Author: booknutgirls

booknutgirls http://thebooknutdotcom.wordpress.com I read. I blog. I sell books. I chauffeur my kids. What more do you need to know?

Jukebox

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by Nidhi Chanani
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Content: There are some intense moments. It’s in the middle grade graphic novel section of the bookstore.

Shaheen’s dad is always going on about musicians and records, and she just wants to tune him out. But when he goes missing, she and her cousin, Tannaz, go looking for him and discover a time-transporting jukebox in a record store that Shaheen’s dad was always frequenting.

From there, it’s traveling through time trying to figure out what the jukebox is doing and where Shaeheen’s dad is. Full of historical facts and bits of music, this is a delightful graphic novel! Shaheen starts the book out hesitant and withdrawn, but the idea of finding her dad helps give her courage. it’s fun, it’s a smartly drawn book — I loved the historical bits — and full of music facts. Perfect for anyone who enjoys music.

Salt Magic

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by Hope Larson and Rebecca Mock
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Content: There is some death and it’s mostly adult problems. It’s in the middle grade section of the bookstore because it’s not quite adult either.

It’s 1919, and Vonceil’s older brother Eber has just come home from the war. She thought it would be just like before he left: they would be best buds. But he comes back changed, more serious, and marries his sweetheart right away, which makes Vonceil mad. And then Greda shows up. She’s a woman Eber met in France who has come to pick up what she thought they had When she finds out that Eber is married, she reveals that she’s a witch, and curses their family’s farm. Vonceil realizes that it’s her responsibility to fix the problem, so sets off after Greda to write the wrong.

It’s part historical fiction, Oklahoma in the early 1900s, but it’s mostly a fairy tale as Vonceil learns Greda’s story and faces down witches n her quest to support her family.

It’s a fun graphic novel, and I enjoyed the story. But, I wonder if it’s one that kids will really like? It’s a fairy tale, yes, set in America, which is unique. But it’s also about adults with very adult problems. It also lacks in the diversity department; there’s exactly one non-white character. Maybe it’ll find its audience somewhere. I didn’t dislike it but it wasn’t the best one either.

My Body in Pieces

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by Marie-Noëlle Hébert, translated by Shelley Tanaka
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Content: She talks about weight and body issues. It will probably be triggering for some. It’s in the graphic novel section of the bookstore.

This is a memoir by a woman looking back on growing up overweight. She expresses her loathing of her body, the bullying by classmates (and parents), the small things that hurt to hear, and the effect they had on her and her self-perception.

It’s not an easy graphic novel to read. Done in stark black and white charcoal drawings, I sometimes lost the thread of what was supposed to be happening. But, the message came through: talking about how a person looks is damaging. The small messages that you think help actually hurt. Society puts so much pressure on women to look a certain way, and that is so very detrimental to our mental well-being.

The art style kept me from loving it as much as I wanted to, though it did have me in tears by the end. And the final panel? It’s the message we all need to hear. Repeatedly.

The Legend of Auntie Po

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by Shing Yin Khor
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Content: There is a death, but nothing graphic. It’s in the middle grade graphic novel section of the bookstore.

Mei bakes the pies for the loggers and workers in a camp in the Sierra Nevadas in 1885. Her father runs the kitchen, and the two of them make a good team. She’s happy enough, even though she’s Chinese and knows that she won’t have the same opportunities as her best friend Bee, who is white. That doesn’t stop her from trying to learn more, from telling stories of the legendary Auntie Po, and from being the best person she can be.

That makes it sound trite because this was a really solid graphic novel. I enjoyed the historical context, knowing that the conflicts that existed between the white people and the Chinese workers were real. But I also enjoyed the larger-than-life feel of it, as well. Is Auntie Po real? Did he help the loggers? Did Mei see her? I also thought the adult characters were pretty great from Hels the foreman to Hao, Mei’s dad.

A really solid book from Khor. I can’t wait to see what she does next!

In the Shadow of the Fallen Towers

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by Don Brown
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Content: It’s not graphic, but it is frank about the events of 9/11.

The subtitle of this book says it all: The seconds, minutes, hours, days, weeks, months, and years after the 9/11 attacks.

It’s a good anniversary book, timed to come out on the 20th anniversary of the attacks. It essentially covers the events of that day and the following days, focusing on personal stories. Probably a good introduction to someone who knows nothing about the attacks (say, young kids these days, though my kids still get remembrances in school). The art is done in grays and browns, keeping it from being too graphic, and underscoring the seriousness of the story.

But.

I am tired of 9/11. I am tired of remembering. Especially in this time of COVID, when more than the number of people who died in the attacks have died every single day. I am tired of rallying around the “remember New York” cry. I am tired of this America.

So, no, this book wasn’t the best thing for me to read. Perhaps someone else will enjoy it more.

Borders

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by Thomas King, illustrations by Natasha Donovan
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Content: There are some moments that might be intense for some readers. It’s in the middle grade Graphic Novel section of the bookstore.

The premise is simple: A boy and his mother want to go visit family in Salt Lake City from Canada. However, when they get to the border, the customs agents want them to declare a country The mother says “Blackfoot” which isn’t an acceptable answer. The rest of the book is the story of them being caught in the space between border crossings and how they get out.

It’s a simple story, but a powerful one. I admire the way the mother stuck to her values: they are Blackfoot, not Canadian, and that should be an acceptable answer for border crossings. The art is clear and realistic but not overly so. It was the story that I really appreciated in this one. I appreciated the back story about their lives, even if the only person named was the sister, and I enjoyed the way this story was resolved. It may not be the most brilliant graphic novel out there, but it is an important and interesting one.

My Last Summer with Cass

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by Mark Crilley
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Content: There is some teenage drinking and nudes in art. It’s in the graphic novel section of the bookstore.

Megan and Cass have known each other their whole lives. They used to spend summers together in a cabin by a lake in Michigan, and that’s where they discovered their mutual love of art. But., as they got older, Cass’s family stopped coming and they grew apart. But the summer fore their senior year, Megan begs her parents to go spend the summer in New York City with Cass. What Megan experiences when she gets there, though, opens her eyes to a whole new art world.

This in some ways is very much a small-town girl is changed by big-city ways” book. Megan is a midwesterner, Cass is a New Yorker. Her ways, especially when it comes to art, are better. Of course. As a midwesterner, I kind of resented that. There is personal growth for both Megan and Cass, which is good, but I really felt the story felt flat. What did amaze me is the art. It’s a gorgeous book. Simply stunning to look at. But that wasn’t enough for me to really love it.

Measuring Up

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by Lily LaMotte and Ann Xu
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Content: There is some pressure on a character by a parent, which may be triggering for some. It’s in the Middle Grade Graphic Novel section of the bookstore.

Cici and her family live in Taiwan. She’s happy; she has her A-ma there to keep her company while her parents work and to teach her how to cook. So when Cici’s parents take jobs in America, Cici is heartbroken. Especially since A-Ma isn’t coming. Life in America is strange, and Cici wants to find a way to help A-Ma visit, so she enters a cooking competition for kids. The only problem is that Cici only knows how to cook Taiwanese dishes, and not “American”. She learns about Julia Child (yay!) and practices and practices to become better. And yet, she doesn’t want to lose her own identity and heritage.

What a delightful book! I loved the meshing of the immigrant story and food. There is a huge metaphor about how immigrants have to balance assimilation and their own heritage. There’s also a theme about finding your own path and not the one that your parents set out for you. I loved the characters, and how Xu drew them. She also met the challenge of drawing food and cooking, which isn’t easy.

I adored this one.

Across the Tracks

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by Alverne Ball and Stacy Robinson
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Content: There are depictions of violence, including lynching. It’s in the graphic novel section of the bookstore.

In the early 1900s, due to Jim Crow, the Blacks in Tulsa developed their own community. They had stores, libraries, doctors, and were a thriving community. Of course, because of white supremacy, the white people in town couldn’t have the Blacks getting all successful. They invented a reason to arrest and lynch a Black kid, and then, when the Black families rose up in defense, burned the Black part of town, killing and unhousing families. The Black people built things back, but it wasn’t ever the same, and the white people swept history under the rug.

This is a very good history of that moment in time, highlighting the achievements of the Black people — doctors, lawyers, businessmen, educators — as well as the maliciousness of the white people. The text is pretty frank, and the art reflects that: it’s realistic and descriptive.

I think this is an important graphic novel and one that everyone should read. But, I’m not sure it was a great graphic novel It was lacking something to bring me into the story – perhaps because it was history and not really a story. it lacked a personal element, something to make me really care when the Black part of town burned. (That sounded harsh; I mean I care that white people were awful and racist and destructive. I just meant the story lacked an emotional core, if that makes sense.)

Recommended for the history.

Chunky

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by Yehudi Mercado
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Content: There is talk about weight loss and body issues, including some bullying, which might be triggering. It’s in the middle-grade graphic novel section of the bookstore.

Hudi is a bit overweight and his parent and doctors think he should join a sport to lose weight. The only thing that keeps Hudi engaged in the sports — he’d rather be telling jokes — is his imaginary friend, Chunky, who is Hudi’s own personal cheerleader. But when Hudi gets in with a group of boys who want him to be something other than he is, Chunky and Hudi get into a fight (can you get into a fight with your imaginary friend?) and Hudi has to decide what’s truly important.

I wanted to like this one. It’s got a Jewish Latinx main character (and author). It’s sometimes funny. But it mostly just made me uncomfortable. I suppose there are some kids out there who might like it, and perhaps it’s good for representation and empathy’s sake, but mostly this was a hard no from me.