A story with easy appeal for fans of coming-of-age adventures and Star Wars.
An underdog finds confidence and the courage to share his love of filmmaking with his community.
As a middle child and junior high school student, Mark battles insecurities about his height and weight. His siblings (younger and older) outperform him in sports. Bullies push him around and call him “Tattoo,” an uncomfortable (and likely mystifying) reference to the television series Fantasy Island. Deriving little comfort from his mother’s favorite saying, “Big things come in small packages,” Mark dreams of bulking up on summer vacation so his crush, Lisa Gorman, will finally notice him. However, when a new movie set in a galaxy far, far away inspires Mark to embark on his own filmmaking project, he discovers another way to build his confidence. In this graphic memoir, Tatulli reflects on his own struggles with body image and the beginnings of his passion for creating art. The comic-book format invites readers to participate in Mark’s creative process as he develops his Star Bores spoof. Full spreads show his storyboarding and each of his hacks for designing costumes and props without a budget. An animated art style contributes to the lighthearted liveliness of the conflict. Panels depict the author, his family, and Lisa as white; his classmates are diverse, including pal Kevin, who is black. Overall, Tatulli’s story shares a positive message about dedication and overcoming obstacles through imagination and creativity.
A story with easy appeal for fans of coming-of-age adventures and Star Wars. (Graphic memoir. 8-12)Pub Date: Oct. 23, 2018
ISBN: 978-0-316-44049-3
Page Count: 256
Publisher: Little, Brown
Review Posted Online: July 31, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2018
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
Livelier than the typical history textbook but sillier than the many outstanding works on the Civil War available for young...
Travel with Nathan Hale back to 1861 for the famous Civil War battle between the USS Monitor and the CSS Virginia, the war’s first ironclad ships.
Unless readers have read Hale’s One Dead Spy (2012) first, they may well wonder why the famous spy Nathan Hale, hanged for espionage in 1776, is telling this future story of naval warfare during the Civil War. It turns out that Nathan Hale—the spy, not the author—was standing at the gallows when he was swallowed by a giant book of American history. He lives to tell about it and, presumably, other tales of America for future volumes of Hazardous Tales. This volume, completed prior to One Dead Spy, is a wild ride of a graphic novel, featuring not only Nathan Hale, but his hangman, a fox representing Gustavus Fox, Assistant Secretary of the Navy, and the various participants in the battle. Sketched, inked and colored in Photoshop, the two-color, frenetic volume succeeds in presenting the chaos of war. The backmatter is notable for its informative biographies of key players, a timeline, and a small but well-selected bibliography.
Livelier than the typical history textbook but sillier than the many outstanding works on the Civil War available for young readers, this will appeal to both history buffs and graphic-novel enthusiasts. (Graphic historical fiction. 8-12)Pub Date: Aug. 1, 2012
ISBN: 978-1-4197-0395-9
Page Count: 128
Publisher: Amulet/Abrams
Review Posted Online: June 12, 2012
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2012
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