We Are On Our Own (O. T. #4 of 10)

This is the second graphic novel I've used for the Orbis Terrarum 2009 challenge and it was so good. Miriam Katin is from Hungary and this book is about her experiences as a Jew living in Hungary during the Nazi regime. In the story, Katin is only a child and her father is away fighting in the army. Her mother fakes her own death and that of her child to escape Budapest when the German army invades. What follows is a story of survival - of incredible hardship, of both cruelty and kindness. Some of the illustrations flash forward to a grown up Katin trying to reconcile her faith with her experiences. It is a powerful World War II memoir and the illustrations were amazing.

Persepolis (O. T. #3 of 10)

Persepolis is Marjane Satrapi's autobiographical graphic novel. Satrapi's story spans her life as a girl living in Tehran, Iran between age six and age fourteen - 1975-1984. The novel's art is stark black and white, simple illustrations. Satrapi was an incredibly intelligent girl who lived in a time where things didn't make sense. She remembers being forced to wear a veil at school, her parents demonstrating against the Shah, the friends of her parents being jailed, tortured, even executed. Satrapi grew up both relieved by and a bit ashamed of her parents' wealth and status. She heard and witnessed terrifying things for anyone let alone a child. But her story is so important and so well told. I plan on looking for Persepolis 2 when I have a chance.

Rapunzel's Revenge

What a riot. This graphic novel by Shannon and Deal Hale (illustrated by another Hale, Nathan this time) was so fun. An absolutely new look at a long-haired heroine and the woman who kept her captive. Rapunzel lived in a villa with her mother, Gothel, her whole life, never seeing what was beyond the wall that surrounded it. But when she was twelve she chanced looking out and for that she was banished to a hole in the trunk of an incredibly tall tree. It is in there that Rapunzel's hair grows to rope lengthh and she uses it as a lasso/whip. She needs no prince to escape her tower but meets a boy named Jack who is on the run and the two of them link up by necessity at first rather than desire. But it is through their friendship and adventures together that Rapunzel learns what she needs to to take her revenge on Mother Gothel.

Seriously, if you have any desire to try graphic novels if you haven't, you should try this one. The art is awesome, the story is original and full of action. I hope they do another one!

The Magical Life of Long Tack Sam

Ann Marie Flemming, the great-granddaughter of the magician/acrobat Long Tack Sam tells Sam's story in this "illustrated memoir." The book was first a film which was made into a graphic novel after its showing at Sundance. The story was definitely interesting. Sam was Chinese but lived much of his life in Europe, marrying a woman from Austria. During his life which spanned from 1882-1961, he experienced fame from his prowess at magic and acrobatics but also racism because of his Asian heritage. Fleming's memoir is full of old photographs, newspaper clippings, stick figures, comics, and a world timeline which places the events of Sam's life in a global context.

This book did not really hold my attention. Towards the end I was sort of skimming over the pictures. It started off interesting, the story got convoluted a bit. Also, my library copy of this book started falling apart, like actual pages coming out (and the book looks really new) and that really distracted me. I did like that much of the book was about Fleming finding her relatives from all over the world and the appreciation she gained from learning about her ancestors.

The Professor's Daughter

Lillian is the daughter of Professor Bowell, an Egyptologist in 19th-century London. He has in his possession the mummy of Imhotep IV, and that mummy is awake and in love with Lillian. This rather odd graphic novel by Joann Sfar and Emmanuel Guibert tells the love story of a young Victorian lady and her mummy. It's quite entertaining and the art is lovely. It contains mystical and magic elements along with quite the humorous portrayal of Queen Victoria. I read it in about an hour, well spent.

Dracula - the graphic novel

I haven't read tons of graphic novels, but I wasn't a huge fan of this one. I haven't read the real dracula either (I am not so much into the horror and gory and scary scene) so I thought this would be a fun way to get the story. The art was alright, but I think the story was maybe a little too simplified and the font was a bit hard to read. It only took maybe 25 minutes to read it but I wasn't a huge fan. And I can't find the cover art anywhere! It was adapted by Michael Mugg, Ben Caldwell, and Bill Hallier.

Laika (Graphic Novel Challenge #6)

Sputnik II was launched in 1957 and a dog named Laika

was inside. Nick Abadzis graphic novel tells the stories of Laika the dog, Korolev the Russian space engineer, and Yelena the veterinarian. While not completely non-fiction, Laika contains a great deal of history while at the same time being quite entertaining. I was not a huge fan of the art in this book but I did appreciate the story and the humanity it lent to my perceptions of the Russian space program.

Re-Gifters (Graphic Novel Challenge #5)

Dixie has a massive crush on Adam, one of the guys in her hapkido class and it's proving to be a bit of a distraction to her. Enough of a distraction that Dixie uses the fee for tournament she has been training for to buy Adam a very expensive birthday gift. When she tries to win a free spot at the tournament, things do not go well. Only with the help of her best friend Avril does she get a chance to compete. While Dixie pines over Adam, she develops a friendship with a tough guy named Dillinger and eventually Dixie realizes that what goes around truely does come around.

Mike Carey, Marc Hempel, and Sonny Liew created a graphic novel which will resonate with teens and adults alike.

The Case of Madeleine Smith (Graphic Novels Challenge #4)

In comic form, Rick Geary relates the story of Madeliene Smith, an upperclass Scottish woman, and Emile L'Anglier, the son of a seed merchant. This scandalous romance ends with Emile's violent illness and death. But how, excactly, did he die?

If I ever become a history teacher, I will definitely use graphic novels in my classroom. The story of Madeleine and Emile was completely engrossing and along the way Geary relayed information about class relations, medicine, romance, and law in 19th century Scotland. The Case of Madeleine Smith is the 8th book in a series entitled A Treasury of Victorian Murder.

American Born Chinese (Graphic Novel Challenge #3)

This graphic novel written by Gene Luen Yang begins with a tale about a money king who wanted to be a god but because of his monkey-ness he was cast out of heaven and was none too pleased about it.

Then the novel shifts to tell the story of Jin Wang. Jin Wang was born to parents who met eachother after moving from China to America. When he was nine years old, Jin's parents moved from Chinatown to an overwhelmingly white suburb. He encounters the offhanded cruelty of his classmates but becomes fast friends with a new boy from Taiwan named Wei-Chen.

A third storyline begins with a boy named Danny who's unbelievably stereotyped Chinese cousin Chin-Kee (complete with buck teeth, yellow skin, eyes permanently squinted shut, and botched English) comes around as he has once a year and proceeds to mess up Danny's life.

For the rest of the book, the novel switches between the Monkey King's story, Jin Wang's story, and Danny's story. It explores identity and acceptance and the innate desire of wanting to fit in.

The Plain Janes (Graphic Novels Challenge #2)

The outcast crowd - the new girl, the smart girl, the jock girl, and the wannabe actress. In this graphic novel by Cecil Castellucci and Jim Rugg, all of these high school "rejects" are named Jane. When main Jane, who the story follows, lived in the city, a bomb went off where she was hanging out. Though Jane was uninjured physically, she cut off and dyed her hair and visited a John Doe who was injured in the bombing. She looks through his sketchbook, the only thing he had on him, and she turns to art to help her get through her shock and confusion. Her parents, much to Jane's dismay, decide to move to the suburbs.

Jane begins school at Buzz Alrdin High where she refuses invites to hang out with the "cool" kids and instead tries to make friends with the Janes at the rejects table. Though they aren't interested in her at first, the four Janes end up as the P.L.A.I.N Janes - people loving art in neighborhoods. This secret club uses art to save themselves from the dissapointments and pain of high school.

I read this novel in just a few hours and thought it was pretty good. I like the idea of using art to make life interesting and I love the friendship the girls form - it's something everyone going through high school needs.

castle waiting (graphic novel challenge #1)

my first graphic novel! i was not sure how this was going to go. sure, i read the comics in the washington post but haven't read anything like this before. linda medly's castle waiting is a compliation of the stories of several characters who have all ended up at castle waiting.

the story begins with a mostly traditional sleeping beauty retelling...up until she's kissed by the prince. at that point, sleeping beauty takes off with prince hans and leaves the castle and it's recently awakened inhabitants in the lurch. the town surrounding the castle had long since been abandoned but the castle became a sort of refuge for people and animals and odd combinations of the two.

then jain comes along, a pregnant young woman fleeing her abusive husband who is not the father of her child. as jain adapts to life at castle waiting, she hears the stories of peace, the bearded lady/nun and her friend nessie who is also a bearded lady and clarice, a third bearded lady. their stories sort of ran together for me after a while. in fact, what i thought this book would sort of follow and explain jain's story but jain practically dissapears about halfway through the book and is used only as the person who the other character's stories are being told to.

i think castle waiting is a creative story but i felt a little let down in the end...i wanted more to be explained and concluded than actually was. i almost hope there is another volume written that ties up jain's story. but if not, it was a fun read anyway.

the yellow jar

i have not read a graphic novel in years and years but i was really impressed with this one by patrick arangan. the book consists of two japanese folk tales. the art is amazing collection of japanese woodblock prints called "ukiyo-e." the subdued color scheme and yellowish brown background page give that impression of looking at something very old.

the first story is about a fisherman who weds the sea-king's daughter (who he found in a yellow jar) but deals dishonestly with her and loses her. both the fisherman's honor and his marriage are redeemed by his willingness to fight a demon and even sacrifice his life for his love.

two chrysanthemum maidens, in which a monk mistakes chrysthemums for weeds invading his garden, simply describes the folly of using appearance as the determiner of worth.

i would love to see other work by atangan and know that he has two other books in print right now.