Moving!

You can probably guess what this is about:

The blog is moving to Wordpress: TheGraphicShelf.wordpress.com Please remember to update your book marks and feeders!

After being a loyal Blogger way longer than I should have, Google's stunt on February 24, and immediate backpedaling by February 27 was the final straw. My honest belief is that Google is getting ready to shut down the platform. They're being underhanded because remember how everyone felt when Google Reader was shut down?


To be honest, I've been toying with the idea of moving the blog since the start of the year. I've held back for a while (mostly because I didn't want to make yet another change), but as I started to look between Blogger and Wordpress, I was starting to feel that Blogger did not meet my needs anymore.

I'll leave this here as a reference, but posts have moved to the new site so you can find the same information there too.

Thank you!

Review: The Dumbest Idea Ever! by Jimmy Gownley

 
Title: The Dumbest Idea Ever!
Author: Jimmy Gownley
Illustrator: Jimmy Gownley
Publisher: Scholastic Graphix
Copyright: 2014
Price: $11.99

ISBN: 978-0545453479
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Summary and Quick Thoughts: Being a teenager sucks, but for Jimmy, he's having a tough time. First he gets sick and misses school, then he gets sick AGAIN and misses more school. He stops caring about school and starts focusing on his comics. A friend suggests a comic book idea for him, but he decides it's the dumbest idea. Only when his first idea flops, does he give it a chance and lands on possibly the best idea ever. As Jimmy rise in fame, he's also dealing with normal teenage things like first loves and changing friendships.
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Recommended Audience: Middle School
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Things to be aware of: Nothing.
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Further Thoughts:  Jimmy Gownley is probably best known for his Amelia Rules series, which is very popular (it is in my library), so this will probably be snatched up by readers who love the series. To be honest, readers will probably read this because it's a Scholastic middle school slice of life graphic novel with praises from Jeff Smith (Bone), Raina Telgemeier (Smile, Sisters), and Jeff Kinney.

Take all that away though and you have a great biographical story about how Jimmy Gownley's teen years helped him become a graphic novel artist. He shows how he did research, practiced drawing, and had a good support system, including supportive parents. This graphic novel is perfect for any budding artist, writer, or creator to see how Jimmy survived his teen years and made it.

There are a few fantastical elements that help him. Jimmy talks to the Grim Reaper, showing at least twice how he thinks he wants to die, only to realize he wanted to press on. For me, this was a strong point in the story and helped me become invested in it. When it ended, I didn't want it to end. Thankfully there's an afterward that expands on it.


Overall feeling: Cartoonish art, inspiration, slice of life, and teen years combine for a powerful story that begs to be read multiple times and shared with friends. A must have.
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Bonus: Jimmy Gownley is from PA (according to the bio). He spoke at PaLA in 2008.
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Source: Library/Review copy

Manga Review: Midnight Secretary - Series Recap

Title: Midnight Secretary (volumes 1-7)
Author:Tomu Ohmi
Illustrator:  Tomu Ohmi
Publisher:  Viz Media, Inc.
Copyright:  2013-2014 (Japan: 2007)
Price: $9.99 each
ISBN: Vol. 1: 978-1-4215-5944-5
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Summary and Quick Thoughts: Kaya Satozuka knows what she wants to be and that is a secretary. She works hard to be the most efficient, pleasant, and best secretary anyone knows. No one can really say a bad word about her work. Actually, they'd say she really should take some time for herself. Her identity is built around the idea of her being a secretary. Otherwise, she's got a baby face and looks much younger than she really is. Being a secretary allows her to comfortably be her age and be taken seriously. Things change for her though when she's assigned as Director Tohma's secretary. Unfortunately, it is not the blonde haired Director Masaki Tohma, whom she has a crush on in the beginning

Kyohei Tohma is just one of the directors of the Tohma corporation. He's known to be a womanizer, constantly taking women into his office for a little afternoon fun. On the other hand, he is good at what he does. Kyohei does have some strange tendencies that at first just seem odd. When Kaya stumbles upon the truth that he's a vampire, she does what she would naturally do: research and support her boss for all that he needs.

Just one problem: the moment he tastes her blood, he realizes he doesn't want anything or anyone else and it infuriates him. Kaya and Kyohei navigate what at first is a working relationship that slowly becomes deeper.
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Recommended Audience: adult
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Things to be aware of: nudity, sex, a little blood (vampires!)
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Further Thoughts:  I have not been this excited for a manga artist/writer for a long time. Until recently, my all time favorite artist/writer was CLAMP (which is actually a collection of women). Tomu Ohmi is now up there. I could gush about her art for hours and I have pretty much decided I will own as much of her work as I can get. I am currently reading/purchasing her new series Spell of Desire (SO GOOD).

Just to recap, I was reading this at the same time as Happy Marriage?! My review of that you can find here. In my review, I mentioned that Midnight Secretary felt similar. The similarities include: a secretary falling for the head of a company (and vice-versa), the head of the company changes his original direction and theoretically takes a step down, the male love interest is dark and brooding, and lastly, the characters are navigating how to be in a relationship with each other.

Now Midnight Secretary is much more serious than Happy Marriage?! and the similarities I list above end there. Whereas I felt Happy Marriage?! let me down, Midnight Secretary was closer to what I wanted: a considerate hero, a smart heroine. The story about the vampire clan was a successful subplot that eventually becomes the plot.

The romance never felt as if one of the two had to be dominant over the other. Kyohei started out thinking he needed to be that way, but Kaya was willing to stand up for herself. She did not let him walk all over her. I admire her for her ability to take what she wanted and take into consideration her best interests. She makes a few missteps, but she's human.

I also admired that Kyohei could see her beauty and understand why she did what she did. There was a story where her glasses break, and he finds out what she really looks like with her hair down and everything. He offers to get her glasses, even after finding out the glasses are fake, but tells her she doesn't need them. On the other hand, he recognizes that her personal image is "the secretary." She breathes that image and he doesn't want her to change that if that's what she wants.

Kyohei is a considerate vampire hero and one that I like (unlike another one who borders stalking). Kyohei depends on Kaya being herself. Instead, his internal struggle is realizing that he does need someone to keep him in check after spending so long convincing himself, for the safety of himself and others, that it was better to be alone. Kaya works with this. When the hero disappears (as required of a romance hero) she doesn't just stop, she shines. Yes, she has her meltdowns, she misses him, but in a glorious scene, when they meet again, he explains everything. His actions speak louder than the words he uses.

The physical part of the romance is always consensual. He never takes her blood without permission. The only reason it starts is that she recognizes he needs help or he'll be ill. He considered the circumstances and took it. Looking over it again, I realized that in a way, the blood offering is almost always a sexual gesture and he takes a brief moment to ask please (more in a body language way).

Let me take a moment to talk about the vampire mythology. The mythology is strong in this. He's a vampire while his brother isn't because his mother is and not his father. It is interesting how vampires could "walk among us" so easily in this story. With a few adjustments to their schedules, activities, and such, the vampires are just like anyone else. I know I wanted just a little more about The Clan mythology, but overall, I enjoyed the subplot and conflict that was The Clan. The way the series ends, I have a small hope that we'll see these characters again, but more secondary.

In the end, Kyohei and Kaya are individuals and remain as such throughout the story, but without each other they couldn't grow into stronger individuals. This is how a relationship should be to me. They come together and eventually work through the forces tearing them apart, together. Side characters support them and are three dimensional. Occasionally, they get their own small story at the end of the volume, which adds even more depth to what is happening.

The art: Kyohei is the traditional brooding manga hero, but he is crazy sexy. He has the requisite dark hair, narrow eyes, the right muscle lines and I have a crush on him from the art and the story combined. His one fault is that he smokes, but hey, he's a vampire and adult.

Kaya is different for a manga heroine (at least compared to that other title). She starts out pretty much a blank slate with her dark hair in a bun, glasses, and the standard issue secretary uniform (which is a thing). When her hair is down, she looks childish with big eyes. The glasses narrow her eyes a bit. As the story progresses though, her style slowly changes from a wisp of hair here, to fashion that I want in my closet. The hair tends to stay up in a professional setting and the glasses stay, but she's coming into her own and you can see that.

Overall feeling:  If you're considering adding "new adult" manga titles to your collection but not sure where to start, then this is a strong one and at 7 volumes, affordable.

If you read romance but not manga, or new adult and not manga, please weigh in and ask me questions! As I said, I don't really read romance, but this genre of manga is something I will be sure to read more of as it comes stateside (if it does).

Tomu Ohmi's stuff better keep coming stateside, and while we're at it, let's get CLAMP back in publication!
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Note: Looking at the back covers, I noticed there is a small "animation" going from each volume that works up to them kissing. HOW COOL IS THAT?
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Source: Vol 1-3 purchased; 4-7 Edelweiss ARCs and then purchased vol 4-6. Still need to get myself volume 7 apparently.

Manga Review: Happy Marriage?! Series Recap

Title: Happy Marriage?! (vol. 1-10, series recap)
Author: Maki Enjoji
Illustrator:  Maki Enjoji
Publisher:  Viz Media, Inc.
Copyright:  2013-2015 (Japanese 2009)
Price: $9.99 each
ISBN: Vol. 1: 978-1-4215-5934-6
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Summary and Quick Thoughts: Chiwa Takanashi is working two jobs to pay off her father's debts. By day, she's a secretary at Mamiya Corporation and at night, she's a hostess. To help Chiwa, the Chiarman of Mamiya offers her a deal: marry his grandson and all the debts will be erased. Seems legit, but then she finds out he's the jerk that got her fired from her hostess job the night before. Oh, and he's the company president.

Hokuto Mamiya has his own reasons to work up the ladder of Mamiya Coporation. Part of that has to do with the death of his mother by a hit and run. Hokuto is convinced that the Mamiya family is behind it somehow and will stop at nothing to find out what happened. So if the Chairman, his grandfather, wants him to marry a secretary he doesn't know, so be it.

In 10 volumes, the story covers their on again, off again relationship, how they navigate this semi-arranged marriage and their insecurities, which both have. The story is from Chiwa's perspective. Every volume has a fight that has someone walking out or slamming a door and the mystery of Hokuto is a strong subplot.
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Recommended Audience: Adults
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Things to be aware of: sex, druinkeness, emotional abuse, nudity (female)
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Further Thoughts:I am not an avid romance reader. See my note below on that, but if I was a romance reader, I'd say this reads like a romance. Mostly.

It was the last volume that killed it for me and I'll get into that in a bit. The series starts out strong enough for a romantic comedy: Chiwa is innocent and a virgin. He's the head of a company and the heartthrob in the story. How does Chiwa get to have him? For the first three to five volumes, they keep their marriage a secret from the other employees Chiwa works with (but of course, he tells the WORLD). Then she considers fooling around with an old love interest and decides to work for him because Hokuto isn't supportive of her being a housewife, which she only became because she didn't feel he supported her work, not to mention he's an idiot and works himself to exhaustion so Chiwa feels responsible to keep him healthy. Also, she's a neat freak and he's not.

The plot almost always follows the same cycle: they keep secrets, it escalates, one of them passes out/gets drunk/ticks the other one off/a side character reveals a secret, they fight, they promise to be open to each other and then it starts all over again.

Chiwa is a typical manga heroine: curvy, shoulder length hair, relatively good dresser, and shorter than the hero. She has her moments as a strong heroine, but more often than not her insecurity gets in her way and she's wondering: am I the perfect wife to Hokuto? If only she could help Hokuto. If only he would LET her help. Really, by the end of the series, I really don't know much about her likes or dislikes and she felt flat as a character (compared to Midnight Secretary which I was reading at the same time and in a way, has a slightly similar plot). Even the Christmas story illustrated that the only gift she wants is whatever makes him happy. Although, he does pick up that she might like a personal island.

Hokuto is the brooding hero and he's handsome as is expected in manga. He has the eyes, the dark hair, is tall, broad shoulders, well dressed, and he's got all the right lines (I'm talking muscles here). Honestly, he's a jerk more often than not by the end of the series. On the flip side, he's a wounded guy. He's strongest as a character when he protects Chiwa from a stalker, opens up to her about his real motivations for what he does with Mamiya Corporation (after she finds out from someone else he's done something like stepped down from Commerce) and he's patient enough to wait for her to be ready for sex (which happens in volume 3 or 4. The sex is so "hot" that a lot of the volumes I purchased were plastic wrapped. Fact: The sex in the Midnight Secretary, seemed hotter and was not plastic wrapped).

Let's talk about the sex a little. It's steamy in places. It's just the right amount of romantic. The most you see is what you'd see in movies, but there are at least two or three times I'm kind of concerned about the characters. He has drunk sex with her and doesn't realize it until half way through. I'm certain there is a borderline rape at least once where she says "NO" but he pushes the right buttons and she gives in. I always find fault with these kinds of scenes regardless if it is a movie, book, or comic, because I honestly don't know how I should feel about it.

There's also a few instances where he hits her. She hits him a few times too (like as part of the drunk sex scene because he really is like "Oh, hey, I didn't realize I was having sex"), but as a Goodreads Reviewer did note: he hits her to calm her down. He doesn't talk her down, he just slaps her face and she doesn't bat an eyelash. She blinks and seems calmed down enough to listen to him. UGH.

So you think by volume ten, the end of the series, they'd get what it was to be in a relationship. No. I had realized by volume eight that every volume had the same formula. Although, from eight to ten where the stuff with the family starts to come to light (the most interesting part at this point and the only reason I was still reading), we had the requisite "where'd the hero go?" Chiwa acted like her life was over. She cleaned her Dad's place and went back to attempt to help his lazy self. She worked (I think. I was getting bored with the series and really just wanted the subplot). She thought about Hokuto, but he had to go find himself. So, she'd be true and wait for him. UGH.

The last volume came along, I read it twice, and was really disappointed in how the characters had NOT grown. It was such a let down that the same patterns from earlier just continued: keeping secrets, a side character points out the secret, they fight. I was not convinced that these characters loved each other and I really didn't think they should be together in the end.

On the flip side of all of this, I know that Japanese culture is different. For example, working to exhaustion is a real problem and is used often in manga. Regarding relationships, I'm not sure what is permitted or not, but seeing how I've read a lot of romance-ish manga, this relationship was an odd one.

Overall feeling: The first few volumes are a quirky, romantic comedy and enjoyable. After the halfway point though, elements of abuse start to sneak in and can make the reader uncomfortable. It was the first time I didn't feel the characters "grow" in a manga title. I only own up to volume 7 with no intent to purchase more. There are better new adult manga titles out there.
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Note: I am not an avid romance reader and by that, I'm mostly talking about the trade paperbacks/Harlequin's. The only one I've successfully loved in that genre of romance is J.D. Robb. On the other hand, I've had my fair education on romance novels and the plot. I defended romances in college in Gothic Lit and did some research then. This book started to fit the romance genre and then went somewhere else entirely. If you're a romance reader, please weigh in at the comments below!
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Source: I purchased 1-2 and read volumes 3-10 from Edleweiss (an then purchased some of those).

The Diversity Discussion: Some Thoughts

I have spent about 8 hours on this post and I've spent the past evening and this morning trying to get reality checks from fellow librarians. I offer to you my opinions and ask that you keep that in mind.

I got in a Twitter argument on Saturday. Or discussion. When it comes down to it, it really was a discussion because in the end, I felt heard by those I was discussing with and we had new ideas and points. It was good. Here's the Tweet that started it:

If you're a librarian, it's your job to do your job and it's your job to HELP THESE BOOKS SUCCEED ffs. pic.twitter.com/09IMeCELDy
— Kelly Jensen (@catagator) February 7, 2015

First, you can find my points under there easily, so I'm not exactly going to rehash all of those. What I am going to do is bring up the points that I've come up with since reading the Story Time Underground Facebook Group and So Tomorrow's Blog Post.

The first point is this: CONTEXT CONTEXT CONTEXT. Since Saturday morning, I've read the Story Time Underground Post, I've read the blog post above, and I've read more twitter stuff like Justina Ireland's Storyfied post. Honestly, her posts sum up my philosophy easily.

The more I read, the more I think about how this is one singular comment posted on Twitter for all to see and here's how I see it: it is a relatively harmless comment on its own (please be patient with me before you go commenting. This is very, very complex). I say this because I understand this response. I had the same thing happen in my picture book collection when I started. Since then, I've bought more picture books with POC and I include them because of their topic, not the color of skin: i.e. moving because it is a very well done story about moving, opposites because it is a fun story about opposites, etc.

My community reads diverse books for the story.


So the answer given by others to the issue of The Crossover being a hard sell is to... hand sell it? Fine. That can be done, but sometimes, no matter the amount of hand selling, the book (and I'm talking generally here because I can think of one Newbery that appears on my weed list occasionally) is still going to be a hard sell. It goes out once or twice or not at all.

If the book (general, again) won an award, it'll stay, and maybe in 3 years, it'll be crazy popular again because I have that population and readership. In the meantime, there are over hundreds of other books to chose from.

In fact, that's part of the issue: there are so many books coming out. When it comes to diverse books, I look to content over characters. Is the book getting a favorable review? Check. Is the topic of the book something my readers would like such as a love story, fantasy, family moving, topic my parents have asked for, etc? If so, then I'll get it because my community will probably read it for the story.

From my experience, which is how I'm relating to this, I only do reader's advisory when kids or parents ask and I pick books that match their question. If there is a diverse book on that topic and it is in, I'll share it. If it doesn't match or it's not in, there are a bunch of other books to chose from.

Does that mean I ignore diverse books in my collection? No. I put them face out on displays whenever I can and let readers discover them. I will include them on books lists when I make them. I treat the books by their stories.

What I see happening is two camps: one that says librarians must promote books, authors, and particular ideas, while another says we must promote and provide to our community and what they like. Unfortunately, librarianship is not so black and white. We all fall onto a continuum of this and it depends on your readers, your collection policy, your mission statement, and your statistics.

Does this mean I don't purchase diverse books for my collection? No. I treat all book reviews equally and keep my readership in mind. Again, this is my community I'm purchasing for and I want to have what they want and what they might be willing to read to broaden the mind. Again, they read diverse books because they want to read a story.

Community is, I think, a great part of the book purchasing equation. We need to include things to broaden the mind, but also provide what they want. It's a balancing act which means some great starred books will be passed over for something that had a decent review and better suits the readers. Public libraries cannot buy ALL THE BOOKS. Gosh, if there is a library that has that kind of budget and does buy ALL THE BOOKS, I'd like to see this library. (Hold on. I think I have. How about a library in an average service community, though?)

On the flip side, a great collection is diverse and will have at least one book or item that offends someone. If you are not offended by one thing in my collection, I have not done my job. If I'm not offended by something in my collection, I also haven't done my job.

I don't love all graphic novels. This One Summer is not one of my favorites. Does this mean I'm not going to have it in my collection? NO. I recognize the merit of the book and it's getting a bunch of press so I got it. I got The Crossover after it was announced as the Newbery winner, but am I a bad librarian because I didn't buy it the first time around? I did purchase How It Went Down when it first came out because of the story. Basketball does not come up often for middle school and high school RA at my library. Baseball and football are more likely the stories they want.


Librarianship and libraries are changing. We're in uncertain times. Diversity needs to happen in books. That is true, but we also need to be careful we don't alienate our readers and each other. By this, I'm saying we need to be sure we're striking the balance between what they want and what might push their boundaries. If we make a point to get diverse books but if our readership doesn't relate to them in some way, they'll go somewhere else.

On the other hand, this is just part of a discussion I've seen happening for years: some award winners are a hard sell to the community, regardless of what's between the covers. I can think of a Newbery winner a few years ago that someone told me they tried to read and couldn't get into it. I can think of Printz winners I wasn't sure would go (one of which didn't go when it came out, but years later has found a readership). I have books I love, authors I love, but no matter how much hand-selling I do, sometimes the readers just don't find it appealing.

So what should librarians be doing: promoting books, their authors, and particular ideas, or promoting community and a love of reading? Is it our job to make particular books succeed or is it our job to make books in general succeed? Has this librarian (and I'm wondering if I have) failed for not providing The Crossover since March? I don't think so.

What I'm saying is that we need to open a dialogue about all angles of this: diverse books, our communities, what we stand to promote, the award winners that don't have a huge appeal regardless of what's between the covers, and we need to do it with an open mind and with respect to each other. Librarians are the loudest, most outspoken people I know, but seeing some of the comments that have come out of this discussion (mostly in the vein of "You're not doing your JOB") makes me ashamed of us as a profession that I have always seen as diverse, open minded, and open to discussion. Our JOBS are as diverse as the books that are out there. Our jobs are as diverse as the libraries. What is popular in one half of my state, is not popular in the other (finally attending a conference near Pittsburgh really showed me how different it is compared to Philly). This idea can even be expanded to the entire country.

Everyone is different and bringing their experience to the table. Let's have discussion and stop casting blame.

This is my philosophy of librarianship: The Five Laws of Library Science (source-Wikipedia):

1. Books are for use.
2. Every reader his [or her] book.
3. Every book its reader.
4. Save the time of the reader.
5. The library is a growing organism.

 Thank you for taking the time to read this and consider this point of view. I want to remind you this does NOT reflect my employer and this does NOT reflect the Library Association I'm part of.

The Caldecott Honor of 2015

It's on everyone's minds: HOW did a graphic novel get a Caldecott Honor? This is nothing like when Hugo Cabret won. That could be justified, but a graphic novel? A YA book no less? How was that possible?

I don't know, but what I do know is that there is going to be discussion about it for months to come.

This Horn Book blog post from Calling Caledcott raises great points and a lot of points I considered: Wednesday Morning Quarterbacking: the Process Edition.  (HT Twitter Julie Jurgen @himissjulie).

When I mentioned to my husband that there will be discussion (and crazy discussion at that) he brought up the Sandman by Neil Gaiman, issue 19 caused a bit of a stir for winning a Short Story Award:

At the 1991 awards, comic book The Sandman issue #19 "A Midsummer's Night Dream" scripted by Neil Gaiman and illustrated by Charles Vess, won the Award for Best Short Fiction.^[3] The widely circulated story that the rules were subsequently changed to prevent another comic book from winning is not entirely true. The official website states: "Comics are eligible in the Special Award Professional category. We never made a change in the rules."^[4] Gaiman and Vess, however, won the Award under the Short Fiction and not the Special Award Professional category.

From Wikipedia: World Fantasy Award 

I suspect the Caldecott rules will change after this. This One Summer will be harder to explain to parents. I'm surprised it's considered a 14 and under title. I'd put it in high school range, but that's just because of the topics dealt with in the book. It is a darker story.

So this raises a bunch of questions: who is the Caldecott for? Will more graphic novels be included or will the rules change? Have graphic novels always been included? Or will it change nothing and we'll go back to the usual picture books for the next few years until the next oddball? Time will tell.

The Stratford Zoo Midnight Revue Presents: Macbeth

Title: The Stratford Zoo Midnight Revue Presents: Macbeth
Author: Ian Lendler
Illustrator:  Zack Giallongo ; Colors by Alisa Harris
Publisher: First Second (:01)
Copyright: 2014
Price: $12.99
ISBN: 978-1596439153
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Summary and Quick Thoughts: Have you ever wondered what the zoo animals do at night after everyone has left? At the Stratford Zoo, the animals break from their cages and put on a play for each other. On this particular night, readers witness Shakespeare's Macbeth, adapted for a zoo setting, including comments from the audience.
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Recommended Audience: Upper elementary
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Things to be aware of: cartoon violence
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Further Thoughts: Let me just start off that I am not familiar with Macbeth, the play, so I have no idea how close this is to the actual play.

But, let me say that I did enjoy this adaption.

The Lion is Macbeth  He is hungry for something more than a very large hot dog. What he learns is that he's hungry for POWER. Following the prophecy by the three witches, Macbeth spirals downward until finally he is dethroned. The elements of the play are here: key phrases, key characters, key plot points, but there's so much more! Lady Macbeth is a cheetah, a fact lost on her until late in the story and ends up adding to her demise in a swath of bubbles and soap (it's almost comedic). The man who brings down Macbeth is a stork and of the "hard boiled" detective type. There are audience members (mostly two kid monkeys) making comments throughout the story and lots and lots of ketchup.


Overall feeling: A great adaption with comedic timing for a Shakespearean tragedy. A great introduction to Shakespeare's great work Macbeth. I really hope this team adapts more (the last page hints that the next night is Romeo & Juliet).

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Source: Library/Review