February books...better late than never

[dirtylibrarian]

Palomar : the Heartbreak Soup Stories
Gilbert Hernandez
Adult Graphic Novel
Magical realism. Small Mexican village. Sex. Violence. Family. Storytelling.
Epic. (WARNING: may hurt hands)


No Laughter Here
Rita Williams-Garcia
Teen Fiction
Queens. Secrets. Coming-of-age. Loss of innocence. Female circumcision.
Strong, though small.


Roll of Thunder Hear My Cry
Mildred D. Taylor
Teen Fiction
Deep South. Depression Era. Family. Hard facts. Survival.
Amazing.


East
Edith Pattou
Teen Fiction
"East of the Sun, West of the Moon". Polar bear. Weaving. Trolls. Adventure.
Good, but not as endearing as I had hoped.


Unlikely
Jeffrey Brown
Adult Graphic Novel
Dysfunctional romance. Loss of virginity. Squiggly drawing style.
Cute.


JLA: Liberty and Justice
Alex Ross and Paul Dini
Adult Graphic Novel
Beautiful to look at, boring to read.
Yawn.


Top Ten 2
Alan Moore
Adult Graphic Novel
Sci-fi alternative world. Cop drama. More pop culture references than you can shake a stick at.
Delightful and occasionally tender.


Reefer Madness : Sex, Drugs, and Cheap Labor in the American Black Market
Eric Schlosser
Adult Non-Fiction
The hypocrisy of the American economy. Who really pays the price for what we consume?
Informative and interesting.


Y the Last Man: Cycles
Brian K. Vaughan
Adult Graphic Novel
One man left on Earth. Women want him dead, or in bed. Single male monkey ignored.


John Constantine, Hellblazer : Tainted Love
Garth Ennis
Adult Graphic Novel
Homeless. Vampires. Post-breakup depression.
I wanted to prep for the Hellblazer movie, but wasn't terribly impressed. Doesn't hold a candle to the Preacher series.


Hellblazer: Good Intentions
Brian Azzarello
Adult Graphic Novel
Small towns. Desperation. Dogs. Porn.
Ick!


The Land
Mildred D. Taylor
Teen Book on Tape
Post-Civil War South. Biracial. Carpentry. Horses. Property.
Every bit as good as I had heard, and the reader was wonderful.


The Silent Boy
Lois Lowry
Tween Fiction
Turn of the Century America. Small town. Doctors. Special needs child. Scandal.
Ending didn't live up to the build up.


The Outcasts of 19 Schuyler Place
E.L. Konigsburg
Teen Fiction
Outsider art. Summer Camp. Protest. Lawyers. Dogs.
Great stuff! But who to recommend it to?


Losing is Not an Option
Rich Wallace
Teen Short Stories
Teen athletics. Growing pains. First romance. Gifted camp. The joy of physicality.
Not bad.


Yossel: April 19, 1943
Joe Kubert
Adult Graphic Novel
Warsaw uprising. Artists. Holocaust.
Very similar to the Pianist, which I recently watched.


The Ring: Volume 1
Hiroshi Takahashi
Teen Graphic Novel
Japan. Manga. Horror.
Pretty much identical to movie.


Taller Tales
Bill Willingham
Adult Graphic Novel
Sandman spin-off. The Dreaming. Humor.
Loved "Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About Dreams…But Were Afraid to Ask".


David Chelsea in Love
David Chelsea
Adult Graphic Novel
More dysfunctional romance.


Vote for Larry
Janet Tashjian
Teen Fiction
Youth and politics. Voter campaigns. Anti-consumerism. Fresh voices.
I hope that teens are reading this and getting ideas.


The Monarch of the Glen
Neil Gaiman
Adult Short Novel
American Gods story.
Not bad.


Herobear and the Kid: the Inheritance
Mike Kunkel
Tween Graphic Novel
Grandfather. Loss. Stuffed bear. Superhero. Secret identities.
This has a surprise twist I really enjoyed. Good for all ages.


Book of Bunny Suicides
Andy Riley
Adult Non-Fiction
Death. Destruction. Bunnies.
Hilarious, though twisted.

Comments

[libation.livejournal.com]

OOh, I'm so excited that there's a sequel to The Gospel According to Larry! Also, about the Williams-Garcia book--that one is up on selection committee right now and I was impressed with the review, but would it be too much for a J? I think I jotted down "Too much for a J but what YA will read about a 10-year-old?" Where are you going to put it?

[dirtylibrarian.livejournal.com]

Yeah...the sequel to Larry is great!

I honestly don't know where you put a book on female circumcision for kids. We have it in our teen area, which seems safer, from a don't-piss-off-the-parents point of view. I told my teen book group about it, and told them I wanted their opinions...haven't heard back from any of them yet. I'm thinking it is a hand-sell to teens. But what the author is trying to do is reach kids who might be affected by this, which sadly is pre-teens. Tough one.

[rocza.livejournal.com]

I want your reading list. Mine reads more like: Jung, Freud, Nietzsche, Nick Hornby, Study of American Deaf Folklore, Darwin, Gould, etc... sigh.

larry

[lara7.livejournal.com]

hey, I read the first larry book- didn't know there was a sequel. awesome!

[holyoutlaw.livejournal.com]

That's a lotta books! I didn't read nearly that many. Sheesh! Less time on the computer, Luko. Okay.

What's a "tween"? Is it someone about 9-13?

Re: larry

[dirtylibrarian.livejournal.com]

I've got a promo copy at work...let me know if you want it.

[dirtylibrarian.livejournal.com]

Ha! My reading list is about 300 emails collected for YA and graphic novel list serves over the last 5 years. You don't want that beast of burden ;)

[dirtylibrarian.livejournal.com]

I'm a pro! ;)

But really...graphic novels and teen/tween books are much speedier than standard grown-up fare.

And yes, tween is indeed 9-13 or so. As in between children's and teen. Those kids that move fluidly between those areas in the library, but also, those kids not yet mature enough for some of the harder teens stuff, in my book.