All posts in Graphic Novels

Pumpkinheads

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Pumpkinheads cover

I recently read Pumpkinheads, a graphic novel by Rainbow Rowell and Faith Erin Hicks. To be honest, I initially didn’t have interest in reading this book. I don’t really care for the title and I don’t read too many graphic novels. However, I’m really glad that I read it because it is cute and funny. It’s definitely worth five stars.

Josiah and Deja have worked at the pumpkin patch together for the past few years. Now they’re seniors in high school, and it’s their last night working together. They’re a little sad about it. Josiah is additionally sad because there’s a girl that works here that he has a crush on. The only thing is, he hasn’t been able to work up the nerve to talk to her for the past three years. Deja is about to make him change that.

The two spend the evening tracking down the girl of his dreams. Hilarity ensues, because this girl is not easy to find. Eventually, he does find her, but I won’t say what happens.

Pumpkinheads is appropriate for YA readers of all ages. Older middle grade readers might enjoy it also. I loved the two main characters. They have such a sweet friendship. The pumpkin patch setting is really cute too. There’s a map in the front of the book where you can follow their journey as they look for Josiah’s dream girl.

I loved the illustrations. I haven’t read a lot of graphic novels yet, but I enjoyed Faith Erin Hick’s style and would be interested in reading more books illustrated by her.

Pumpkinheads is the perfect October read if you’re looking for something that makes you think of Halloween but isn’t scary. I borrowed this book from the library, and there was a waiting list for this book. Happily, I got to borrow it before the Thanksgiving and Christmas season is upon us. I often read books several weeks (or more) before I get around to posting my review, but I wanted to make sure that I shared this excellent graphic novel with you while it’s still the season to read it. This is a quick read that I highly recommend. I’m passing it along to my boy to read before it’s due back at the library.

The American Dream?

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The American Dream? cover

I recently read The American Dream?: A Journey on Route 66 by Shing Yin Khor (thank you to Netgalley and Zest Books for providing me with an advanced reader copy!). It’s an adorable graphic novel detailing the journey of an American Immigrant and her dog along the historic Route 66, from Santa Monica to Chicago. In today’s world, where there seems to be such animosity between people in the United States, a book like this is good for everybody to read.

In The American Dream?, Shing details her travels along Route 66 with her dog Bug, where she camps out in her car for most of the trip. She tells about the sites she encounters along the way and her feelings about them. The book has a way of immersing you in her journey, which I just loved.

The Sights. I enjoyed reading about all the sights she saw along her journey. I’ve driven parts of Route 66 without knowing it before, as I’ve lived in Los Angeles and have traveled through the Southwestern United States quite a bit, but I don’t always stop to see all the little places along the way. There are many historic and touristy places off the side of the road, and Shing visits many of them. She talks to some of the people she meets along the way or explains some of the history. It was quite interesting (and not all of the history is happy, either).

The Illustrations. The illustrations in The American Dream? are adorable. One of the main things I like about this book is how it draws you into the journey with her. A written description of the places she visits wouldn’t be the same as her visuals. They’re not photographs (we could always google those) but they’re detailed enough to make you feel like you’re there on the journey with Shing (and her dog).

The Immigrant Perspective. Shing’s perspective as an immigrant separates this book from other travel memoirs or guides. She sees things that I would never have thought of while making her journey. As an example, she saw a sign that said “American Owned” and it seemed like code for racism to her. My initial thoughts to reading the sign was “What? Is there a problem with foreign corporations buying up tourist stops along Route 66 or something?” From her perspective, she was seeing that as code for the shop owners to say “we’re not immigrants.” Without being able to stop and talk to the owners, we can’t tell whether their intention was racist or not, but I can see how someone might take it that way.

I enjoyed reading The American Dream?, and thought it was an adorable, easy to read graphic novel. It’s appropriate for both Upper Middle Grade readers and Young Adults. I’d recommend this book for several different reasons. Not only is it an interesting travel book, but it also allows you to see the United States from an immigrant’s perspective. We can always use more books that can help us see the world through someone else’s eyes.

Champion (the Graphic Novel) is Cute

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The third book in Marie Lu’s Legend series is Champion. I bought Champion the Graphic Novel with some of my Christmas money. It was well-done, stayed true to the original, and is a pretty quick read.

In both the original book and in Champion the Graphic Novel, the Colonies are winning the war against the Republic. The colonies are angry because the Republic’s biological warfare has unwittingly unleashed a disease that nobody has a cure for. They think Eden might have the cure in his blood… but Day doesn’t want the Republic touching him again.

Day not only has to worry about his little brother, he also has to worry about his own mortality and perhaps even June’s life as well. There’s a lot of political maneuvering at the end of this book, but I won’t give it away. I will say that this book does end in a little heartbreak, but there’s hope too. Life after Legend (I and II) and the Rebel quotes I have seen just tell me that it’s only temporary heartbreak. The ending didn’t leave me unhappy like the ending of Allegiant did (although it did make me want to write fanfiction).

The graphic novel doesn’t go into as much detail as the original Champion does. It doesn’t touch on how Day is upset that the wealthy people get preferential treatment in the evacuations, nor does it reveal who the true patient zero is for this strain of the virus (and neither will I because spoilers) but it does cover most of the big points in the book. Both books end the same way, so you’ll be ready to read Rebel this fall after reading this book (although Prodigy the Graphic Novel doesn’t have the scene where Day talks about how he wanted their story to begin so it’s not quite as sweet).

If it’s been a few years since you last read Champion and you don’t really want to spend a lot of time reading the whole Legend series before Rebel comes out, I recommend this book. I might let my boy borrow this series. It takes him a lot longer than it takes me to read a book, and he was enjoying Legend the other day on audiobook when we were in the car together, so this might be a good way for him to become acquainted with the series.

Although the graphic novel isn’t a complete replacement for reading the original books, it is a lot of fun. I recommend it.

Prodigy (The Graphic Novel)

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Prodigy Graphic Novel cover

This week, I’m reviewing the Legend series graphic novels by Marie Lu. Today, I’ll be reviewing Prodigy The Graphic Novel, which is the second book. Since this is the second book in a trilogy, there are some spoilers for the first book here.

In Prodigy, June has just helped Day escape from his execution, but what’s already been done cannot be reversed. Day will never get his brother and mother back. As the book begins, they’re on the run from the colonies, and they need help from the Patriots, a group that Day has always shunned because of their more violent methods. When the Elector Primo dies, things are about to change. Should Day and June support the new elector, or should they support the Colonies? You’ll have to read either Prodigy the Graphic Novel or the original book to find out.

I’ve already given my opinion on the original Legend Trilogy, which is one of my favorite series ever, so I’d like to mainly talk about the graphic novel adaptation of this book. While I think it was well done, there were a couple of things that I thought it could have done better.

Sadly, one of my favorite scenes from Prodigy, where Day and June kiss in the bathroom in Las Vegas, was left out of the graphic novel. One of the things that I appreciated from the Legend Graphic novel was how much attention was paid to detail. While there was still a lot of detail in this book, there were a few things that were missing. When they get to Las Vegas, as an example, June’s hair is supposed to be spray-painted scarlet and Day’s hair is covered up by his hat, while it isn’t in the graphic novel (they do have June’s temporary face tattoo, however). Kaede’s vine tattoo seems to have disappeared as well (which I’m pretty sure was not temporary).

While tattoos and hair color are just little details, it does reflect how much attention was paid to the original novel. There isn’t any real reason to get it wrong.

Other than these small things, Prodigy the Graphic Novel stays faithful to the original novel. It still has the same basic story and the same ending. If you loved the original novel and need a quick reminder of the story before Rebel comes out, or just want to see this book in graphic novel form, I recommend it.

Legend (The Graphic Novel) Is Adorable!

By Brookelorren on 2 Comments
Legend Graphic Novel cover

One of my Christmas presents to myself last year (with my gift card money) was getting a copy of the Legend graphic novels. I’m not really a graphic novel reader, but these were so adorable that I couldn’t pass them up. Besides, as a book reviewer, I’m starting to try new things.

Legend (in case you haven’t read the original novel) is the story of Day, who grew up in a poor family, and June, who grew up in a wealthy family, in the dystopian future country, The Republic. Fun fact: Day is related to Asher Wing from Warcross. Anyway, after June’s brother Metais dies, she goes to look for who she thinks is the killer. Things aren’t exactly as she thinks they are, and they end up on an adventure together.

The first thing that I notice about this book is that it’s adorable. The first few pages show 10-year-old Daniel (Day is a nickname) taking his trial, which is used to determine things like what high school (if any) you get into. 10-year-old Daniel is just so adorable you want to reach into the book and give him a hug, especially when you find out what happens to him.

Most of the book happens after they both turn 15 in this book. Legend the Graphic Novel follows he original storyline fairly accurately, although the order the story is told in had to be altered a bit to fit the format, there is less detail, and it’s not told form the 1st person perspectives of Day and June like the original novels.

One of the things that I appreciate about Legend the Graphic Novel is that it gets a lot of details from the book correct (unlike some movies that I’ve seen of popular movies ::cough cough Divergent::). The hair and eye colors seem accurate, most of the clothing seems accurate; even Kaede’s vine tattoo is correct. As someone who has written Legend fanfiction and strives to make sure I get the details correct, I appreciate that the graphic novel was done so well.

The fourth Legend book, Rebel, is coming out this fall.  If you don’t have time to reread the original series and want to review everything before you read it, you might want to try Legend the graphic novel.  It doesn’t take that long to read, goes over all the major details, and is cute on top of that.  Happy reading!

The Iliad Graphic Novel

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The Iliad

Let’s face it. The classics can be difficult to read. When I saw The Iliad in graphic novel form available on Netgalley, I decided to read it. It’s been a book I’ve been meaning to read for years, but have never gotten around to it.

This book makes it easier to read The Iliad, but I have to be honest with you: this book was still difficult for me. The book has a huge cast of characters, some of whom only show up on one page. This person dies, that god helps this hero out… it’s a little difficult to keep track of. In addition, there are a lot of place names to try to keep track of. After reading this book one time, I still don’t feel like I have a good grasp of this part of the Trojan War.

The pictures are pretty good, but they happen to be on a grand scale, which makes it more difficult to convey well through art on a book-sized sheet of paper. In the places where there are a lot of soldiers or ships, the pictures seem a little busy. I’m not sure what could be done about that though.

The book seems to be true to the original story, although I never managed to read it, I do know a decent amount of Greek mythology. I was surprised to discover that the story of the Trojan Horse is not part of The Iliad though. I would have liked to have seen that.

If you’re curious about this classic, The Iliad graphic novel is an easier way to understand the story. With the huge cast of characters and all the customs that are completely different than ours, it still isn’t the easiest book to read, but it’s certainly easier than the original Homer.

The Invisible War

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The Invisible War: A Tale on Two Scales is a graphic novel that tells two stories at the same time. First, it tells the story of a nurse who is helping the cause during World War I. Second, it tells the story of dangerous dysentery microbes as they try to make their colony thrive. It is a short, interesting story that would be good for both homeschooling families and interested teens/adults. I was fortunate in receiving a free copy from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

On the macro scale, we read the tale of a World War I nurse who contracts dysentery from one of her patients. We see her interacting with patients, talking to her friends, and going about her daily life in the war. By no means will you be an expert on World War I by reading this graphic novel, but you might get a better idea of what these heroes faced. Our heroine was an Australian nurse, so it’s interesting to see the war from a non-US perspective.

On the micro scale, we see the battle that dysentery microbes fight inside the gut of our heroine against her helpful cells that are trying to destroy them. We see them try to find a suitable place to colonize and thrive, and then, as our heroine’s immune system kicks in, we see the bacteriophage in her gut fight back. Again, reading The Invisible War won’t make you an expert on microbiology, but it’s a fun peek inside our immune systems to let us see what we deal with every day.

This graphic novel is cute, fast-paced, and informative. As a homeschooling mom, I plan on making my kids read this book myself. I would recommend this for kids (and even interested adults) in junior high or above.

In addition to the cute comic that this book has, the back of the book has more information about the subjects in the book. It is supposed to be interactive, but I had difficulty getting the interactive parts of this book to work, so I just read the comic and then read the extra information at the end. I was able to learn more about viruses and what it was like to be in World War I by reading this supplemental information.

If viruses and World War I is something you find interesting and you want a more detailed account, I would recommend The Great Influenza by John M. Barry, which details the Spanish flu that killed 50 million people during World War I. If you just want a quick read that presents this subject in a fun way, then I recommend this book.

There is a new version of this book coming out on January 1st that is currently available for pre-order.  While the book that I read was the older edition, the newer version is less expensive.