A captivating series start that will have readers clamoring for more.
by Jo Rioux ; illustrated by Jo Rioux ‧ RELEASE DATE: June 21, 2022
A plucky orphan embarks on an adventure crossing paths with imps, monsters, and other creatures.
Suri, an orphan, has stowed away in a traveling merchant camp that moves through the valley of Galatea. Galatea is located just below a mountain chain known as the Dragon’s Belt, which was split open 500 years ago by the Spider Witch, allowing monsters to enter through the gap. Suri’s true desire is to be a heroic monster tamer, but she spends her time doing odd jobs for the camp’s merchants, entertaining the other youth with scary tales of monsters, and evading the camp leader, Leon, who is constantly trying to chase her out of the camp. One night, she unwittingly comes into possession of some magical twine, which holds powers for a band of caitsiths, catlike shape-shifters, who desperately want it back. In their pursuit, they separate Suri from the camp. Full of moxie, Suri has charmed her way into most of the camp merchants' hearts, as is apparent when they have to pack up and leave without her. Though this book was originally published in 2012, Rioux has reillustrated it. Artwork full of energy and comedic timing brings this steampunk-esque, magical world together as it lays groundwork for what will become a trilogy. Journal pages at the end have more info on the kinds of monsters discussed. Suri has tan skin and dark hair; other characters are racially diverse.
A captivating series start that will have readers clamoring for more. (Graphic fantasy. 8-14)Pub Date: June 21, 2022
ISBN: 978-1-250-62535-9
Page Count: 128
Publisher: First Second
Review Posted Online: May 11, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2022
Categories: SCIENCE FICTION & FANTASY | GENERAL GRAPHIC NOVELS & COMICS
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by Jeff Kinney ; illustrated by Jeff Kinney ‧ RELEASE DATE: Nov. 5, 2019
The Heffley family’s house undergoes a disastrous attempt at home improvement.
When Great Aunt Reba dies, she leaves some money to the family. Greg’s mom calls a family meeting to determine what to do with their share, proposing home improvements and then overruling the family’s cartoonish wish lists and instead pushing for an addition to the kitchen. Before bringing in the construction crew, the Heffleys attempt to do minor maintenance and repairs themselves—during which Greg fails at the work in various slapstick scenes. Once the professionals are brought in, the problems keep getting worse: angry neighbors, terrifying problems in walls, and—most serious—civil permitting issues that put the kibosh on what work’s been done. Left with only enough inheritance to patch and repair the exterior of the house—and with the school’s dismal standardized test scores as a final straw—Greg’s mom steers the family toward moving, opening up house-hunting and house-selling storylines (and devastating loyal Rowley, who doesn’t want to lose his best friend). While Greg’s positive about the move, he’s not completely uncaring about Rowley’s action. (And of course, Greg himself is not as unaffected as he wishes.) The gags include effectively placed callbacks to seemingly incidental events (the “stress lizard” brought in on testing day is particularly funny) and a lampoon of after-school-special–style problem books. Just when it seems that the Heffleys really will move, a new sequence of chaotic trouble and property destruction heralds a return to the status quo. Whew.
Readers can still rely on this series to bring laughs. (Graphic/fiction hybrid. 8-12)Pub Date: Nov. 5, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-4197-3903-3
Page Count: 224
Publisher: Amulet/Abrams
Review Posted Online: Nov. 19, 2019
Categories: GENERAL GRAPHIC NOVELS & COMICS | CHILDREN'S FAMILY
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More About This Book
SEEN & HEARD
by Jerry Craft ; illustrated by Jerry Craft with color by Jim Callahan ‧ RELEASE DATE: Feb. 5, 2019
Jordan Banks takes readers down the rabbit hole and into his mostly white prep school in this heartbreakingly accurate middle-grade tale of race, class, microaggressions, and the quest for self-identity.
He may be the new kid, but as an African-American boy from Washington Heights, that stigma entails so much more than getting lost on the way to homeroom. Riverdale Academy Day School, located at the opposite end of Manhattan, is a world away, and Jordan finds himself a stranger in a foreign land, where pink clothing is called salmon, white administrators mistake a veteran African-American teacher for the football coach, and white classmates ape African-American Vernacular English to make themselves sound cool. Jordan’s a gifted artist, and his drawings blend with the narrative to give readers a full sense of his two worlds and his methods of coping with existing in between. Craft skillfully employs the graphic-novel format to its full advantage, giving his readers a delightful and authentic cast of characters who, along with New York itself, pop off the page with vibrancy and nuance. Shrinking Jordan to ant-sized proportions upon his entering the school cafeteria, for instance, transforms the lunchroom into a grotesque Wonderland in which his lack of social standing becomes visually arresting and viscerally uncomfortable.
An engrossing, humorous, and vitally important graphic novel that should be required reading in every middle school in America. (Graphic fiction. 10-14)Pub Date: Feb. 5, 2019
ISBN: 978-0-06-269120-0
Page Count: 256
Publisher: Harper/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: Oct. 15, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 2018
Categories: CHILDREN'S SOCIAL THEMES | GENERAL GRAPHIC NOVELS & COMICS
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