Creepy Case Files of Margo Maloo: The Monster Mall  (Margo Maloo, #2) by Drew Weing , 120 pages.  GRAPHIC NOVEL  First Second (Macmillan), 2018.  $16.   BUYING ADVISORY: EL, MS – ADVISABLE   AUDIENCE APPEAL: HIGH    Charles is fairly new to Echo City, but what he has learned of the place is that there are monsters hiding throughout the city and not many people know they are there.  Charles had to get help from Margo Maloo for a problem he was having in his own home and ever since he has decided that he wants to alert all the kids in Echo City of the monsters in their midst.  Margo agrees to let him shadow her as she mediates between the humans and the monsters, so that Charles can get information to share with others so that everyone can get along.  Charles and Margo concentrate on the abandoned mall that has a lair of vampires.   What a fun read! Margo is a capable character who is cloaked in mystery and Charles ...

Rickety Stitch and the Gelatinous Goo : The Middle-Route Run by Ben Costa and James Parks 208 pages GRAPHIC NOVEL Alfred A. Knopf 2018 $20.99. Language: PG (2 swears 0 'f'); Mature Content: G; Violence: PG (sword play, battles)  BUYING ADVISORY: MS - ESSENTIAL  AUDIENCE APPEAL: HIGH   Rickety Stitch is captured by a witch who uses his skeleton arm to reanimate what turns out to be the minion of the Gloom King - bad idea. The witch restores Rickety's arm with a different one - so he's got that skeleton's memories and an arm that digs and digs and digs. Now, this arm has a mind of its own and has dug it's way into another adventure, as Rickety and Goo search for more clues about what happened to them and why he is a walking, talking skeleton.  Another grand adventure! No mature content in this one, just great battles, surprise villains and heroes and another fine mess for Rickety and Goo. Includes an appendix with a link to listen to the songs online and a descri...

Rickety Stitch and the Gelatinous Goo : The Road to Epoli by Ben Costa and James Parks , 208 pages. GRAPHIC NOVEL Alfred A. Knopf 2017 $14.99. Language: G (0 swears, 0 'f'); Mature Content: PG; Violence: PG  BUYING ADVISORY: MS - ADVISABLE  AUDIENCE APPEAL: HIGH  Rickety Stitch is a minstrel. He is also a "living skeleton" with a mind of his own - very unlike the other skeletons who work in the mines. When he and his friend the Gelatinous Goo are fired from their job in the torture chamber, Rickety goes on a quest, to find out who he really is (or was for that matter).  A little mature for elementary (some of the humor is a bit crude, but not too much for middle school) this delightful story is sure to be picked up in your library. Rickety dreams about a song which the reader can download online to hear the tune and enhance the reading experience. An appendix of sorts gives more detail about the characters and possible storylines for future installments. I'm ...

Fake Blood by Whitney Gardner, 334 pages. GRAPHIC NOVEL  Simon and Schuster, 2018.  $22.   Content: Language: G; Mature Content: G; Violence: PG.   BUYING ADVISORY: EL, MS – ADVISABLE   AUDIENCE APPEAL: HIGH    AJ really likes a girl named Nia Winters, but he feels like he is too boring for a cool girl like Nia.  AJ can tell that Nia is interested in vampires, so to make himself more interesting to Nia, he starts to alter his appearance in an attempt to look more like a vampire.  When AJ and Nia get paired together for a project, they both realize they have a lot in common and become friends.  What AJ doesn’t know is that Nia is a vampire slayer and she has been noticing his changes, so in a funny twist AJ has to convince Nia to like him for himself.   This graphic novel was a quick read which was totally enjoyable. The humor added to the creative story about being true to ourselves and not changing for other people...

Dear Sister  by Alison McGhee, illustrated by Joe Bluhm . GRAPHIC NOVEL. Antheneum, 2018. $14 Language: G (0 swears); Mature Content: G; Violence: G. BUYING ADVISORY: EL, MS - ESSENTIAL  AUDIENCE APPEAL: AVERAGE This book is a collection of ripped notebook papers and scrap paper, each with a note and drawing from a big brother to his little sister. For a while the notes describe a baby who cries a lot, but the notes gradually get more tender as their relationships ages and grows. Most of the drawings are humorous or clever illustrations of their life.  I got teary-eyed in this book. It is not easy to have younger siblings, and I know a lot of young readers will identify with the narrator, but the best part is that they will also find inspiration to do a better job at being a sibling. This book highlights how much the younger sibling craves a relationship with the older sibling and I predict this will be eye-opening to many old sibling readers.   Jen Wecker, HS E...

Losing the Girl by Marinaomi , 269 pages. Graphic Universe (Lerner), 2018. $18.  Language: R (5 swears); Mature Content: R (sex, pregnancy); Violence: PG-13. BUYING ADVISORY: HS – NOT RECOMMENDED AUDIENCE APPEAL: LOW This graphic novel is written in four parts, each from the perspective of four classmates trying to navigate the awkward world of teen dating. Nigel wants to date Emily, but Emily is more interested in Ben. Ben doesn’t have much in common with Emily, but he goes out with her anyway. They awkwardly have sex and Emily gets pregnant. Emily encourages Paula not to break up with Darren, even though he doesn’t treat her well. On the periphery is the story of a missing classmate and speculation about what may have happened to her. The cover suggests a sci-fi story. The four main characters look like aliens on the cover, but the alien theme is very much in the background. Each chapter has a different illustration style which is creatively interesting, but for me it felt disjo...

The Unwanted : Stories of the Syrian Refugees by Don Brown , 105 pages. NON-FICTION, GRAPHIC NOVEL Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2018. $18. 1328810151 Language: G (0 Swears, 0 'f'); Mature Content: G Violence: PG  BUYING ADVISORY: MS,  HS - ESSENTIAL  AUDIENCE APPEAL: HIGH  The plight of the Syrian refugees is chronicled in this well researched, age appropriate graphic novel. Spanning from 2011-2018 we see that violence and fear has caused these people to abandon their homes and leave at great personal loss. Taken advantage of by smugglers, and unwanted by the countries they pass through and into, the families are living in refugee camps, hiding along the way, and drowning in the ocean with only a lucky few landing in a place they can live and work in peace.  Don Brown is a master at taking something super complicated and paring it down to the essentials without losing the impact of the message (see Drowned City).  There were a lot of numbers thrown at us, ...

Science Comics: Trees: Kings of the Forest by Andy Hirsch, 121 pages.  GRAPHIC NOVEL/NON-FICTION  First Second (Macmillan), 2018.  $13.  Content: G.   BUYING ADVISORY: MS, HS – ADVISABLE   AUDIENCE APPEAL: AVERAGE    An acorn gets bored sitting around and is looking for excitement, so forest animals show him how a tree is a living organism with lots of exciting things going on inside.  The acorn learns lots of different things about the tree, including how roots grow, how water is transferred throughout the tree, why certain branches grown and not others as well as many different other inside workings of trees.  How trees help with pollination and how the leaves get maximum help from the sun, as well as defense mechanisms and insects that help or hurt trees is explained.  In the end, the acorn decides to hold still, so that he can become a tree and have an exciting life.   This book is fascinating and answers al...

Pillars of Hercules (Delilah Dirk #3) by Tony Cliff , 247 pages. First Second (Roaring Brook (Holtzbrinck)), 2018 $18 Language: PG (0 swears); Mature Content: G; Violence: PG BUYING ADVISORY: HS -ADVISABLE AUDIENCE APPEAL: HIGH In this third graphic novel, Delilah and Selim are on a new adventure. It the 1800’s and many new archaeological  discoveries are being made. Delilah is usually all about the plunder, but thanks to a new companion, Van Hassel, she gets a touch of fame, and sort of likes it. Together the trio go on a long journey searching for an ancient city. Delilah has a few enemies who would like to stop her. Luckily she has Selim, who always has her back and is a bit more thoughtful. This book could function as a stand alone. Its fairly tame in the language, mature content and violence department –but the plot and vocabulary are fairly complex, making this book a better choice for high school readers.   This book felt like reading an Indiana Jones movie, lots of ex...

The Broken Vow (Spill Zone #2) byScott Westerfeld , 222 pages. First Second (Roaring Brook (Holtzbrinck)), 2018 $23 Language: PG13 (4 swears; 2 S, 2F); Mature Content: G; Violence: PG BUYING ADVISORY: HS -ADVISABLE AUDIENCE APPEAL: HIGH In this second graphic novel of the series, Addison has had enough of the creepy zone –a place that killed her parents (See book 1). Now she just wants to take the money she earned and move her and her sister away. But her sister refuses to go because her possessed doll needs the energy of the zone to recharge. In the meantime a north Korean teen named Jae is looking for Addison, he believes they have the ability to negate the zone, shut it down. But others are looking for both of them and things come together in a dramatic way. First off, the artwork is really unique, creepy, and cool. Fans of the first book will love this second book, it was impossible to put down. I thought the plot was a new and interesting twist and yet kept that stranger things f...

The Legend of Grimm’s Woods (Hocus Pocus) by Manuro Gorobei , 295 pages. INTERACTIVE GRAPHIC NOVEL. Quirk Books, 2018. $10. 9781683690573 Language: G (0 swears); Mature Content: G; Violence: PG.  BUYING ADVISORY: EL, MS - ADVISABLE. AUDIENCE APPEAL: AVERAGE Hocus and Pocus are going to a school where they learn how to care for the earth and train magical creatures. As part of a challenge to get their creatures permanently and graduate, they must find two lost kids. At this point in the story, the reader picks a character to follow and jumps around the story based on decisions they make. Hocus and Pocus ultimately find the kids in the house of a witch, but the journey to get there will differ for each reader. The plot of this book is simple and clear, but the way of reading it makes it difficult. When you make a choice in the book, you go to a different number panel and sometimes you jump to a new panel after reading just one. Sometimes you read for a longer time before you jump, a...

The Secret of the Wind (Cottons) by Jim Pascoe and Heidi Arnhold , 242 pages. GRAPHIC NOVEL. First Second, 2018. $20. Language: G (0 swears); Mature Content: PG-13; Violence: PG-13. BUYING ADVISORY: MS, HS - OPTIONAL. AUDIENCE APPEAL: AVERAGE In a world of rabbits and foxes, there are a lot of forces at play beyond the natural rivalry between the two. In The World of Lavender, the rabbits are trying to balance industry and art and each rabbit must play their role to produce enough carrots. Bridgebelle is walking this line, working by day in the factory, and spending her free time practicing art mixed with magic.  I think this graphic novel will appeal to those readers interested in dystopian societies, but I don’t predict the appeal will go much wider than that. The book is reminiscent of Watership Down. I found the story hard to follow and the characters hard to keep straight, but the theme of art versus industry is compelling. There is an attempted suicide in this book that is a ...

The Bands of Bravery (Knights Club) by Shuky, Waltch, and Novy . INTERACTIVE GRAPHIC NOVEL.  Quirk Books, 2018. $10. 9781683690559 Language: G (0 swears); Mature Content: G; Violence: PG.  BUYING ADVISORY: EL, MS - OPTIONAL. AUDIENCE APPEAL: AVERAGE Three young farmers are determined to leave their laborious lifestyle for the life of a knight. To do so they must go through knight training and each brother has different strengths to bring to the journey - agility, strength, or intelligence. The reader picks which boy to follow through his journey and jumps to different frames based on the decisions the reader makes. Along the way the reader keeps track of the things they collect and the time it takes.  There is a lot of flipping back and forth throughout this book. The tracker is at the front of the book and as you pick your journey in this book, you have to hunt for the correct numbered panel. I think this could be a turn off for a young reader, but I like that you ...