This middle-grade graphic novel about two dorky boys hunting for treasures in their haunted school was a quick read.
Although I enjoyed the illustratiThis middle-grade graphic novel about two dorky boys hunting for treasures in their haunted school was a quick read.
Although I enjoyed the illustrations (it feels very late 90s/early 2000s as some of the tech featured in the graphic novel is pretty retro), I'm definitely not the target demographic for this story. I didn't particularly like any of the characters or how they were depicted (asides from loyalty, they didn't have too many endearing qualities) but the adventure itself was entertaining. I also appreciated that the story touched upon bullying, greed, and being labelled as 'poor'.
**I received an ARC from the publisher via NetGalley for review consideration, but all opinions are my own.**
Haru is a small non-binary flightless bird and their best friend is Yama, a wild boar who comes across a potentially dangerous cursed item. Try as sheHaru is a small non-binary flightless bird and their best friend is Yama, a wild boar who comes across a potentially dangerous cursed item. Try as she might, she can't get rid of the cursed item which seems to be infecting her with its darkness. And so, Haru and Yama decide to go on a quest to get rid of the cursed heart. Together, they set off into the world, towards the mountains ("The Beacon") where darkness lurks and where ominous shadows seem to be following them.
The artwork and colours were cute but the story, worldbuilding, and dialogue didn't draw me in. The comic did spend a bit of time establishing Haru as a character but there's still a lot we don't know about Haru ((view spoiler)[ Why can't they fly? Why is their mom a spirit? Who is their family? Why are they bullied at school? how did they become friends with Yama? (hide spoiler)]). I also wish more time was spent on developing the other characters and their relationships as well (like Yama, Goose, and Herb). There is a lot left unexplained in this world where magical items seem normal but not readily available, and where the inexplainable happens (but which also appears to be the norm).
This is a graphic novel for middle-grade readers looking for a cuter and less scary (though still dark and ominous) version of Lord of the Rings (with a much smaller cast of characters).
**I received an ARC from the publisher via NetGalley for review consideration, but all opinions are my own.**...more
A cute but very slow-moving middle-grade fantasy comic book about a mermaid, a firebird, and a witch who want to see the world but somehow find themseA cute but very slow-moving middle-grade fantasy comic book about a mermaid, a firebird, and a witch who want to see the world but somehow find themselves wrapped up in some sort of prophecy.
The illustrations were adorable but I was disappointed to find that this wasn't a standalone comic (and is planned as a duology). I have nothing against duologies, but there wasn't enough momentum built into the plot and characters for me to be curious about the second book. I wish more time was spent on developing the characters and their relationships (perhaps by having them explore a bit more and share more fun and intimate moments). ...more
I loved the writing and prose in this one. It's mildly creepy and mysterious and the story is told in a very fairytale-like way.
The story follows Olivia Prior - a mute orphaned girl who can see ghouls - whose only link to her past is a journal from her mother that only partially makes sense but contains one clear warning: "You will be safe as long as you stay away from Gallant".
One day, the orphanage (the Merilance School for Girls) receives a letter from someone claiming to be an uncle who has been searching for her for a long time. He invites her to return to her home, Gallant. Desperate to get away from her miserable life at Merilance, Olivia heads to Gallant in the hopes of finding a home.
What she finds instead, is a near-abandoned manor occupied by only three people and plenty of ghouls. Gallant is a strange place that seems to be haunted by secrets that Olivia is itching to uncover.
I really liked this book despite it being quite slow. I loved the vibes and writing. Oddly enough, I find this book kind of cozy even though the setting is quite bleak and dark.
So far, all I know about myself is that I was a servant, but I am that no longer. I'm just a kid telling you about the life and death of my last
3.5/5
So far, all I know about myself is that I was a servant, but I am that no longer. I'm just a kid telling you about the life and death of my last master. It's a story that will hopefully satisfy you, so that you will let me go. And then I will be something... which is to say, I will be free. But right now, I am not a warrior, not a monk, not a servant, and not yet free.
This story, set in the Silk Road during the 11th century, is told from Monkey's POV (Monkey is the boy's name - he's not actually a monkey but he is a sort-of monk), and tells the story of how Samir escaped numerous assassination attempts.
At first, Monkey sees Samir as his saviour - a man who saved a young orphan boy from being stoned to death. But the more he gets to know Samir, the more he realizes that Samir is a liar who likes to spin tales and trick others into trading/buying his wares. As a rather dishonest traveling merchant, this means Samir's lies have garnered him enemies from around the world. These enemies have hired minor assassins (because major assassins are reserved for nobility) to kill Samir, including a Viking beserker, a Roman Rogue Legion, a Persian mystic, a Bedouin clan, a Chinese ablutionist, a Mongol archer, and most terrifyingly, the Cid.
And so, Samir and his caravan embark on a journey to Samarkand while narrowly escaping many assassination attempts.
Despite all the assassination attempts, this was a pretty slow-moving story that's narrated charmingly (the prose was lovely, but I don't know if it's something that children would appreciate). Some assassins were more memorable than others, and I think the way the story ended tied everything together.
Overall, great storytelling and writing with a fantastic setting and an entertaining cast of characters. ...more
"Maybe memories are like clouds. Some, lighter, float high above; others are darker, weighing hea
3.75/5
5/5 for the illustrations 3.5/5 for the story
"Maybe memories are like clouds. Some, lighter, float high above; others are darker, weighing heavily on our shoulders for a long time, until the day we're finally ready to let them fly away.
That day will come. It's just a question of the winds."
Who Owns the Clouds? is a hauntingly poetic picture book about the fuzzy childhood memories of war.
I'm honestly more impressed by the illustrations than I am of of the writing. I absolutely loved the artwork by Gérard Dubois. The art is primarily in monochromatic gray with the occasional splash of colour (red or light blue). The art style looks a lot like printmaking (almost like linocut) which gives it a very appropriate vintage and moody quality that really complements the book's theme and captures the eeriness of war (from a child's perspective). [image] ...more
This was a cute Sapphic comic about Ferra, a girl made of porcelain, who enlists the help of an Orc-like captain, Brigatine, to help her flee to AuteuThis was a cute Sapphic comic about Ferra, a girl made of porcelain, who enlists the help of an Orc-like captain, Brigatine, to help her flee to Auteur to reunite with her ex-girlfriend.
I thought the artwork and story were very cute but juvenile. Paired with the under-developed romance, this comic seems most suitable for middle grade and the younger spectrum of young adult readers.
This was such a cute and wholesome comic book! I absolutely loved the artwork, worldbuilding and creatures found in this book.
The story follows EmberThis was such a cute and wholesome comic book! I absolutely loved the artwork, worldbuilding and creatures found in this book.
The story follows Ember, who desperately wants to fit in and go to school but that's really hard to do when you're super small and surrounded by giants. But he encounters a sea turtle one day, Lua, who brings him to a special island with a school for small creatures just like him. But making friends is much harder than he thought.
Overall, an adorable story about friendship. I just wish the characters (the side characters in particular) were more developed. The worldbuilding has a lot of potential too. There are plenty of opportunities for the author to expand on this story and world and develop a spin-off or series from this story....more
I loved the illustrations (although all the characters seem to have a perpetual pout on their faces) and color palette, which were the highlights2.5/5
I loved the illustrations (although all the characters seem to have a perpetual pout on their faces) and color palette, which were the highlights of this comic book. If I ever re-read this book, it will be solely to study the art and composition.
The story is mainly about Lola and Grace working together to learn more about teenage love and documenting their findings in a 'Love Report'.
Lola and Grace's obsession with romance didn't sit well with me. Though I do remember talking about boys and dating with my friends back in middle-school and high school, it's something we only talked about in passing. I don't know anyone who was as obsessed about boys as Lola and Grace were in this book. It seems to be the only thing they ever talk about! Don't they have other hobbies and better things to do than worry about who's dating who? Not only that, but this book really seems to highlight unhealthy relationships with little to no mention of what happy and healthy relationships look like. What message are the authors trying to send?
The dialogue was also very juvenile and didn't feel very natural to me (although it seems like this comic may have been translated from French, so it may just be a case of shoddy translation - I really should have just read the French version instead).
Overall, a beautiful drawn comic but with an under-developed and weak storyline and shallow characters. I was low-key hoping for this to turn into a sapphic romance or a story that placed more emphasis on friendship and loving your friends and family but this had neither......more
This book starts off interesting - Rain's best friend, whom she had a crush on, dies suddenly. And so she has to cope with her loss while working1.5/5
This book starts off interesting - Rain's best friend, whom she had a crush on, dies suddenly. And so she has to cope with her loss while working as a photographer for her town newspaper, taking pictures of the controversial Indian Camp.
Unfortunately, everything about this book fell flat for me. The characters were uninteresting and the plot was all over the place.
My biggest issue with the audiobook was that the narrator lacked emotion. But maybe that's not the narrator's fault and more of the author's doing as the characters lacked emotional depth coupled with an incredibly slow-moving and boring plot. There was also too much going on (far too many subplots) but at the same time, nothing much was happening either... This is very much a character-driven story with an incredibly dull character, making it extremely difficult for me to feel invested in Rain or her struggles with grief and her identity (which were themes that weren't fully fleshed out, IMO).
Although the main character is entering high school, the writing style is very juvenile and seems to be catered toward a much younger, middle-grade audience.
June lives in a world where you can be cured of all negative emotions through a medical procedure where your heart is removed and placed in a numbing June lives in a world where you can be cured of all negative emotions through a medical procedure where your heart is removed and placed in a numbing solution. The only problem is, you can't remove negative emotions without removing the positive ones as well. And so, before she knew it, June was the only one left who had opted to keep her heart and was surrounded by emotionless friends and family who no longer seemed to care about her or her artwork.
I quite enjoyed the artwork and story in this comic - the primarily grayscale artwork with only hints of color really worked with the story. A great debut story on the importance of learning to live with various emotions.
(view spoiler)[Personally, I think the author should have made the characters into plant-like beings rather than human-like characters, since it would make the 'science' behind the removal of hearts more believable. (hide spoiler)]...more
I really enjoyed the audiobook of this Lipan Apache story about animal people in the reflecting world. The audiobook narration was great and the st3.5
I really enjoyed the audiobook of this Lipan Apache story about animal people in the reflecting world. The audiobook narration was great and the story follows two characters - Nina, a Lipan Apache trying to translate her great-grandmother's stories, and Oli, and shapeshifting cottonmouth snake who learns how to live alone with the help of his new friends (Ami the toad, the cayotes Rain and Risk, and Brightest the hawk).
To be honest, I didn't really care for Nina's story but I really enjoyed Oli's adventures in the spirit world and his friendship with Ami (so cute!). I would have been content with reading a book that focused only on Oli and his friends.
This was such a charming witchy middle-grade novel loosely inspired by Anne of Green Gables. I'm ashamed to admit that I've never read Anne of Green GThis was such a charming witchy middle-grade novel loosely inspired by Anne of Green Gables. I'm ashamed to admit that I've never read Anne of Green Gables although I did grow up watching the cartoon as well as reruns of Road to Avonlea.
In The Grace of Wild Things, Grace is an orphan with magical abilities. Longing to find a home and a place to belong, she seeks out the wicked witch in the forest with the hopes that the witch will take her in as an apprentice. After a bumpy encounter where Grace was nearly eaten by the evil witch, the witch reluctantly agrees to take Grace on as an apprentice on one condition - that she successfully performs all the spell's in the witch's grimoire by one year's time. If she fails, she must give up her magic.
There was so much that I loved about this book. From the wonderful setting (Prince Edward Island, of course), to Grace's bond with the moody witch, to her amazing group of friends - every character was so loveable.
Grace was such a wonderful character who loves poetry and is always dreaming up fantastical things. [image] I love her relationship with the witch and how annoyed and exasperated the witch gets whenever Grace starts daydreaming aloud.
What I loved the most though, were the interactions between Grace and Rum. [image] I love that Rum is a fairy!
The spells that Grace had to cast (with the help of her friends) were also quite interesting and and it was fun to follow Grace's progress of figuring out how to collect certain ingredients (like dreams or pieces of the moon).
To summarize, I was charmed by the characters, the magic, and the setting. A great book for all ages.
This book started off really interesting - I was intrigued by a middle-grade American-Chinese book set in San Francisco and inspired by Chinese mytholThis book started off really interesting - I was intrigued by a middle-grade American-Chinese book set in San Francisco and inspired by Chinese mythology. I was also curious about what would happen to Winston, who somehow finds himself walking away from a shop of whimsies with a broom and dustpan that will wreak havoc on his life.
Turns out, the broom and dustpan are none other than Cloud Weaver and Cowherd, making this the strangest retelling I've ever come across for this well-known and beautiful Chinese mythology.
As the story progressed, I slowly felt myself losing interest... there was too much going on in this book. Furthermore, the Chinese mythology wasn't explained very clearly nor was it well-integrated into the story. It seemed like the introduction of a changeling as the biggest plot point in the story, really drew the attention away from the mythology of Cowherd and Cloud Weaver. The side characters were also underdeveloped, and the magic system (especially all the random magical items) was confusing to keep track of. All in all, I had a really hard time following the story.
I listened to the audiobook and the narration was fine. I'm not sure if it made too much of a difference, but I listened at x1.05 speed.
Asian-American history is not something that is often discussed in North American schools so this book offers a lot of great background to bridge thatAsian-American history is not something that is often discussed in North American schools so this book offers a lot of great background to bridge that information gap. Although it is a relatively short book, it covers a great deal of information from the history of the earliest Asian migrants to the USA, to the issues of citizenship (in a society where people are categorized as being either "white" or "black", what category do Asians fall under, and what rights are they entitled to?), to the internment of Japanese-Americans.
As the title suggests, this book focuses primarily on the history of Japanese-American citizens but it also covered Asian-American history in general as well, since the deep-rooted racism towards Chinese, Mongols, Indians, etc. also impacted the Japanese-American community and further exacerbated the anti-Asian sentiment that ultimately led to the internment of over a hundred thousand Americans (and Canadians - let's not forget that Canada also played a part in this) of Japanese origins.
I learned a lot from this book as it included a lot of interesting (and racist) case laws and rulings that really make readers realize the entrenchment of white supremacy throughout North American history.
Audiobook Comments: I listened to the audiobook (at x1.1 speed), which was well-narrated and captured and maintained my attention.
This was a cute middle-grade story about a girl in Wuhan, China at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic. With her dad as a front line worker an2.5/5
This was a cute middle-grade story about a girl in Wuhan, China at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic. With her dad as a front line worker and the city under lockdown, she does what she can to help her friends and neighbours through her love for cooking.
Although this might be a good book for children of future generations to read and learn about the coronavirus pandemic, I felt like the pacing of the timeline of events was a bit off. The details of the pandemic were a bit lacking, and the emotions, confusion, worry, fear and panic that a lot of people experienced was also missing from this book. There was just too much focus on Mei's video game and cooking obsession and not enough emphasis on the human aspect of helping each other out during lockdown. It seemed to me that this story glossed over the serious and important details of the pandemic.
Both my brother and boyfriend hate reading BUT the only books that they were willing to read when they were kids were the Captain Underpants series.
IBoth my brother and boyfriend hate reading BUT the only books that they were willing to read when they were kids were the Captain Underpants series.
I remember reading this book as a kid and found it too silly for my liking (I guess girls tend to be more mature and less likely to laugh at potty humour). Reading it now as an adult though, I do see the appeal and understand why young boys would like this series.
The storyline was actually quite original -
George and Harold are pranksters who also love writing comics, including their original - the Adventure of Captain Underpants (since most superheroes look like they're flying around in their underwear, why not create a hero who actually is flying around in his underwear!)
When George and Harold get reprimanded by the principal for pulling off a series of terrible pranks, they decide to hypnotize their principle, and... it worked! Out of pure boyish silliness, they commanded their principal to be the "greatest superhero of all time: The Amazing Captain Underpants!"
And so, their principal becomes Captain Underpants and runs off to try and save the world...
tl;dr - very silly but funny and entertaining enough to get kids interested in reading.
---------------------------------------------- Part of a personal challenge to read all of my boyfriend's and his sister's childhood books before we donate and give them away.
Ngl, I was mildly disappointed that there wasn't nearly as much singing in this audiobook (compared to the first book, whicJuly 26, 2024 - Review:
Ngl, I was mildly disappointed that there wasn't nearly as much singing in this audiobook (compared to the first book, which was amazing).
Nonetheless, this #OwnVoices middle-grade book about Nat, a girl in a wheelchair, breaking down barriers in music theatre, was still great. It had fantastic character development as Nat learns how to fit in in a new school environment (a new middle school), how to be a good friend, and how to manage the pressure of rehearsing and competing in a music theatre competition. This means that, once again, Nat has to prove to everyone that she can dance in an ensemble. [image]
September 21, 2023 - Pre-Review: The Chance to Fly was one of my favourite audiobooks that I listened to last year (and quite possibly my favourite middle-grade audiobook of all time). I can't wait for the audiobook of this sequel! If it's anything like the first book, it's going to be amazing. [image]...more
Growing up, I've always avoided reading Goosebumps because the covers were terrifying (I also avoided watching the TV show for the same reason). No maGrowing up, I've always avoided reading Goosebumps because the covers were terrifying (I also avoided watching the TV show for the same reason). No matter how much my friends tried to convince me to read them (my friends all loved Goosebumps and they had all assured me that the stories weren't scary at all) I'd stubbornly refuse to give the series a chance.
Well, 20+ years later, I finally mustered the courage to give one of these books a shot.
This was a rather strange novel with severe bullying - Ricky is constantly teased and tormented at school (and the teachers don't seem to care at all). When his bullies got him fired from the school newspaper, he decides to enact revenge against the editor of the school newspaper who fired him. (instead of the bullies...) His strange idea for revenge was to sneak a message into the school newspaper, calling all creeps to call the editor. But his plan backfired - the editor caught the message and changed it to Ricky's phone number.
Overall, this was an entertaining story and the twist/ending wasn't bad. I just couldn't help but feel saddened by Ricky's situation and his missed opportunity to really bond with his new friend, Iris!
---------------------------------------------- Part of a personal challenge to read all of my boyfriend's and his sister's childhood books before we donate and give them away....more
I had no idea that this book was a sequel before searching it up on GR to post this review. I don't think it matters though, because it can certainly I had no idea that this book was a sequel before searching it up on GR to post this review. I don't think it matters though, because it can certainly be read as a standalone novel.
I quite enjoyed this depressing book, although there were a few things that bothered me.
Let's start with the good: This book did a fantastic job of capturing the various stages of grief of a 13-year-old girl, Sarabeth Silver, whose mom suddenly died of a heart attack. For as long as Sarabeth could remember, it's always been just her and her mom, against the world. Now, she's orphaned and all alone. Although Cynthia (Sarabeth's mom's best friend) has offered to take care of Sarabeth, Sarabeth can't help but feel like an unwanted burden and starts acting up because of it.
The writing was so good - simple, straightforward (no fluff and flowery prose), and full of emotion. My heart ached for Sarabeth and I could feel the grief pouring from the pages.
What I didn't like: The fact that this book was first published in 2001 does mean that there were certain outdated word choices that were used, such as the word 'retard' to describe someone with an intellectual disability. In one of the earlier chapters, Sarabeth's friends completely reject the notion of cultural appropriation... This did not sit well with me.
Finally, my other criticism of this book is that Sarabeth's friends should have had a larger role in the novel. Their relationships were a bit strained as Sarabeth continued to work through her grief and we never really see the relationships improve or develop any further which is quite a shame.
---------------------------------------------- Part of a personal challenge to read all of my boyfriend's and his sister's childhood books before we donate and give them away....more
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