Title: Through The Woods
Author: Emily Carroll
Illustrator:
Emily Carroll
Publisher:
Margaret K. McElderry Books (imprint of Simon & Schuster Children's Publishing Division)
Copyright: 2014
Price: $21.99
ISBN: 978-1442465954
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Summary and Quick Thoughts: Five stories. Five haunting stories about the woods, monsters, and fears unspoken. Each story takes you to a different time and to a different fear. The first story, "Our Neighbor's House" is in the later part of the 19th Century. Three sisters are left alone while their father goes out. When the red sun sets, the middle sister knows her father is dead. One by one her sisters meet a man with a wide-brimmed hat and disappear. The second, "A Lady's Hands Are Cold," tells of a lady in the 1700s who marries a man. She hears voices and destroys their house to find the parts of the first wife. The third story, "His Face All Red," is in an unknown time period. A younger brother saw his brother die, so why is his brother back and why won't he meet his eye? The fourth story, "My Friend Janna," involves two girls: one who sees ghosts and the other who doesn't. They fake seances together until one girl is haunted. The last story, "The Nesting Place," in the 1920s, involves a monster and I'll leave it there. Some people lived, and some people...well, did they live or die? That is the question. The connecting thread to the stories are the intro and epilogue about the reader (maybe author?) and the fears she had while reading stories at night.
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Recommended Audience: teens and older
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Things to be aware of: gore
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Further Thoughts: CREEPY, but delightfully so. The only story that really freaked me out was "The Nesting Place." When I first glanced through it, I thought there was no way I could read the story, it would give me nightmares. I started the book and kept reading and found myself skimming over "The Nesting Place."
Emily Carroll utilizes colors and images wonderfully. Each story has a pervading color, but all stories have a strong red that weaves in and out of the stories. The colors are striking in the story "A Lady's Hands Are Cold," where there is blue, yellow, and red splashed against black. The rest of the stories use brown and some blue, with the bold red. The art is probably what makes the stories all the more haunting.
For me, this reminds me of a book I have from Dame Darcy (I don't remember the title) and the stories written by Angela Carter. Haunting, and ending on just the right note to make you question what you read. It is a haunting, satisfying horror read. I know I'll think of it every so often (like Angela Carter's stories and Dame Darcy's work). If I personally owned it, I'd pull it from my shelf to read it occasionally.
Overall feeling: If you have fans of horror, or even fans of Gothic Literature, this is a must have. Actually, I just highly recommend this. It's delightful, in a creepy way.
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Source: Library
Showing posts with label reviews_onthego. Show all posts
Showing posts with label reviews_onthego. Show all posts
Wednesday, October 8, 2014
Friday, March 22, 2013
He Loves Me, He Loves Me Not (My Boyfriend is a Monster 7)
Title: He Loves Me; He Loves Me Not (My Boyfriend is a Monster #7)
Author: Robin Mayhall
Illustrator: Kristen Cella (with others)
Publisher: Graphic Universe (Imprint of Lerner)
Copyright: 2013
Price: $9.95 paperback
ISBN: 978-0-7613-8548-6
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Summary and Quick Thoughts: Oh football. For the little town of Rojo, Texas, that is everything. When there is a game, the whole town can be found at the game. Rather, most of the town can be found at the game. New student Serena Stevens is not in the mood to watch football. She misses her old town and hates that her family moved her to a small town. Luckily for her, her best friend from her previous school still talks to her, but she’s the one that convinces Serena to go to the football game that changes Serena’s life.
At the football game, Serena meets Cam, epic smart student who occasionally shows up at school. After that, she meets Lance, the captain of the football team. As the story progresses, Serena starts to date Lance, but begins work on a project about Jekyll and Hyde with Cam. Unfortunately, Lance has a “thing” against Cam and as time goes on Lance gets violent and only wants to focus on football, leaving Serena sad and confused.
Serena's love triangle adds another strong entry in this series with the added bonus of more dialogs from Mr. James and Mr. Barry. See my further thoughts below.
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Recommended Audience: high school
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Things to be aware of: emotional abuse; mild violence;
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Further Thoughts: Finally! Another volume with the strong heroines that drew me into this series. I missed the spunk and sharp wit of the girls and something about volume 8 left a bad taste in my mouth after reading it (review forthcoming).
That’s not to say this volume didn’t make me uncomfortable. When I grabbed this book from our “holds-waiting-to-be-filed,” the person processing holds that day made a comment that she was worried this series was all about boyfriends who were horrible to their girlfriends, like emotionally or physically abused. I assured her this was not the case and then read this one at lunch.
WEEEELLLL. It does have emotional abuse it in, which is very interesting, yet it is how this volume handles it that makes this a stronger graphic novel. Serena does continue dating Lance in the story. She wants to get more from him, but he’s upset when she won’t talk about football. As his anger issues come to light, he grows even angrier at her when she doesn’t go to the games. Her parents try to support her, but they ultimately leave her to start figuring this out on her own. I do feel that if a real issue came to light, they would intervene. I did find myself wanting to yell at Serena for putting up with Lance. She should have dumped him. She was smarter than that, but she was smitten with Lance, even if it wasn’t convincing.
This is probably my only issue with this story. Serena seems smart enough to step away, and I couldn’t figure out why she was staying. She seemed to see the signs, but somehow she convinced herself to stay. I think I needed to see more of her thoughts and how she really justified it, but somehow I couldn’t really believe the back and forth between her and Lance.
Now, about Barry and James. Oh boy! They finally do more than just hang out on the sidelines. Mr. James quips about “you girls” which speaks to me in this culminating with a huge event involving the girls and the boys of previous volumes (especially when some disappearing). Barry’s office is shown more with the famous X-Files poster “I want to believe.” That somehow speaks volumes about him to me. His posters are so…mixed. He is definitely traveling around with Mr. James which he hints as much.
If you’ve missed something from the previous volumes (I know I did), its back in this one. An enjoyable read, and I forgot to mention that our girl is a little curvy in this one. Keep the monster loves coming!
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Bonus: Not so much as a bonus, but something confusing. Kirkus has this volume in their reviews, but the publication date says “May 1, 2013.” This is not exactly true as I found it in my library system, on the shelf, and Amazon (sorry, it’s the be-all/end-all on publication dates for me) says it is all ready out, so…maybe a misprint?
Source: Library copy.
Author: Robin Mayhall
Illustrator: Kristen Cella (with others)
Publisher: Graphic Universe (Imprint of Lerner)
Copyright: 2013
Price: $9.95 paperback
ISBN: 978-0-7613-8548-6
-----------
Summary and Quick Thoughts: Oh football. For the little town of Rojo, Texas, that is everything. When there is a game, the whole town can be found at the game. Rather, most of the town can be found at the game. New student Serena Stevens is not in the mood to watch football. She misses her old town and hates that her family moved her to a small town. Luckily for her, her best friend from her previous school still talks to her, but she’s the one that convinces Serena to go to the football game that changes Serena’s life.
At the football game, Serena meets Cam, epic smart student who occasionally shows up at school. After that, she meets Lance, the captain of the football team. As the story progresses, Serena starts to date Lance, but begins work on a project about Jekyll and Hyde with Cam. Unfortunately, Lance has a “thing” against Cam and as time goes on Lance gets violent and only wants to focus on football, leaving Serena sad and confused.
Serena's love triangle adds another strong entry in this series with the added bonus of more dialogs from Mr. James and Mr. Barry. See my further thoughts below.
---------
Recommended Audience: high school
--------
Things to be aware of: emotional abuse; mild violence;
----------
Further Thoughts: Finally! Another volume with the strong heroines that drew me into this series. I missed the spunk and sharp wit of the girls and something about volume 8 left a bad taste in my mouth after reading it (review forthcoming).
That’s not to say this volume didn’t make me uncomfortable. When I grabbed this book from our “holds-waiting-to-be-filed,” the person processing holds that day made a comment that she was worried this series was all about boyfriends who were horrible to their girlfriends, like emotionally or physically abused. I assured her this was not the case and then read this one at lunch.
WEEEELLLL. It does have emotional abuse it in, which is very interesting, yet it is how this volume handles it that makes this a stronger graphic novel. Serena does continue dating Lance in the story. She wants to get more from him, but he’s upset when she won’t talk about football. As his anger issues come to light, he grows even angrier at her when she doesn’t go to the games. Her parents try to support her, but they ultimately leave her to start figuring this out on her own. I do feel that if a real issue came to light, they would intervene. I did find myself wanting to yell at Serena for putting up with Lance. She should have dumped him. She was smarter than that, but she was smitten with Lance, even if it wasn’t convincing.
This is probably my only issue with this story. Serena seems smart enough to step away, and I couldn’t figure out why she was staying. She seemed to see the signs, but somehow she convinced herself to stay. I think I needed to see more of her thoughts and how she really justified it, but somehow I couldn’t really believe the back and forth between her and Lance.
Now, about Barry and James. Oh boy! They finally do more than just hang out on the sidelines. Mr. James quips about “you girls” which speaks to me in this culminating with a huge event involving the girls and the boys of previous volumes (especially when some disappearing). Barry’s office is shown more with the famous X-Files poster “I want to believe.” That somehow speaks volumes about him to me. His posters are so…mixed. He is definitely traveling around with Mr. James which he hints as much.
If you’ve missed something from the previous volumes (I know I did), its back in this one. An enjoyable read, and I forgot to mention that our girl is a little curvy in this one. Keep the monster loves coming!
------
Bonus: Not so much as a bonus, but something confusing. Kirkus has this volume in their reviews, but the publication date says “May 1, 2013.” This is not exactly true as I found it in my library system, on the shelf, and Amazon (sorry, it’s the be-all/end-all on publication dates for me) says it is all ready out, so…maybe a misprint?
Source: Library copy.
Sunday, February 14, 2010
Naruto Vol. 1
Title: Naruto Vol. 1
Author: Masashi Kishimoto
Author: Masashi Kishimoto
Illustrator: Masashi Kishimoto
Copyright: 2003 (1999 Japan)
Copyright: 2003 (1999 Japan)
Price: $7.95
ISBN: 978-1-56931-900-0
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Summary: Prankster and trickster Naruto wants to become an adult. Unfortunately, his desire for attention has stopped him from being able to graduate school and become an “adult.” Naruto also harbors a secret that is linked into what happened to the town 12 years ago. In this first volume, Naruto does eventually graduate from school, but only after proving himself a more capable ninja than was first thought and after his secret is revealed.
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Thoughts: In my first exposure to this, I really thought it was stupid and immature. Reading Naruto from the beginning, though, I find Naruto is a likable character. You can’t help but hope that he gets either the respect and/or the title that he is after. It is hard to tell if Naruto believes his connection to the town’s past or not as he is only focused on becoming the best Ninja. Overall, this title is a funny and interesting read. I can easily understand why teens like this title, but I would not recommend for anyone under the age of 13.
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Summary: Prankster and trickster Naruto wants to become an adult. Unfortunately, his desire for attention has stopped him from being able to graduate school and become an “adult.” Naruto also harbors a secret that is linked into what happened to the town 12 years ago. In this first volume, Naruto does eventually graduate from school, but only after proving himself a more capable ninja than was first thought and after his secret is revealed.
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Thoughts: In my first exposure to this, I really thought it was stupid and immature. Reading Naruto from the beginning, though, I find Naruto is a likable character. You can’t help but hope that he gets either the respect and/or the title that he is after. It is hard to tell if Naruto believes his connection to the town’s past or not as he is only focused on becoming the best Ninja. Overall, this title is a funny and interesting read. I can easily understand why teens like this title, but I would not recommend for anyone under the age of 13.
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Will Teens Like It? Yes, popularity of Shonen Jump (which this is published under) and how many times teens have asked for this proves so.
Will Teens Like It? Yes, popularity of Shonen Jump (which this is published under) and how many times teens have asked for this proves so.
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Things to be aware of: “Ninja Centerfold” – Naruto’s transformation trick is to turn into a nude (yet important stuff is hidden) female. Language, such as “crap.”
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Bonus:
Things to be aware of: “Ninja Centerfold” – Naruto’s transformation trick is to turn into a nude (yet important stuff is hidden) female. Language, such as “crap.”
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Bonus:
Reviewed library copy.
Sunday, February 7, 2010
GROG - Love*Com Vol. 8 and 9
Title: Love*Com (Lovely Complex) Vol. 8, 9
Author: Aya Nakahara
Author: Aya Nakahara
Illustrator: Aya Nakahara
Copyright: 2008 (Japanese 2001)
Copyright: 2008 (Japanese 2001)
Price: $8.99 each
ISBN: Vol. 8 – 978-1-4215-1741-4
Vol. 9 – 978-1-4215-1742-1
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Summary: Tall Risa Koizumi and short Atsushi Otani are finally dating! The problem? They can’t seem to move from being friends to being a couple. Mainly, this is due to Risa’s lack of experience of being a girlfriend (or rather, no experience at all). In volume 8, Risa and Otani finally go on a date to an arcade, but just as things seem to finally be working out, Otani’s next door neighbor, Mimi, declares that she loves Otani and will fight Risa for his love. In volume 9, Otani seems to have no problem telling others he loves Risa, but never seems to tell her. This issue causes Risa to ditch Otani and go to the school festival with Haruka.
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Thoughts: I absolutely love the play on the covers for volume 8 and 9 as each person is the central focus with their two love interests. Unfortunately, I’m growing weary of the series. Risa is a fun character, but she doesn’t seem to have the drive to focus on her future. She lives for the moment and when all of her friends begin focusing on their futures, it really shows how immature Risa is. Plus, Otani continues to berate her and call her “useless”, “lame”, and many other demeaning things. Though it’s helping her realize her problems, she doesn’t seem to get better. When it can’t seem to get worse, Otani pulls a romantic moment and all is well…for a moment.
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Summary: Tall Risa Koizumi and short Atsushi Otani are finally dating! The problem? They can’t seem to move from being friends to being a couple. Mainly, this is due to Risa’s lack of experience of being a girlfriend (or rather, no experience at all). In volume 8, Risa and Otani finally go on a date to an arcade, but just as things seem to finally be working out, Otani’s next door neighbor, Mimi, declares that she loves Otani and will fight Risa for his love. In volume 9, Otani seems to have no problem telling others he loves Risa, but never seems to tell her. This issue causes Risa to ditch Otani and go to the school festival with Haruka.
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Thoughts: I absolutely love the play on the covers for volume 8 and 9 as each person is the central focus with their two love interests. Unfortunately, I’m growing weary of the series. Risa is a fun character, but she doesn’t seem to have the drive to focus on her future. She lives for the moment and when all of her friends begin focusing on their futures, it really shows how immature Risa is. Plus, Otani continues to berate her and call her “useless”, “lame”, and many other demeaning things. Though it’s helping her realize her problems, she doesn’t seem to get better. When it can’t seem to get worse, Otani pulls a romantic moment and all is well…for a moment.
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Will Teens Like It? Probably. It covers a lot of insecurities teens have and almost every character has an aspect of your close friends in there, magnified.
Will Teens Like It? Probably. It covers a lot of insecurities teens have and almost every character has an aspect of your close friends in there, magnified.
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Things to be aware of: Nothing really. No sex. No nudity. No foul language. Just immature language. A major plus it is so clean.
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Bonus: I first picked this series up because of a review I saw on TeenReads.com. Luckily, I’m not the only one reading this currently so if you want to be “spoiled” by someone else, go to Comics Worth Reading (a very good blog).
Things to be aware of: Nothing really. No sex. No nudity. No foul language. Just immature language. A major plus it is so clean.
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Bonus: I first picked this series up because of a review I saw on TeenReads.com. Luckily, I’m not the only one reading this currently so if you want to be “spoiled” by someone else, go to Comics Worth Reading (a very good blog).
I reviewed library copies. WOO. Go Library.
Wednesday, February 3, 2010
GROG - Hikaruo No Go Vol. 1
Title: Hikaru No Go Vol. 1
Author: Yumi Hotta
Author: Yumi Hotta
Illustrator: Takeshi Obata
Copyright: 2004 (1998 Japan)
Copyright: 2004 (1998 Japan)
Price: $7.95
ISBN: 1-59116-222-x
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Summary: Hikaru Shindo is your average Japanese sixth grader looking to make an extra dollar or two. One day, as he is rooting through his grandfather’s attic, he comes upon an old, stained Go board. Only Hikaru can see the stains and as he cleans the stains, he releases the ghost of Fujiwara-no-Sai, an ancient Go master and tutor to the emperor. Hikaru, thinking that there’d be no harm, agrees to Sai becoming part of his consciousness, but Sai wants to play Go every day. How can Hikaru play Go when he doesn’t even know or like the game?
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Thoughts: Hikaru No Go is connected to the popular Manga magazine Shonen Jump. This title is a fun read, even for those who don’t know the game Go. Hikaru is your typical selfish sixth grader who is starting to discover girls, which I found really funny, despite his best friend being a girl. This title has been fairly popular and rightly so as Hikaru tries to learn what makes Go players so intense. A solid read for middle school teens.
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Summary: Hikaru Shindo is your average Japanese sixth grader looking to make an extra dollar or two. One day, as he is rooting through his grandfather’s attic, he comes upon an old, stained Go board. Only Hikaru can see the stains and as he cleans the stains, he releases the ghost of Fujiwara-no-Sai, an ancient Go master and tutor to the emperor. Hikaru, thinking that there’d be no harm, agrees to Sai becoming part of his consciousness, but Sai wants to play Go every day. How can Hikaru play Go when he doesn’t even know or like the game?
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Thoughts: Hikaru No Go is connected to the popular Manga magazine Shonen Jump. This title is a fun read, even for those who don’t know the game Go. Hikaru is your typical selfish sixth grader who is starting to discover girls, which I found really funny, despite his best friend being a girl. This title has been fairly popular and rightly so as Hikaru tries to learn what makes Go players so intense. A solid read for middle school teens.
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Will Teens Like It? Probably. There is enough stuff happening in the plot around the Go games that if teens don’t understand it, they’ll look away.
Will Teens Like It? Probably. There is enough stuff happening in the plot around the Go games that if teens don’t understand it, they’ll look away.
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Things to be aware of: Nothing!
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Bonus: This is a title I’d recommend a middle school library looking into. While there are your usual teen antics, there’s nothing dirty or inappropriate.
Things to be aware of: Nothing!
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Bonus: This is a title I’d recommend a middle school library looking into. While there are your usual teen antics, there’s nothing dirty or inappropriate.
The copy I read was a library copy.
Sunday, January 31, 2010
GROG - The Eternal Smile
Title: The Eternal Smile
Author: Gene Luen Yang and Derek Kirk Kim
Author: Gene Luen Yang and Derek Kirk Kim
Illustrator: Gene Luen Yang and Derek Kirk Kim
Copyright: 2009
Copyright: 2009
Price: $16.95
ISBN: 978-1-59643-156-0
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Summary: In three simple stories by a leading duo, three distinct characters make decisions regarding the reality of their lives. In Duncan’s Kingdom, Duncan and the other knights are challenged to find the Frog King, bring his head to the Princess, and she will marry the winner. Duncan prepares for the quest, but can’t shake a scary dream. In Gran’pa Greenbax and The Eternal Smile, we meet the frog Gran’pa Greenbax (think Disney’s Scrooge McDuck) as he comes up with another money making scheme so that he may have a pool of gold deep enough to dive into without hitting his head. In Urgent Request, Janet Oh receives an e-mail from a “Nigerian Prince” (reminiscent of the e-mail scam) and shares her information and creates a dream world of the Nigerian Prince.
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Thoughts: The Eternal Smile is a beautifully done work with three stories. It took a lot of browsing and reading before I realized that all three stories were connected in the fact that characters were facing realities they knew or did not know about. The Eternal Smile could provide a great book discussion book on the topics of reality and escaping it, especially in the third story. Overall, it was a good read and I enjoyed the work.
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Summary: In three simple stories by a leading duo, three distinct characters make decisions regarding the reality of their lives. In Duncan’s Kingdom, Duncan and the other knights are challenged to find the Frog King, bring his head to the Princess, and she will marry the winner. Duncan prepares for the quest, but can’t shake a scary dream. In Gran’pa Greenbax and The Eternal Smile, we meet the frog Gran’pa Greenbax (think Disney’s Scrooge McDuck) as he comes up with another money making scheme so that he may have a pool of gold deep enough to dive into without hitting his head. In Urgent Request, Janet Oh receives an e-mail from a “Nigerian Prince” (reminiscent of the e-mail scam) and shares her information and creates a dream world of the Nigerian Prince.
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Thoughts: The Eternal Smile is a beautifully done work with three stories. It took a lot of browsing and reading before I realized that all three stories were connected in the fact that characters were facing realities they knew or did not know about. The Eternal Smile could provide a great book discussion book on the topics of reality and escaping it, especially in the third story. Overall, it was a good read and I enjoyed the work.
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Will Teens Like It? Probably not. If a school was considering purchasing this, I would say provide in a high school collection. It won’t be a high circulating book, but it will provide readers with a book that will make them think.
Will Teens Like It? Probably not. If a school was considering purchasing this, I would say provide in a high school collection. It won’t be a high circulating book, but it will provide readers with a book that will make them think.
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Things to be aware of: brief discussion of porn in regards to virtual life/worlds; teen looks at porn (mention); brief mention of abuse
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Bonus: I did not realize that Gene Luen Yang had also won the Eisner Award for American Born Chinese (Printz winner). I was also informed by The Philosopher Musician that American Born Chinese is considered one of the best in the Indie circle.
Read and reviewed a library copy.
Things to be aware of: brief discussion of porn in regards to virtual life/worlds; teen looks at porn (mention); brief mention of abuse
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Bonus: I did not realize that Gene Luen Yang had also won the Eisner Award for American Born Chinese (Printz winner). I was also informed by The Philosopher Musician that American Born Chinese is considered one of the best in the Indie circle.
Tuesday, November 3, 2009
GROGs - The Novel is Silent
GROGs or 'Graphic Novel Reviews on the Go' is another feature you’ll find on this blog.
Developing a library graphic novel collection is difficult, at least to me. To be honest, I’ve found that while it is helpful that graphic novels are being reviewed, the reviews are not helpful. I’ve discovered that there is this difference between what a graphic novel reader thinks is cool and what a librarian thinks is good. As an avid reader, I’ve been on both sides, but have seen that this divide exists, so GROGs are my attempt to build a bridge between those that are recommended and those that are loved.
GROG reviews are basically the same as the ROGs in set-up and such. Same idea for the review, different format being reviewed.
Developing a library graphic novel collection is difficult, at least to me. To be honest, I’ve found that while it is helpful that graphic novels are being reviewed, the reviews are not helpful. I’ve discovered that there is this difference between what a graphic novel reader thinks is cool and what a librarian thinks is good. As an avid reader, I’ve been on both sides, but have seen that this divide exists, so GROGs are my attempt to build a bridge between those that are recommended and those that are loved.
GROG reviews are basically the same as the ROGs in set-up and such. Same idea for the review, different format being reviewed.
Sunday, October 25, 2009
ROG - Information Part 2
As you may remember, I mentioned I was going to start posting "Reviews on the Go" for books, movies, whatever. The book reviews portion is going over a slight makeover (even though I haven't gone that far with book reviews) and instead of just "ROG - Book", book reviews will be "BROG" (Book Review on the Go). The concept is the same ,but there was only a name change.
Tuesday, August 11, 2009
Reviews Basic Information
"ROG - [Book/thing]" ("Reviews on the Go")
- ROGs are short reviews for library professionals who don't have time to read all the reviews out there or have time to kill but want productive stuff to read or just want more info on a book. I find lots of book reviews on the net are very long winded and while they are oftentimes interesting, I hate reading the screen for that long.
- These reviews will include basic book information, short summaries (about five sentences), a short commentary by me (about five sentences), a "Will Teens Like it?" rating, things to be aware of, and maybe bonus stuff.
- If you want to use the ROG format, wait. I have to figure out how I feel about that.
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