Scott Pilgrim Vol 1: Scott Pilgrim's Precious Little Life by Bryan Lee O'Malley

Amazon.com:

Scott Pilgrim's life is so awesome. He's 23 years old, in a rock band, "between jobs," and dating a cute high school girl. Everything's fantastic until a seriously mind-blowing, dangerously fashionable, rollerblading delivery girl named Ramona Flowers starts cruising through his dreams and sailing by him at parties. But the path to Ms Flowers isn't covered in rose petals. Ramona's seven evil ex-boyfriends stand in the way between Scott and true happiness. Can Scott beat the bad guys and get the girl without turning his precious little life upside-down?

I'd always been interested in checking out the Scott Pilgrim graphic novels. And then the movie came out, so of course I went to that first. I ended up adoring the movie, probably my favorite so far of 2010, and left with my face hurting from laughing so hard. I then finally decided to give the graphic novels a whirl. I'm sort of under the impression that the movie spans all the books but we will find out if that is true!

I liked the illustration style of the book, because of the size and shape of the book, I was worried that it might be too manga for my taste (I haven't read a manga yet because I don't really like the style of art I've seen in the ones I've flipped through) but I turned out to be completely wrong and thought the illustrations were great, I especially liked the big eyes.

I couldn't help, and can't help here talking about how the graphic novel and movie are the same. You can definitely tell they stayed as close as they could for the movie to the graphic novel. I had to laugh at the fact that this weird hat that Scott wears in the movie originated in the graphic novel, and how close they got the people in the movie to look like the kids in the graphic novel.

And of course, I adore the story, it's cute, hilarious and just awesome. Can't wait to read the rest of the series!

Scott Pilgrim's Precious Little Life was released on August 18th 2004
Genre: Graphic Novel
4/5 Stars
Borrowed from Local Library

Drinking at the Movies by Julia Wertz

Amazon.com:

In her first full-length graphic memoir, Julia Wertz (creator of the cult-hit comic The Fart Party) documents the year she left San Francisco for the unfamiliar streets of New York. Don’t worry—this isn’t the typical redemptive coming-of-age tale of a young woman and her glorious triumph over tragedy or any such nonsense. It’s simply a hilarious—occasionally poignant—book filled with interesting art, absurd humor and plenty of amusing self-deprecation. Box by box, Wertz chronicles four sketchy apartments, seven terrible jobs, family drama, traveling fiascos, and too many whiskey bottles to count.

Being a fan of Fart Party, I was so excited to see Wertz had a new book out and in this case it's a more of a whole store, a graphic memoir, instead of stripes compiled together.

I really think there was no way I couldn't like this book, Julia travels to New York to see what she thinks of it there and being a fan of New York myself I love reading about people's experiences with it.

While we might not have a lot in common hobby wise (I SO don't like beer), I feel like she's the comic voice of my generation. She perfectly describes what it's like to be a 20-something, sometimes you just have no idea what is going on with your life and it sucks. Through it all though she keeps a mostly positive attitude and finds new adventures and discovers more things about herself.

Wertz's sense of humor is great, and no it's not just a fart party people! She's funny and her illustration style is approachable, she keeps it simple and that's what I love in my graphic novels style wise. Besides the humorous bits she mixes in the hard parts of her life and the troubles with her family, to me it flows really well and it extremely honest yet she never gets to down, always seeing the hilarious side of every situation.

If you want to try something a little new and different in graphic novels and are ready to break away from the "classics" of graphic novels, give this one a try!

Drinking at the Movies was released on August 31st 2010
Genre: Graphic Novel
4.5/5 Stars
ARC from Amazon Vine

Degrassi: The Next Generation Extra Credit #3 and #4 by J. Torres art by Eric Kim (#3) and Steve Rolston (#4)

Missing You Degrassi: The Next Generation Extra Credit #3

Spinner has been dumped by Darcy for his cheating ways! But with God as his witness, he promises to get her back no matter what it takes - including resisting all manner of temptation, all summer long. When arch-nemesis Jay Hogart offers to help, Spinner finds himself torn between "good" and "evil." Which one will win out?

Considering what Liberty's been through recently, it's no wonder she's spending her summer vacation moping about. Her parents suspect post-partum depression, but something else is weighing on her mind. Could Liberty be planning a desperate move?

The third book in the Degrassi: TNG Extra Credit series takes us into Spinner and Liberty's worlds. I really like how this book shows what happens to Spinner over the summer so there is a bit of explanation when the new season starts and if he is or isn't back with Darcy!

I think this might have been my least favorite of the books illustration wise, some of the facial expressions were not really detailed enough and some of the wide shots were way too cartoony for me, it made for a disrupt in the story.

Overall though, another fun installment in the series!

Missing You was released on April 24th 2007
Genre: Graphic Novel/TV/Young Adult
4 Stars
Purchased from Amazon Marketplace

Safety Dance Degrassi The Next Generation Extra Credit #4

When Marco sees Dylan get into a fight with a homophobic hockey player, he's suddenly super self-conscious about the way the world looks at him. Dylan wants to take their relationship to the next level, but Marco is holding them back. What will it take for Marco to move forward? Ashley is back from merry ol' England but she's finding it hard to reconnect with her stepbrother Toby and to rekindle the romance with ex-boyfriend Jimmy. Is her talk of all things British keeping them at a distance...? Or is it her hideous hat?

Like the other books in this series, this book focuses on two characters, this time Marco and Ashley. Marco is/was one of my favorite characters so I loved that he got his own story in one of the graphic novels! I really love the author's sense of humor, bringing in the running gag through the books of Ashley's really ugly hat from the season finale of season 5. It was darn ugly!

What I liked about the artwork in this installment was how clean it was. Clean and crisp lines create my favorite types of graphic images in graphic novels!

Overall, I really enjoyed reading the Degrassi: TNG graphic novels, now that it's been a few years since these came out and there is a whole new cast of characters I would love to see a some new installments of the graphic novel series!

Safety Dance was released on May 8th 2007
Genre: Graphic Novel/TV/Young Adult
4 Stars
Purchased from Amazon Marketplace

Degrassi: The Next Generation Extra Credit #1 and #2 by J. Torres art by Ed Northcott (#1) and Ramon Perez (#2)

Turning Japanese Degrassi: The Next Generation Extra Credit #1

It's the end of Ellie's senior year, and as though final exams aren't enough to worry about, she's been placed in a compromising position by one of her bosses at a comic book company. Is quitting her only option?

J.T. turns to the Internet to help cope with the recent troubles in his life. But now he spends most of his time locked in his room, and he can't seem to move on. Is his new habit just making his problems worse?

I want to start off with some information that covers all 4 of the Degrassi Graphic Novels. They read just like episodes of the show, with two main plotlines. All 4 take place basically in the summer between Seasons 5 and 6 with some overlap into those 2 seasons. I'm not sure if I would suggest them for people that aren't familiar with the show, they just kind of jump in where the show left off so there isn't much framework for someone that is new to these characters.

Also, all 4 are illustrated by different people, I'm going to guess the reason for this was because these all came out in a short amount of time and it would be impossible for 1 person to illustrate them all that fast. Though because of the way the different artists draw the characters it helps that there is a page near the front of each book that shows all the characters who are main players in that specific story.

Onto the book, Ellie's internship at a Comic Book company alternates with J.T.s summer at home trying to get over his trying year. I definitely enjoyed Ellie's story more so, there were some great comic references and we got to see more of the characters in her story.

I enjoyed the art, especially the full page illustrations, they provided more detail and in turn more expression on the characters faces.

I think the author did a great job of staying in tune with the show right up to the signature ending without much resolution (which I found hilarious when I first started watching the show). It's hinted that that things will turn out ok but you never actually see it happen!

Turning Japanese was released on November 21st 2006
Genre: Graphic Novel/TV/Young Adult
4 Stars
Purchased from Amazon Marketplace


Suddenly Last Summer Degrassi: The Next Generation Extra Credit #2

Emma gets her groove back with the help of group therapy and a family trip to New York City. But as she returns to her old self, her relationship with Peter begins to suffer. Is he helping Emma recover--or holding her back?

While coaching at basketball camp, Jimmy finds himself dealing with the fallout of a hazing accident. Was the initiation just a prank, or did it cross the line? When the police get involved, Jimmy is faced with a touch decision?

I think Suddenly Last Summer is my favorite of the 4 graphic novels, and that's probably because part of it takes Emma and Manny and Emma's family to New York City! The other story involves Jimmy at basketball camp.

There is a great montage in the book that shows Emma and Manny in New York and the backgrounds are actual posterized photos of the city which makes for a really nice effect. I really like the sleek and stylized illustration this artist used as well, definitely my favorite of the bunch. I also really liked the Alice in Wonderland references.

All in all another great graphic novel from the Degrassi family!

Suddenly Last Summer was released on January 7th 2007
Genre: Graphic Novel/TV/Young Adult
4 Stars
Purchased from Amazon Marketplace

The Double Blog Dare Tour!

Today I'm excited to be part of The Double Blog Dare Tour for Alison Dare! Alison Dare, always up for an adventure insisted on traveling to New York City and BEA with me last month, during our busy schedule we managed to snap a few pictures!

Here's Alison doing some sightseeing at St Thomas's Cathedral

She even got to meet some bloggers for dinner, Gail and Sharon!

Here's Alison at the start of the first day of BEA while waiting to enter the Childrens Breakfast she looks more confident than I felt!

And finally, if I can't take on my schedule she sure will. She came out fighting and was a real trooper!

If you want to share your own Alison Dare adventures and be entered to win a special Alison Dare Prize pack check out this post for all the details!

Now onto my reviews!


Alison Dare: Little Miss Adventure by J. Torres and J. Bone

Tundra Books:

Alison Dare: Indiana Jones meets Lara Croft in fabulous, graphic adventures.Alison Dare is not your typical twelve-year-old. She's the daughter of an archaeologist/adventurer and the masked hero known as the Blue Scarab. To top it off, she's also the niece of an international super-spy; it's no surprise that a craving for danger is in her blood! Unfortunately, her parents have locked her away at the prestigious St. Joan's Academy for Girls, hoping that this would lead to a more "normal" life for their daughter.

But despite all the strict rules at the school, Alison and her best pals - Wendy and Dot - somehow manage to find themselves involved in adventures that rival those of Alison's globetrotting, planet-saving relatives. Whether it's magic genies, super-powered bank robbers, or a dastardly baron bent on world domination, Alison Dare delivers the best thrills since Indiana Jones and more action than Lara Croft!

Let me start by saying even though this is Volume 1 of the set it really read like Volume 2. We are literally thrown into the action with pretty much no introduction. I found Volume 2 to seem more introductory but oh well.

Little Miss Adventures is a series of stories that range from Alison getting into trouble on one of her mother's dig sites, the story of how her parents met (my favorite!) her mother is a world-renowned archaeologist and her father is a masked superhero, the Blue Scarab, to Alison helping her parents fight bad guys at the museum.

I love, love LOVE the illustration style used in these graphic novels. So crisp and clean but also really detailed. It lacks nothing by being in black and white. While I didn't actually read comics as a kid, these certainly would have been the kind to catch my fancy and they still do today!

I think my favorite characters would have to be, Alison of course (she'd kill me if I said otherwise), her father the Blue Scarab (and also a librarian) and her Uncle the master of disguise Johnny Dare. He would show up at the most random times totally unrecognizable there to help Alison and her family fight the bad guys!

Overall a fun graphic novel adventure good for any age!

Alison Dare: Little Miss Adventures was released on May 11th 2010
Genre: Middle Grade Graphic Novel
3.5/5 Stars
Review copy provided by publisher

Alison Dare: The Heart of the Maiden by J. Torres and J. Bone

Tundra Books:

Alison Dare: Indiana Jones meets Lara Croft in fabulous, graphic adventures.Alison Dare is not your typical twelve-year-old. She's the daughter of an archaeologist/adventurer and the masked hero known as the Blue Scarab. To top it off, she's also the niece of an international super-spy; it's no surprise that a craving for danger is in her blood! Unfortunately, her parents have locked her away at the prestigious St. Joan's Academy for Girls, hoping that this would lead to a more "normal" life for their daughter.

But despite all the strict rules at the school, Alison and her best pals - Wendy and Dot - somehow manage to find themselves involved in adventures that rival those of Alison's globetrotting, planet-saving relatives. Whether it's magic genies, super-powered bank robbers, or a dastardly baron bent on world domination, Alison Dare delivers the best thrills since Indiana Jones and more action than Lara Croft!

I think that in Volume 2: The Heart of the Maiden, Alison really shines. These stories take place at Alison's boarding school with her two friends, Wendy and Dot. I like how the entire book contributes to one larger story unlike Volume 1: Little Miss Adventures. We still have all the same characters and Alison getting into trouble and being sneaky but it all ends up focusing on a mystery at Alison's school involving the nuns, the heart of the maiden, ninjas, and a other few hilarious things!

Again the illustrations are phenomenal and Uncle Johnny shows up at the craziest times to help. I hope we can expect this series to continue! I haven't gotten my fill yet!

Alison Dare: The Heart of the Madien was released on May 11th 2010
Genre: Middle Grade Graphic Novel
4/5 Stars
Review copy provided by publisher

Cinderella retold by Beth Bracken and illustrated by Jeffrey Stewart Timmins

Capstone Publishers:

Cinderella's wicked stepmother won't let her go to the ball. But with a little help from a Fairy Godmother, she'll be getting there in style. There's just one catch. At midnight, her magical gown will turn back into dirty old rags.

Like Rapunzel, Cinderella is illustrated by Jeffrey Stewart Timmins and he shines here as well. I especially loved how he treated the women's hair and silhouettes in Cinderella. He has again used watercolor to create these beautiful washes of color but small details too. Thought again I would have wished the speech bubbles be hand drawn.

I love the story of Cinderella and with the addition of Jeffrey Stewart Timmins's illustration this is a winning rendition. Like the other Capstone offerings from the Graphic Spin line in the back of the book you will find a history of the fairy tale, discussions and writing prompts. Cinderella is a reading level of 2.1 or I.

Cinderella was released on September 1st 2009
Genre: Childrens Graphic Novel
4/5 Stars
Review copy provided by publisher

Rapunzel retold by Stephanie Peters and illustrated by Jeffrey Stewart Timmins

Capstone Publishers:

Long ago, a beautiful maiden named Rapunzel lived a life of loneliness. Taken at birth by an evil witch, she remained hidden, locked within a giant tower. Then one day, a prince heard her voice through the forest. To reach her, he must climb Rapunzel’s lovely locks and avoid being caught by the witch.

Of the four children's graphic novels from Capstone I've read I think the books illustrated by Jeffrey Stewart Timmins are my favorite. What a beautiful mix of dark, haunting imagery created with the soft touch of watercolor. The way he creates his characters are so interesting, I especially liked the Witch in Rapunzel. The only thing I would have changed would have been to have the speech bubbles and text also handdone instead of computer generated, I feel like it took away from the magic of the illustration and sort of sticks out like a sore thumb.

The actual story was a great rendition of the fairy tale I remember. I just love that witch! And as with the other books from the Graphic Spin series you can find a glossary, history, discussions and writing prompts in the back of the book. The reading level of Rapunzel is 2.5 or L. This would be a great introduction to the fable for children.

Rapunzel was released March 30th 2009
Genre: Children's Graphic Novel
4/5 Stars
Review copy provided by the publisher

The Castle of Galomar (New Brighton Archeological Society Book 1) by Mark Andrew Smith and Matthew Weldon

Amazon.com:

Out of the ashes of misfortune will rise the next generation of great adventurers! After their parents are lost on an archeological expedition, four children begin to unlock the secrets of their parents' mysterious lives, discovering a hidden world of mystical artifacts, mythical creatures, and arcane knowledge. Soon they find themselves drawn into a conflict over a great library that has kept two kingdoms at war for centuries, the children must save an enchanted forest, the birthplace of magic itself. Join us as these children become the latest members of the fabled New Brighton Archeological Society, and take their first steps towards their true destiny!

The Castle of Galomar is a fun and adventurous graphic novel for the younger set (middle grade). Instantly it gives off a bit of A Series of Unfortunate Events vibe for me, parents disappearing under mysterious circumstances but this time around the kids have more than their siblings to rely on!

The Castle of Galomar is a mixture of mystery, adventure, fables, goblins and fairies! I think most kids that are interested in mysteries and adventures would enjoy this graphic novel. It's definitely set up as the start of a series but can just be enjoyed on its own as well.

I loved the full color illustrations which a lot of graphic novels do not have and I especially loved the full frame pages, some really beautiful imagery. There was a nice balance between sharp detailed facial features or more abstract backgrounds. I did encounter some confusion as to what was going on in a few cases where dialogue wasn't being used and I was supposed to rely just on the imagery to understand what was going on. I think if the jump between the frames was shorter maybe those instances would have made more sense, it would have meant more frames but things would have been clearer for me.


The Castle of Galomar was released on March 4th 2009
Genre: Graphic Novel/Middle Grade
3/5 Stars
Review copy provided by author

The Best Graphic Novels/Comics You Haven't Read

Kelly had the brilliant idea to shine a spotlight on some of the lesser known titles of YA with the help of some Librarything Statistics (number of users owning a book!) Since most of the titles that came up on my list were my favorites of 2009 (I haven't been reading YA that long!) I thought I'd try something a little different and feature some books I read and adored before I started writing reviews. Turns out some of my favorite graphic novels and comics I've barely spoken about so I'd like this opportunity to shine a light in their direction!

Johnny Boo: The Best Little Ghost In The World! by James Kochalka
5 stars
18 Librarything users list in their library

Johnny Boo is one for the kids (and me). I will guesstimate a reading level/interest of maybe elementary school? And it's a series, 3 out with a forth on the way. It's the story of Johnny Boo, his pet ghost Squiggle (pretty sure I bought it for him) and an ice cream monster. Really what else must a cute little graphic novel have?


Invincible Summer by Nicole J. Georges
5 stars
29 Librarything users list in their library

Invincible Summer is a grab bag of comics, illustrations, articles, pet portraits and more compiled from the first five years of Georges's Invincible Summer zine. Her style of drawing is just cute! The book is written as diary comics which I really love. I love how it's a chronological exploration of her life. <3




The Acme Novelty Library Number 18 by Chris Ware
4.5 stars
123 Librarything users list in their library

Some of you may be familiar with Chris Ware's graphic novel Jimmy Corrigan: The Smarest Kid On Earth. Well guess who hasn't even finished that one, me! This is the only book of his that I've read all the way through but I just adored it and am pretty sure I will become a complete fan girl once I read more of his work. The details in his illustration, the story... this is a wonderful book and I can't wait to see how it continues (the stories continue through volumes trading off with other stories).


Holy Moly by Leah Hayes
5 stars
8 Librarything users list in their library

This is so short it's almost a pamphlet! The illustrations are so odd and random I burst out laughing at almost every page! I started on Hayes Funeral of the Heart which is a much longer and entirely created on scratch board graphic novel but haven't yet finished it. So far it doesn't have that same laugh out loud quality though so to me this is the one to start with.



Tales of Woodsman Pete by Lilli Carre
4.5 stars
42 Librarything users list in their library

As I mentioned earlier this week, this is my favorite of Lilli Carre's books. I first saw an excerpt in The Best American Comics 2006 and was intrigued. It jumps back and forth between stories of Woodsman Pete and Paul Bunyan. It's quirky, cute, and little, just the way I like it!




I'd love to hear about some of the lesser known comics and graphic novels that you love! :D

Nine Ways to Disappear by Lilli Carre

Amazon.com:

The charmingly peculiar short stories collected in Nine Ways to Disappear revolve loosely around the theme of disappearance and mark a new form for Lilli Carre. Skillfully drawn single panels explore a rich imagined world where actions have unexpected consequences and loneliness pervades, but not without a sense of the absurd. The stories read like vignettes that can span a day or decades, all drawn within a bordered page in intimate detail.

Each story unfolds quickly and features characters that run the gamut: joke-writing sisters gone awry, a wandering sleepwalker, a pearl with curious properties, an elusive coughing neighbor, a wide-eyed girl of questionable appeal, even a storm drain. Whether animate or inanimate, sweet or monstrous, Lilli has the ability to infuse them all with pathos, humanity, and humor.

I first saw some of Lilli Carre's work on the cover of The Best American Comics 2006 and reading an excerpt of her book Tales of Woodsman Pete within its pages. I went on to read Tales of Woodsman Pete in its entirety and I think it is my favorite of her full length pieces. Last year I read The Lagoon and never shared my thoughts on it because I'm not sure I completely understood it. So I was excited to see what Carre had come up with in Nine Ways to Disappear and I'm pleased to say it's pretty great!

Nine Ways to Disappear is an assortment of long and short stories told frame by frame, some with words others without. I loved that they all carried the theme of disappearing but it completely different ways. One of my favorite stories was Wide Eyes, about a man that ends up hiding between his girlfriend's eyes to get a break from her. I also liked The Pearl, which is about the journey of the pearl and who finds it, takes it, becomes one with it...

Let's talk about the format, the book is a little square that is pretty thick with pages. Because of that and the way it's bound it's pretty hard to keep those tiny little pages open so I had to fight the book to keep it open since I wasn't about to try and crack the spine.

Overall these are some clever little stories with a strangely awesome sense of humor!

Nine Ways to Disappear was released on April 30th 2009
Genre: Graphic Novel
4/5 Stars
Purchased on Amazon.com

Hans Christian Andersen's Thumbelina retold by Martin Powell & illustrated by Sarah Horne

Amazon.com:

Gerta has always wanted a child. One day she finds a little girl in the petals of a magical flower - Thumbelina. The girl's tiny size puts her in harms way and soon she is lost in the forest.

Thumbelina is a fairy tale that is a bit lesser known to me so I was excited to take a peek at it. The book starts off with a cast of characters, giving you your first hint at the beautiful illustrations to come. They are very quirky and colorful, just what I like! The illustrations range from tiny details to almost scribbles.

The story follows Thumbelina's journey back to her mother Gerta after she is plucked from her home while sleeping but a toad! She meets a variety of other animals in the forest including a mouse, mole and song bird.

Stylistically this is a great graphic novel and I only wish it had been longer. Definitely makes me want to search out illustrator, Sarah Horne's work.

Like The Princess and the Pea, Thumbelina comes with a glossary, about the author, about the retelling author and illustrator, discussion questions, and writing prompts. It's laid on in an easy to follow format with a reading level of 2.4 or guiding reading level of L.

Thumbelina was released on August 31st
Genre: Children's Graphic Novel
4/5 Stars
Review copy provided by publisher

The Princess and the Pea retold by Stephanie Peters & illustrated by M.A. Lamoreaux

Amazon.com:

As a young prince nears adulthood, the Queen tells him he must find a princess bride -- but not just any princess will do. Only a true princess will satisfy his mother. The young prince searches the entire kingdom, but returns home alone and sad. Late one stormy night, a mysterious woman knocks at the castle door. She claims to be a true princess, but the Queen has her doubts. So, she concocts a clever scheme to see if the princess is the real thing.

The illustration in The Princess and the Pea are comparable to manga. While personally I'm not yet a fan of that style it could attract a big audience. The panels are laid out for anyone regardless of age to follow along with. The reading level on this is 1.8 or Guided Reading Level: L.

I thought it was exciting to see a classic tale told in a graphic novel format. Would be good for children learning to read or anyone interested in trying out a graphic novel. Having the familiar storyline to hold onto when reading a new format/genre is great I think. I expected it to be a bit longer but the short length I suppose makes sense for the reading level it is geared towards.

The book also includes a short biography of Hans Christian Andersen, information about the retelling author and the illustrator, a history of The Princess and the Pea and discussion questions, writing prompts, and a glossary.

The Princess and the Pea was released on August 15th
Genre: Children's Graphic Novel
3.5/5 Stars
Review copy provided by publisher

Model Life: The Journey of A Pint-Size Fashion Warrior by Isobella Jade and Illustrated by Jazmin Ruotolo

Amazon.com:
Isobella Jade, a student at the New York Institute of Technology, begins exploring the possibility of working as a lingerie model — despite her nontraditional height of 5'4”. A Google search leads her to ads posted on Craigslist, and soon Jade finds herself turning up at private apartments for model shoots that more often than not turn out to be seedy, disappointing, and sometimes downright dangerous. After she is sliced across the eyebrow in a fight with a sleazy so-called fashion photographer who will not respect her boundaries in a photo shoot, Jade decides that she's finished with answering ads on Craigslist. She’s determined to get professional, get an agent, and become a real model. Model Life reveals her glamorous and not-so-glamorous on-the-job experiences in New York City. From her first photo shoot and her close brushes with soft porn to her appearances in ad campaigns for national retailers and magazines, this height-challenged model shares her past in an edgy, illustrated exposé. The original story of the ultimate underdog, Model Life is a celebration of the self-discovery that comes with being self-made and the triumph of beating the odds.

Model Life is based on Isobella Jade's real life experiences with breaking into the modeling world. Though she is much shorter than the average model she is determined and finds that if she looks hard enough the work is out there for someone of her height. While trying to model she's also trying to balance college, friends and a boyfriend.

I thought the book was exciting, will this shoot turn into something huge for Isobella or will it be a dead end? Will she be able to balance school with modeling? I thought the illustrator easily got across scenes with so few frames. That's very important in graphic novels, to get across everything that is happening in one scene with just a few pictures.

I wish that the graphic novel was longer, I feel like it just brushed the surface of Isobella's journey and would have loved to have seen more examples of how she got from where she started in the beginning of the book to how it ended. I do love the way the graphic novel ended though, it got a big awwwww from me.

A few cosmetic things I noticed with the book, I found a few spelling errors (I was reading a final copy) and also noticed the contrast on some of the background photography to be almost non-existent so I had a hard time seeing in detail in the photography. Also the frame structure sometimes changed from page to page so I always had to pay close attention to which frame I was reading first. I loved the illustration style though, it really got Isobella's emotions across and had great movement on the page. And I also loved how some photography, handwritten journal entries and text messages were used to move the story forward.

While I wish the graphic novel explored more of Isobella's journey I thought it was a wonderful and can't wait to read her memoir, Almost 5'4" which I hope will expand on what I read in Model Life.

Model Life will be released on October 20th
Genre: Graphic Novel (Adult)
3.5/5 Stars
Review copy provided by publisher

The Good Neighbors: Kin (Book One) by Holly Black & Ted Naifeh

Amazon.com:

Rue Silver's mother has disappeared . . . and her father has been arrested, suspected of killing her. But it's not as straightforward as that. Because Rue is a faerie, like her mother was. And her father didn't kill her mother -- instead, he broke a promise to Rue's faerie king grandfather, which caused Rue's mother to be flung back to the faerie world. Now Rue must go to save her -- and must also defeat a dark faerie that threatens our very mortal world.

The Good Neighbors: Kin (Book One) combines two of my current obsessions, young adult literature and graphic novels! I haven't read many if any fairy/faerie books so this was a nice introduction. While I didn't totally understand all the faerie lore hopefully understanding will come as the series progresses. Kin introduces several plot lines, from two possible murders, to a suspicious and probably dangerous grandfather to a boyfriend that may or may not have Rue's back.

I loved the gritty feel the book gave off from the story but also the illustration style. Most of the graphic novels I read have a beautiful but clean style to them so it was really interesting to see something different in the illustrations of The Good Neighbors. The illustration style used in this book is really dark and expressive because of the use of, what looks like charcoal. I think this style fits perfectly with the subject matter. In a way it can almost be ugly as well, not ugly ugly but kind of gritty, if that makes any sense. It was almost like a rougher version (in line quality) of Charles Burns Black Hole to me.

I love how the Rue's world slowly starts to blur with the world of the faeries. There is one beautiful full spread of a club that's absolutely breathtaking near the beginning of the book! I can't wait to find out what happened next in this story!

The Good Neighbors: Kin (Book One) came out in paperback October 1st
Genre: Young Adult Graphic Novel
3.5/5 Stars
Review copy provided by publisher

FRIDAY: BEA Day 1 + Tiger Beat + Jim Hanley's Universe

Got up at oh 4:30, met Bethany and Gail in my hotel lobby and we walked down the street to the Javits Center. It was raining which was a bummer but it was only about a 15 minute walk down the street. We got there and there was like no one in sight, eventually we got into the building and were sent on a wild goose chase trying to find the ticket line. At least we got to see part of the building before it was really crowded! Eventually we found the right place and got in line with some other fellow bloggers. It was nice having a bit of time to chat with them!

Afterwards I headed back to the hotel and dried off a bit and did some final planning before heading back. Once I got there I took a seat in the lobby and waited for Sharon to arrive and for Gail and Bethany to finish at their author breakfast. It was funny seeing all the people come in, sit down and take off their sneakers and put on their fancy shoes. There was no way I could have survived in anything but sneakers. Here's what the lobby of the Javits Center looks like, love all the glass!




Friday we got to know how BEA was set up, found where everything was and also quickly discovered there was time to do a lot more than we had originally thought! We did a lot on Friday so here are a few highlights and a picture!


Got Sharon and myself lost looking for the autograph area and ended up at a back loading dock or something! She thought I was going to take her down! :P

Met Janicu at the Blogger Meetup at 9:30 while at the same time losing Sharon and finding her again! LOL! Janicu is so sweet, she got me a signed copy of Rachel Vincent's Pride! Thank you!

Finding an ARC of School of Fear by Gitty Daneshvari which was a recent Waiting on Wednesday pick!

Talking to Sarah MacLean after her time slot in the autograph area.

Meeting Adriana Trigiani! While waiting for the line to open up she came up to us and said "Are You Waiting For Me?!" I almost died, what a sweet lady!!!!!!!

Meeting James Dasher, Shannon Hale, and Elizabeth Noble!

Sitting down on the ground, to eat. The pizza wasn't very good but OMG did I need to sit down right about then and I didn't care where!

Being 1 of 5 people to get a signed copy of Tara McPherson's Lost Constellations. I had no idea how long her line would be so I went early and turns out I was the second person there! She was going to be signing these "signing card" postcard things and then right before she arrived the lady at the booth said the first 5 people would get signed copies of the actual book OMG!

Meeting Tom Dolby and Trenton Lee Stewart!

Getting to sit for awhile while waiting in the Catching Fire line, this is what it looked like before the line started moving! That white stuff up there is where the actual line starts!


And to end our day at BEA Gail and I got to meet Natalie Standiford who was signing her new book, How to Say Goodbye in Robot. I think her book is one that I am most excited about and it's definitely one of my new favorite covers!

Once I got back to the hotel I changed quickly and headed back out the door to Books of Wonder. Lots going on over there, a bunch of authors hanging out and wouldn't you know it, some of them were there to rock!

Here's Rachel Cohn and David Levinthan also known as The Infinite Playlist? That's what they call themselves right? And they opened for the band Tiger Beat!

Tiger Beat is made up by authors Libba Bray, Daniel Ehrenhaft, Barnaby Miller, and Natalie Standiford! What an awesome show they put on! Here is a video of one of their songs if you are interested!

After that we went to the hotel so I could sit down some more and stop whining, after having some Subway (I know I know, not what I should be eating- it was across the street!) We headed to one final comic book store, Jim Hanley's Universe. It was within walking distance from our hotel and also right near the Empire State Building. This was definitely my favorite comic book store there. They had a lot of interesting stuff which I just couldn't help but buy! Here's what I got:

The coolest thing I found there was this little box of comics called Carnival Comics, I'm all about cute stuff and how cute is that! It had all those comics just to the right of it in it. Can't wait to read these.

After that we headed back to the hotel and I crashed! Up next Saturday...

THURSDAY: Teen Author Carnival + The Strand or OMG OMG OMG!

And thus begins my NYC/BEA series of posts, hope I don't bore you too much...

So got into the city Thursday early afternoon and hit the ground running. Left our bags at our hotel's front desk and then stopped by the Javits Center and got my badge and then headed to the Museum of Comic and Cartoon Art and then stopped for a lovely lunch at Wendy's (what can I say, when pressed for time other things matter more than what I eat!). During the lovely dining experience (with a creepy bathroom) Sharon and I realized we were very near each other in the city. So we met up in the Manga section of Forbidden Planet! I was actually about to skip Forbidden Planet for some other comic shops but the girl working at the MOCCA said it was a great one and see was right!

This is what I got:
I only picked up a few things because I knew I would have to carry around anything I bought for the rest of the day. That cat thing with 3 eyes is a Tara McPherson toy. I knew I would be meeting her tomorrow at her signing so I figured that was just perfect! That little duck thing is apparently a zipper pull but I just think it's cute!

Determined to hit up another comic shop no matter what Sharon or my mom said (:P) we headed into what we thought was St. Marks Comics but turned out to be St. Marks Bookshop, don't even ask, I was like frantically running for stores. We did end up going to St. Marks Comics as well, er, I guess the blurb I read about it made it sound better than it was, but that's ok. After that we stopped for the cupcakes that Sharon blogged about, see them here.

After that it was time to head to the Jefferson Market Branch of the NY Public Library system for the Teen Author Carnival! And holy crap was that the coolest thing ever! Met up with a bunch of bloggers and authors! You all know who you are! Here's a few pictures!

Steph Su and Sharon waiting for the festivities to begin!

Here's Sarah Cross and one of her blogger pals coughstalkerscough Sharon! :P

Here's Sarah signing a copy of Dull Boy, not for me but for one of you! Stay tuned....

Here's Maureen Johnson signing a paperback copy of Suite Scarlett for me!

Here's Michelle Zink signing a copy of her book Prophecy of the Sisters!

Here we have Jessica Burkhart, Sarah MacLean and Micol Ostow!

Me and Melissa Walker!

So the Teen Author Carnival was split up into 3 different sections because there were so many authors! A Q & A section which I forgot to get a picture of, a meet and greet, and a signing area! So the authors were split into 3 groups and rotated around!

I brought a handful of books to be signed and they also had Barnes and Noble there selling copies of the authors books as well, so of course I had to buy some more. That's what you see pictured below along with some other "prize books". They made sure we didn't leave empty handed! All in all this was awesome and a big shout out to everyone involved in making it happen!

When the Teen Author Carnival ended myself, Sharon, and Steph Su headed over to The Strand to meet Gail and Bethany! We went out to eat (I had pizza) then we had to say bye to Steph Su! Next we headed back over to The Strand.


The Strand Master aka Sharon showed us around before she had to take off so she could get to bed at a reasonable time. The stuff I bought at The Strand plus the Teen Author Carnival pretty much filled the duffel bag I brought! Here's what I got:


After checking out we parted ways and hopped into some cabs so Gail, Bethany, and I could meet up at 5am the next morning to head over to the Javits Center to get tickets for Catching Fire!

Next up Friday.....

French Milk by Lucy Knisley

Amazon.com Product Description:

For her 22nd birthday—and her mother's 50th—Lucy Knisley and her mother went to Paris. For more than a month, they toured the City of Lights from their fifth arrondissement flat, exploring museums and cafes, taking photographs, eating pastries and drinking French milk, which Knisley says is sweeter than its American counterpart; she compares it with the influence we take in from our mothers. Knisley's first book is unquestionably a travel journal first and foremost: Lucy-the-writer is so close to Lucy-the-subject that at times the story lacks background and emotional complexity. But as a travel journal French Milk shines. Knisley's photographs from the trip punctuate sketches of her daily adventures and musings about graduating from art school, first love and having an adult relationship with her mother. Best of all are Knisley's portraits of home at the beginning and end of the book, which capture her childhood home and college life lovingly but with clear eyes. Knisley's cartoony drawings are pleasingly clean in one panel and tellingly detailed in the next. A word-of-mouth hit when it first came out in a self-published limited edition, French Milk will remind readers of their own early trips to Europe and of traveling in their 20s.

Warning, this book will make you hungry, it will make you hungry for foods you've never even heard of! A friend told me about comic artist, Lucy Knisley and her blog. I think the post she told me about was a day she had drawn everything she had eaten for dinner the night before at a fancy restaurant. So I wasn't really surprised to see all her food drawings in this book but it still made me want to try all the things she ate, things I had never heard of! I still don't know what some of them are, what are cornichons?

Anyhow, this book is a combination of a travel journal and a 20-something journal of worry and growing up. I loved it! I'm a 20-something so that part was very easy to relate to for me and also I love to travel (not that I have done much lately) so I love to read about trips. To me, there's really no better way to read a travel journal that in the form of comics! Everything is so much easier to visualize! It also doesn't hurt that a lot of photos are included.

This book is seriously a gem, this girl has got good taste! She talks about everything from her day's purchases to weird things about the apartment she and her mom are staying in to the books she is reading. It's great. I wish it was like 4 times longer! Good thing she has another book and a website that she updates often. And her illustration style? It's so cute, she can go from simple drawings to more detailed beautiful images of people (i love the way she draws faces).

It reminded me a bit of Vanessa Davis's book Spaniel Rage, they are both the going ons of a young woman's life, they don't really set out to get a laugh but sometimes do anyways! It's basically their journal. Great stuff, and I want to read much much more!

4.5/5 Stars
Purchased by myself

Delayed Replays by Liz Prince

Amazon.com Product Description:

With this second collection of comic strips after the critically-acclaimed Will You Still Love Me If I Wet The Bed?, Liz Prince continues to explore the intimacy of the couple, while at the same time revealing snippets of her life as a young cartoonist. Sentimental and humorous, these little gems of chaotic relationships and life come off like the best of daily newspaper strips.

Liz Prince's comics are slice of life comics. Funny encounters, funny situations, and even funny noises! It's all there! They remind me a little of Julia Wertz's Fart Party comics. Like Wertz sometimes, Prince uses a very rough sketchy illustration style for her comics.

I had a lot of laugh out loud moments reading these comics. The author has a sassy yet cute attitude which comes across great! A few of the characters seemed familiar from her previous comic, Will You Still Love Me If I Wet The Bed? but I was a little uncertain who was who. I thought I knew which was her boyfriend (he appears a lot in her previous collection) but by the end I was a little unsure. It would have been nice in the front or back to have a list of characters to keep everyone straight.

All in all, this is a great, little and fast collection of random slice of life comics!

4/5 Stars
Purchased by myself

Have you ever read any autobiographical comics before?

Romeo and Juliet by Esther Pearl Watson

Amazon.com Product Description:

This remarkably well-told, bizarre and updated version of the classic tale of love and loss will blow your mind. Narrated by Donkey Kong, and set in a urban high school. Instead of poisoning themselves, the young lovers prove their devotion to each other by crushing themselves under a Coke machine. By Esther Pearl Watson, regular contributor to Bust magazine.

Esther Pearl Watson is hilarious, random, and very unique. When I heard she did a version of Romeo and Juliet I just had to read it!

The comic was funny and very very random, if a bit short. Having her strip, Unlovable to compare it to it didn't exactly live up to my expectations. Don't get me wrong, the illustrations were great, the story was funny and it was very very random. I just think the author truly shines with her Unlovable strip, which is why I'm very glad all the Unlovable comics have been collected into a book!

But anyways, it was definitely fun comparing her comic to the Romeo and Juliet we have all read! If you are ready to try an short indie comic with familiar content this is the place to start!

3.5/5 Stars
Purchased by myself

What's one remake of a story you enjoy?

Graphic Novels Challenge 2009

So I was super excited to find out that Laza had started a graphic novel challenge! She has even created levels of participation you can choose from. So I looked over all the graphic novels I have to read and wanted to read and decided to go for the highest level, Doctorate, which is to read 24 graphic novels! I'm taking the term graphic novel a bit loosely to include some anthologies, smaller comic books and an illustrated zine anthology. Anyhow I'm very excited. Check out the challenge's blog here to join!

1. 32 Stories by Adrian Tomine

2. At A Crossroads: Between A Rock and My Parents Place by Kate T. Williamson

3. Best American Comics 2008 edited by Lynda Barry

4. Delayed Replays by Liz Prince

5. Diary of a Mosquito Abatement Man by John Porcellino

6. Breaking Up by Aimee Friedman

7. French Milk by Lucy Knisley

8. Funeral of the Heart by Leah Hayes

9. Girl Stories by Lauren Weinstein

10. Invincible Summer Volume 2 by Nicole J Georges

11. Janes in Love by Cecil Castellucci

12. Jimmy Corrigan: The Smartest Kid on Earth by Chris Ware

13. Like a Velvet Glove Cast in Iron by Daniel Clowes

14. Little Things: A Memoir in Slices by Jeffrey Brown

15. Mome Vol. 10 Winter/Spring 2008 edited by Gary Groth

16. The New York Four by Brian Wood

17. Nothing Better: No Place Like Home by Tyler Page

18. Ojingogo by Matt Forsythe

19. Pussey! by Daniel Clowes

20. A Year in Japan by Kate T. Williamson

21. Watchmen (need to check out from library)

22. Unlovable by Esther Pearl Watson

23. The Lagoon by Lilli Carre

24. Romeo and Juliet by Esther Pearl Watson