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Category Archives: Graphic novels

Outstanding book of the month for January 2021

And just like that, January is over! Therefore I must review the books I’ve read this month and pick one (just one) outstanding book of the month, which with the volume and tenacity I read, is always too difficult. Alas, it must be done and I’ve chosen one from way back in 2009 because it led me to a second book from way back in 1900 that was also read this month. The original? The Wonderful Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum and the retelling Oz: The Wonderful Wizard of Oz graphic novel retold and illustrated by Eric Shanower and Skottie Young, respectively.

What I loved was that the Marvel published graphic novel was so vivid and humorous that it led me straight to the original. I wonder if that should always be the point of any adaptation or retelling? That it will ultimately inspire the reader to the original which is what inspired the writer to create a retelling to start.

Having read them so close together, the adaptation captures the essence of the original and it is bolstered by the artwork which has a whimsy and color so beautiful to see with everything from the yellow brick road to the silver shoes to the emerald of the Emerald City. It was entertaining and adventurous. Emotional and warm as is the original which was surprisingly short.

If you haven’t read the original, do so and then read the graphic novel because both were favorites from the month for sure and continues my dive into reading classics I never read on my own terms.

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Posted by Alicia Abdul on January 31, 2021 in Book of the Month, Fiction, Graphic novels

Classic reading

29 Jan

It’s easy to feel like you’re not a serious reader if you don’t have a list of classics that you can readily discuss the merits of because you’ve read them and adored them.

I consider myself a serious reader and realize all of the classics that I’ve never read and instead of feeling bad about it, I add them to my list when the mood strikes me and I’ll get to them when I feel like it. I’ve written before about being a mood reader. Recently, I’ve been in the mood for a few classics: Moby Dick by Herman Melville, Silent Spring by Rachel Carson, and The Wonderful Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum. Each was inspired by another book that finally pushed me to read them. For Moby Dick it was Nathaniel Philbrick’s In the Heart of the Sea: The Tragedy of the Whaleship Essex. For Silent Spring it was Bryan Walsh’s End Times: A Brief Guide to the End of the World: Asteroids, Super Volcanoes, Rogue Robots, and More. For The Wonderful Wizard of Oz it was Marvel’s adaptation of the book into a graphic novel by Eric Shanower and illustrated by Skottie Young.

There’s often a push to read a classic before you’re ready for it, simply because it’s a classic. There is such a thing as the time being right: I remember reading The Great Gatsby in high school and hating it, then reading it in college and loving it. Would I have been ready for Moby Dick 10 or 15 years ago? Probably not. But I wanted to now and that has made all the difference.

And the receptivity to the book has to play a part in the enjoyment of reading, which is why it is important that kids have choice in their reading because choice (be it mood, interest, level, background) plays a part in how we read the book. Have you read Frankenstein to an adult is akin to have you read Harry Potter to a kid. Not all are interested nor ready for it and that’s okay. We will be some day. Or not.

Give yourself a break if you’re staring at the stack of oldies that you should read but aren’t. You’ll be ready one day. Or not. And that’s okay. But if you are, enjoy the ride. Know your own reading life. And know when to read that book recommended by a friend or that classic or that book that’s been sitting on your TBR for three years.

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Posted by Alicia Abdul on January 29, 2021 in Adult, Fiction, Graphic novels, Nonfiction, Reflections

Top 10 of 2020: The extra edition

28 Dec

It’s not as much about saving the best for last as using it as the last opportunity to highlight the coolest books that came out in 2020 that defy categories. If you’ve stuck with me over the last few days, I appreciate your willingness to read through my picks and share yours with me too. With this, is there anything that you’re looking forward to in 2021?

Home Body by Kaur
- I had it in my hands the day after it was published because Kaur puts it all out there with her poetry and artwork that make you laugh, cry, and just plain feel.
Dancing at the Pity Party by Feder
- This graphic memoir brings up all of the pain that any child who lost a parent young must feel with dark humor and heaps of love.
Once Upon an Eid edited by Ali and Saeed
- One of the first books I read in 2020, the anthology sparkles and shines on Muslim writers and the culture and religion in their celebration of Eid.
You’re Not Listening: What You’re Missing and Why It Matters by Murphy
- It goes without saying that I liked listening to this book about listening. Murphy touches on aspects of our inability to listen that you hope to internalize as a reader to help you improve yourself.
Fights: One Boy’s Triumph over Violence by Gill
- I’ve read his other graphic nonfiction and was surprised that this was his memoir until I got into it and thought that everyone should read it. Gill’s raw demonstration of a boy on the wrong path is a testament to growth and maturity.
Girl From the Other Side (Volume 8) by Nagabe
- I’m ready for volumes nine and ten whenever they get published here in the United States. The haunting darkness of the other side and the saccharine relationship between Teacher and Shiva create a rich atmosphere and intriguing storyline.
When Math Goes Wrong in the Real World by Parker
- This was my book of the month in October. Parker’s humorous approach to serious mathematical issues encourages everyone to pay attention to why math matters.
Dear Justyce by Stone
- Stronger than her first, this epistolary novel punches you in the gut as Quan and Justyce write to each other.
Go With the Flow by Williams and Schneemann
- A graphic novel about periods, sign me up. Their approach using female friendship and activism is the kind of story any middle graders should read.
This Book is Antiracist by Jewell
- The choice of layout and color scheme enhances the message about antiracism that’s a workbook for working on yourself.

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Posted by Alicia Abdul on December 28, 2020 in Adult, Blogging, Fiction, Graphic novels, Nonfiction, Poetry, Young Adult

A readathon in pictures

09 Aug

I’m a shameless promoter for the Dewey’s 24-hour readathon because it’s a welcome break from other life activities in order to spend time doing something I love.

Here is my readathon in pictures and narrative:

I always end the readathon by thanking my husband for tolerating being ignored for generally all of the event or hearing the echo of an audiobook wherever I’m moving in the house. He built the fire for ambience on a beautiful summer night when I enjoyed my amaretto cocktail at the 8pm end time in celebration.

I also high-five my two boys who are now middle schoolers who participate– both for about 8 hours of the 24 hours. They packed it in around 12:28am for bed which I wasn’t expecting since they were at a sleepover the night before.

There was the midnight-ish snack which has become a readathon tradition, having a hand-packed pint or pre-packed pint of ice cream from Stewart’s, which is totally an upstate New York thing. I picked a seasonal hand-packed pint called Mango Dragon Fruit Sherbet and it was stellar. It was a perfect pick for a blast of summer in a cup.

Which if you can see the book pictured with the ice cream, it lent itself to the hour 7 Instagram challenge of matching your book cover- I think I nailed it. While I didn’t post the picture until later for the hour 13 challenge, when I’m munching and reading a print book, here is my favorite recent gift: a book weight. This has saved my reading life in so many ways.

Another tradition is my bathtub reading. I’m of the same mind as Sylvia Plath who is quoted as saying

There must be quite a few things a hot bath won’t cure, but I don’t know many of them.

So a few book options came with me into the tub. I don’t have a fancy set up but I did throw in some bath salts.

And even though the goal is 24 hours of reading, I also still have a household to keep running, so I spent a few of those hours still doing housework or cooking while listening to an audiobook. And I got my workout in too, which was a square on the BINGO card. I listened to The Feather Thief while hitting the elliptical. This audiobook is also another tradition for me for readathons, reading or listening to a book about animals, this one about a heist of bird feathers that is part of a larger ring of the illegal sales of banned bird species skins and feathers. While I did finish that one, I also rolled into the other audiobook about a girl growing up with her grandfather who was a beekeeper.

I spent most of the day Saturday outdoors since the early morning thunder and lightning ushered in a cool but still warm weekend day where I also enjoyed some iced coffee. I don’t always drink coffee, but when I do, it’s iced.

I take breaks throughout with my audiobook on, including eye breaks in general but also when I moderate a few hours of Goodreads discussions on the readathon page. In addition, I co-hosted hour 7’s post on their WordPress site. I love the connection to other readers and find it’s another way to do this and also show my appreciation for the organizers.

Alas, I was getting close to the end and knew I had a blackout BINGO card which I shared along with my read stack when the clock struck 8pm. Needless to say, I slept well that night: a combination of sleep deprivation and a beautiful summertime fire.

Until October 24th, bookworms!

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Posted by Alicia Abdul on August 9, 2020 in Events, Fiction, Graphic novels, Miscellaneous, Nonfiction, Poetry, Quotes, Young Adult

Rewind: Recently-read graphic novel favorites

14 Jul

Today I’ll be co-presenting with Jack Phoenix, a public librarian who wrote a book called Maximizing the Impact of Comics in Your Library for School Library Connection (SLC) via webinar. We’re walking through five practices to transform your libraries as it relates to graphic novels, so it goes without saying that I’m going to share some recently-read favorites in no particular order.

Heavy Vinyl (Volumes 1 & 2) by Usdin
The Tea Dragon Festival (Tea Dragon #2) by O’Neill
Motor Crush #2 by Fletcher
Miles Morales: Spider-Man (Volumes 1 & 2) by Ahmed

Yes, all of these happen to be fiction and I’ve definitely read a handful of nonfiction titles too that you can check out on my Goodreads account. Suffice it to say, these were the ones that stuck out because of their story and their artwork.

I have a huge student fan of Motor Crush, so when I saw volume 2 was out via Hoopla, I pounced in reading it. And it was just how I remembered the world from volume 1, just like Tea Dragon.

As for Miles Morales, you can’t go wrong with the action and adventure in addition to the humor amidst the seriousness. It’s probably also while I was so caught up in Heavy Vinyl. A less sci-fi version of Paper Girls, these ladies who work at Vinyl Destination in the 90s moonlight as a fight club working to solve a mystery. The strength of their individuality is made stronger when they’re together.

There’s nothing better than feasting visually on well-made graphic novels when the story is as strong as the illustrations which I can say is why I’m advising everyone take a look at these.

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Posted by Alicia Abdul on July 14, 2020 in Fiction, Graphic novels, Young Adult

Dewey’s 24-hour readathon: Part II

26 Apr

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It’s so hard to say goodbye. Parting is such sweet sorrow. It’s not goodbye but see ya later. However you say it, the readathon is over for now. I’ll patiently await October and then if there’s a reverse readathon in the summer- I’m there. In the meantime, I’m celebrating my successes for the readathon and hope you’ll share yours if you participated too.

Here were my stats:

Time spent reading:

22 hours 38 minutes 02 seconds

Books read:

Junk Boy by Abbott (Digital)

Grown by Jackson (Digital)

Lunch Lady and the League of Librarians by Krosoczka (Digital)

The Season of Styx Malone by Magoon (Audiobook)

Ginger Kid by Hofstetter (Print)

Fifty Animals that Changed the Course of History by Chaline (Print)

Thomas Jefferson and the Tripoli Pirates (Young Readers Edition) by Kilmeade & Yaeger (Print)

The Cool Bean by John (Digital)

My Neighbor Seki by Morishige (Print)

Chicken Every Sunday by Taylor (Print)

Part of Girls of Paper and Fire by Ngan (Print)

Almost all of American Predator: The Hunt for the Most Meticulous Serial Killer of the 21st Century by Callahan (Audiobook)

Snacks and food consumed:

Saturday kickoff breakfast: overnight oats and tea,

Snacks: homemade chai tea biscotti, Sour Patch Kids, copious amounts of tea, Stewart’s Shops’ limited release peanut butter cookie ice cream,

Saturday dinner: Pulled pork and cabbage slaw tacos, Amaretto and cranberry

Sunday celebratory breakfast: chocolate milk, biscotti, and tea

Locations for reading:

Couch

Kitchen table

On the patio

On a bike trail

By the fire outside

Bathtub

Thank you to all who put it together time after time. There will be a change in lineup for next time as Heather and Andi will both step back while Gaby and Kate take the reins. Au revoir and welcome all in the same breath.

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Posted by Alicia Abdul on April 26, 2020 in Adult, Blogging, Childrens, Events, Fiction, Graphic novels, Middle grade, Nonfiction, Upcoming Releases, Verse, Young Adult

Just last week

13 Apr

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Just last week, Laura Lee Gulledge published her third graphic novel and solidified her place as one of my favorite author illustrators. Let me take you back to my obsession with 2011 publication of Page by Paige which I talked about in 2016 after finishing it to which I turned around and shared it with several students immediately who loved it as much as I did.

2020-04-09 19.14.14 Fast forward to 2020 and my digital reading of The Dark Matter of Mona Starr which I had on my TBR on Goodreads since it was announced she’d be releasing a new graphic novel. Then boom. I sat down and in one sitting didn’t move an inch while I poured over the illustrations and words. I knew I’d be writing about it. My initial reviews always go up on Goodreads which are usually fresh and raw after reading (and as soon as I can string a somewhat coherent sentence together after being awestruck) and in that review I said that I needed Gulledge to do a series focused on female character struggles that can be used as guides just as both of these are.

Mona Starr is the protagonist and certainly the book’s most memorable character. She has depression and anxiety, using space imagery to work through verbalizing her issues because she refers to this internal messaging as her matter. There are psychological and medical professionals working with her and her parents to identify what Mona needs providing much needed help after her best friend moves away. Then Mona befriends a new girl that’s causing rise to additional anxiety too.

It’s hard to pin down any one memorable scene but I’ll share one specific page that provides all you need to know about how Gulledge creates magic on the page graphically. And I won’t even explain it because I don’t have to. Because she doesn’t have to.

MonaStarr

It’s the transportation of any reader in the heart, mind, and soul of the character and just the kind of experience that we want when we read anyway– it’s that Gulledge does it better. Every. Darn. Time. From reading the Author’s Note, Gulledge shares her own doubts about her creative energy while managing stressful situations leading to memorable quotes like this to provide inspiration amidst anguish and a definite contender for one of the strongest YA graphic novels of 2020, hands-down.

This time around I’m going to take care of this freckled potbellied imperfect weirdo overly sensitive body of mine… hang up my hangups. And shed my excuses. Because I want to actually LIVE this life.

The graphic novel is much more than words on a page and more than the illustrations too, it’s a feeling and a whole mood she can sweep me up in anytime. I advise everyone to get themselves a copy or three to read and share. But spend as much time as you need, with a cup of tea or chocolate or in the bathtub or on the blanket in the backyard, folded up in the story that Gulledge shares of Mona Starr. It feels like a personal invitation to look inside yourself and empathize with others. Then once you’re finished with all of those feelings, check out Gulledge’s website and her other work.

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Posted by Alicia Abdul on April 13, 2020 in Authors, Blogging, Book Birthday, Cover Love, Fiction, Graphic novels, Young Adult

Flow

08 Apr

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2020-04-05 14.57.23 Maybe it’s because I’m a woman or maybe it’s because I’m a librarian, but either way, I want to take a moment to celebrate books about periods. They’ve been kind of having a moment. And I knew I wanted to share a post about periods two days ago when I finished Lily Williams and Karen Schneeman’s graphic novel published by First Second this past January called Go With the Flow. It’s a celebration of menstruation and friendship alongside actively advocating for rights.

Memorable character: While Sasha is the new girl, she’s not the most memorable. Abby is the one that’s rocking the boat. She’s the girl that wants to get something done and she uses her voice and influence through a blog and face time with the school principal about why pads and tampons aren’t stocked in the bathrooms and why they should cost money in the first place. One of the harsher realities of friendship is ushered in when Abby goes rogue and ends up putting the other girls in a tight spot where their communication sees them through (and a good ol’ fashioned apology), but you can’t blame the passionate girl for her actions when she believes so strongly. It leads to the first of a few memorable panels interspersed throughout the book for a memorable quote Abby uses in her blog said by Gloria Steinem: “If men could menstruate, men would brag about how long and how much.”

2020-04-05 19.51.58 But let’s also give it up for the most memorable scene where Sasha’s blood-stained pants are showing as the girls usher her to the bathroom and why the book works so well in its graphic novel format. Most can empathize or sympathize with her situation and it’s the kind of thing that is discussed in other books discussing periods: the truthful portrayal.

I advise graphic novel lovers, middle grade fans, advocates, and the like to read and purchase multiple copies of this book to share. It allows girls to be seen by showing the myriad of experiences with periods.

And once you’re done with Go With the Flow, I urge you to pick up others that cover the same topic. Here are some of my other favorites.

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Posted by Alicia Abdul on April 8, 2020 in Adult, Authors, Blogging, Cover Love, Fiction, Graphic novels, Middle grade, Nonfiction, Short Story, Young Adult

Reading time capsule: Part II

04 Apr

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Yesterday’s post was what I would put into a reading time capsule outside of the actual books themselves. Today I tackle what books I would want in the time capsule. And like picking your favorite dress or favorite child, it’s just impossible, but I’m giving it my best shot… and how big is the capsule??!?

Saga graphic novel collection by Vaughan and Staples. I just spent the last nine days re-reading a volume a day and loving every minute of it
Harris and Me by Gary Paulsen is the first book I remember laughing out loud at while reading
Every Ruta Sepetys book written and I’m going to go sci-fi here and say that when she writes another, just virtually drop it in there because I know I’ll want to read those too
Deathwatch by Robb White was the first book I remember recommending to a student as a first year teacher where the kid came back to thank me for my awesome recommendation
Reclaiming Conversation: The Power of Talk in a Digital Age by Sherry Turkle is a book I read several years ago and still bring up at least once a week in conversation. The number of Post-its sticking out of that book made it look ten times fatter
Crank by Ellen Hopkins. It’s verse style was somewhat revolutionary at the time and it’s loosely fictionalized version of her daughter’s experience brought so much out in the open. She became our first author visit at the high school that we hosted and we haven’t looked back in ten years
Darius the Great is Not Okay by Adib Khorram because I was on the William C. Morris award committee that named it the 2019 winner
Mudbound by Hillary Jordan had a whole mood and is one of the most impactful book written for adults when I live in a world reading mostly YA
Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson came out the year I graduated high school. I read it the following year in a YA lit class while I was studying English education and we met Anderson when she visited a local school district as a college class. Her depiction of high school brought back every sight, smell, and sound and who knew as a more than decades-old high school librarian that I would still be recommending it along with the graphic novel and companion Shout
You can’t not add a few classics: mine would be The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger and Brave New World by Aldous Huxley
The Virgin Suicides by Jeffrey Eugenides is another book that is full of big mood that skillfully and sinfully explores femalehood. I don’t have sisters, but I get the Lisbon girls and I remember connecting just as deeply to Sofia Coppola’s big screen adaptation (and buying the soundtrack)
The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold was the first book that I actually photocopied several pages out of to keep in a folder to go back and re-read whenever I wanted

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Do I have honorable mentions? Ones that I’d stuff in the crevices and crannies of the capsule. Here are a few of those that are less memories-driven but more emotionally-connected. Challenger Deep by Neal Shusterman, The Serpent King by Jeff Zentner, Hole In My Life by Jack Gantos, The 57 Bus by Dashka Slater, every Jason Reynolds book published, Ghosts of War by Ryan Smithson, The Vagina Monologues by Eve Ensler, North of Beautiful by Justina Chen, Flash Burnout by L.K. Madigan, Twilight by Stephanie Meyer, Rupi Kaur’s poetry, The Complete Works of William Shakespeare, and A Northern Light by Jennifer Donnelly.

What are some of yours?

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Posted by Alicia Abdul on April 4, 2020 in Adult, Authors, Blogging, Fiction, Graphic novels, Miscellaneous, Nonfiction, Poetry, Verse, Young Adult

A roller coaster of emotions

20 Mar

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Whenever I’ve read something or a few somethings, I will usually throw up a sticky note on my computer, give it a working title for a future blog post and wait until the inspiration strikes to write it. I’m ready to write from my working title “emotional roller coasters” and talk about three titles I’d read recently that unequivocally fall under this heading: Nikki Grimes’ Ordinary Hazards, A.J. Dungo’s In Waves, and Jenni Hendriks and Ted Caplan’s Unpregnant.

First, the fictional Unpregnant. What more can you ask for than a book targeted toward teens talking about abortion. It isn’t often that we find books wholly centered on the topic. I think I remember Exit, Pursued by a Bear the first time that it felt really real in a contemporary YA book. And then there’s Girls on the Verge which I highly recommend. But what most people comment on after reading this book is that while it is a frustratingly painful circumstance that puts Veronica in this situation, there is a dark humor that provides the balance that not all hope is ever lost regardless of the choice made though the most memorable scene is one of sadness:

“And that was it. Dinner was no different from any other dinner we’d had. My brother went over every play he’d made in baseball that weekend. My mother shoveled more food onto our plates. My dad made noises at appropriate times to make it seem like he was participating in the conversation. They didn’t even bother to ask any more about my weekend. They weren’t interested. I was a known quantity. The good daughter. The hard worker. I should have been grateful. I was angry. They didn’t see me. If they did, they would have known something had happened. Instead they only saw the pieces I was made of. A question already answered.”

Then there’s Ordinary Hazards, Grimes’ memoir of a few years of her childhood struggling with her mother’s alcoholism and paranoid schizophrenia and her father’s intermittent absence which led to a childhood in the foster care system. But the biggest takeaway is the strength of memoir as a genre. Grimes explains memoir and really helps readers turn themselves into writers by showcasing that everyone has a story however joyous or heartbreaking. In addition, her choice to use verse is a touchstone text on its exemplary use in form, function, and lyricism.

Then last, is a graphic novel (I didn’t mean to represent two genres and a format under one umbrella of emotional stories but this is why books are amazing). It’s In Waves. I read this on my lunch at work about a month ago and was glad I was eating alone. Because I cried. Dungo’s tribute to his partner before her passing and while she was undergoing treatment shines in his visual choices in line, color, and symbolism. He also effortlessly weaves in a more factual story of the history of surfing yet it never once takes away from the roller coaster of his relationship as it weathered the storm of illness.

As everyone’s emotions are on similar roller coasters all across the world, I thought I would share three books that provide mirrors to the same mountains and valleys we’re feeling.

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Posted by Alicia Abdul on March 20, 2020 in Authors, Cover Love, Fiction, Graphic novels, Nonfiction, Verse, Young Adult