The Center of Cartoon Studies, producer of the critically lauded graphic biographies of Harry Houdini, Satchel Paige and Henry David Thoreau, adheres to the same winning formula with this charmer about famed aviator Amelia Earhart. Readers meet the fictionalized Grace Goodland, a young Newfoundland girl striving to be a reporter, who finds herself enamored with the nonconformist Earhart and tells the story from her earnest viewpoint. Grace keeps a keen eye on Earhart as she and her pilot face daily struggles to depart from the treacherous harbor for their 1928 Atlantic crossing. When Earhart finally completes her transatlantic voyage, she telegrams Grace, giving the girl her first real “scoop.” Following a similar format as its predecessors, this volume contains panel notes at its conclusion, adding deeper layers of history to the already rich narrative. An introduction from astronaut Eileen Collins also adds to the title’s charisma. Coupled with the rich prose, Towle’s detailed art truly makes this stellar book a visual feast. Like Earhart herself, this book ought to soar exuberantly into the hearts of its readers. (Graphic historical fiction. 9-12)
Pub Date: Feb. 2, 2010
ISBN: 978-1-4231-1337-9
Page Count: 96
Publisher: Disney-Hyperion
Review Posted Online: Dec. 15, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2010
A striking glimpse into Chinese girlhood during the 1970s and ’80s.
Beginning with a breathtaking dream of riding a golden crane over the city of Wuhan, China, Liu Na, recounts her subsequent waking only to discover that Chairman Mao has passed away. The 3-year-old finds this difficult to process and understand, although she is soon caught up in the somber mood of the event. From there, her life unfolds in short sketches. With this intimate look at her childhood memories, Liu skillfully weaves factual tidbits into the rich tapestry of her life. In the section titled “The Four Pests,” she explains about the four pests that plague China—the rat, the fly, the mosquito and the cockroach (with an additional explanation of how the sparrow once made this list, and why it is no longer on it)—and her stomach-turning school assignment to catch rats and deliver the severed tails to her teacher. In “Happy New Year! The Story of Nian the Monster,” she explains the origins of Chinese New Year, her favorite holiday, and her own vivid, visceral reflections of it: the sights, sounds and smells. Extraordinary and visually haunting, there will be easy comparisons to Allen Say’s Drawing from Memory (2011); think of this as the female counterpart to that work.
Beautifully drawn and quietly evocative. (glossary, timeline, author biography, translations of Chinese characters, maps) (Graphic memoir. 9-12)
Pub Date: Oct. 1, 2012
ISBN: 978-0-7613-8115-0
Page Count: 96
Publisher: Graphic Universe
Review Posted Online: April 24, 2012
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2012
BOOK REVIEW
African-American Geo cuts a suitably chiseled figure in the pictures, but he doesn’t get enough to do and so is really no...
Superhero Geo introduces readers to plate tectonics.
Reviewing information on his way to school for a big geology test, young George transforms himself into “Geo,” a uniformed superhero with a rocket-propelled skateboard and a robotic canine sidekick. In his imaginary adventure, he leaps over sidewalk “faults,” swerves away from “tsunamis” splashed up by a passing truck and saves an elderly lady from falling into an open manhole “volcano.” Meanwhile, supported by visual aids provided by inserted graphics and maps, Geo goes over the convergent, divergent and transform movements of tectonic plates, subduction, magnetic “stripes” paralleling oceanic ridges and a host of other need-to-know facts and terms. All of this is illustrated in big, brightly colored sequential panels of cartoon art hung about with heavy blocks of explication. After the exam comes back with, natch, a perfect score (“I guess all that studying paid off”), Lee, a geophysicist, abandons the story for a final 10 pages of recap and further detail on plate tectonics’ causes, effects and measurement—closing with a description of what geologists do.
African-American Geo cuts a suitably chiseled figure in the pictures, but he doesn’t get enough to do and so is really no more than a mouthpiece—perhaps there will be more of a plot in his next adventure. (online projects, index) (Graphic nonfiction. 10-12)Pub Date: Oct. 1, 2014
ISBN: 978-1-59327-549-5
Page Count: 40
Publisher: No Starch Press
Review Posted Online: Aug. 19, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2014
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