Book Review - Noggin

Title: Noggin
Author: John Corey Whaley
Genre: Sci-fi (though a strong case could be made for calling it realistic fiction)
Similar books: The Fault in Our Stars by John Green
                     Everybody Sees the Ants by A S King
Rating: 

Trying. Not. To. Cry.

Summary: When treatment for his Leukemia failed, sixteen year old Travis Coates agreed to have his head cryogenically frozen. He figured if he ever got a new body it would be decades in the future and most everyone he knew would be gone. Instead he awakens in just five years. The world is very much the same but his loved ones have changed. Travis is a teen in the wrong time.
My Opinion: I absolutely adored Whaley's debut novel, Where Things Come Back, so I was both thrilled by and terrified of this novel. I should have known Whaley would not disappoint. Travis's humor about his situation keep this book from becoming maudlin as he attempts to adjust to his new life. Still, it's a pretty serious book addressing figuring out your place in the world, lost love, accepting change, and grief. This is stuff that many teenagers deal with, making it very relatable. Travis, of course, must also figure out how to cope with his sudden fame, people who consider him a miracle or an abomination and his sense of obligation to his body donor. Plus all of his friends, his girlfriend, are now adults while he remains a teen.

Graphic Novel Night

With the popularity of graphic novels at our library, we decided to devote an evening program to them. So, last night was Graphic Novel Night. We had three main activities.

1. Vote for your favorite graphic novel series.
    I had cover art from six of our most popular graphic novel series out on a table. Kids put a poker chip on their favorite cover.

2. Book talk of some lesser known and sadly under appreciated graphic novels.
    I pulled about 15 less popular graphic novels (including 1 manga) and 2 new graphic novels and did a quick pitch for why they should read each book.


3. Make your own graphic novel
    This was probably the longest portion of the program. After a quick talk about the steps to making comics and an explanation of the Marvel method, I set them loose to draw whatever they wanted. The cool part of this portion was the conversation that came up. The kids recommended graphic novels that we don't own and I had a great talk with a manga fan. Since I don't read much manga myself, I learned a lot from her. She recommended several series she thought I might like. I did the same for her with American graphic novels and traditional print novels.

WWW Wednesdays

What are you currently reading?
Big Fat Disaster by Beth Fehlbaum
Colby's life implodes when her politician father simultaneously abandons the family and is indicted on fraud charges. Her mother and sisters are hard on her due to her weight and she has no school friends. Now they are moving into a trailer in a relative's back yard and must contend with a cousin who hates them. 

What did you recently finish reading?
Noggin by John Corey Whaley
When 16 year old cancer patient Travis Coates decided to have his head cryogenically frozen, he expected to reawaken decades in the future to a drastically different world. He awakens in just five years to discover life is pretty much the same. The people he knows, on the other hand are very different indeed.
This was my big "can't wait" book of the year so I was pretty excited to read it. Come back on Friday for my full review.
 
What do you think you'll read next?
Fragile Line by Brooklyn Skye 
    

Ninja Librarians Recon Team Week 4

It's hard to believe I've been doing these prompts for 4 weeks already! For your enjoyment I present the fourth Ninja Librarians Recon Team prompt:
Which historical figure would you apprentice for and what would you learn?

After a lot of consideration (so many amazing people to choose from) I settled on naturalist William Bartram. As Bartram's apprentice I would learn to identify and classify plants, as well as how to accurately draw them for reference later. The advantage to being able to identify plants is no matter where you go, you'd know what is edible. It's an essential survival skill that I've always admired. I also think I'd benefit from some expert drawing tips. Plus, Bartram worked with a lot of historical figures in his life time. He was friends with Benjamin Franklin and it seems to me as his apprentice I'd stand a decent chance of meeting his famous friends, which would be completely awesome.

And if I didn't get accepted as Bartram's apprentice, I'd probably Hugh Lofting just so I could learn to write like him.

Sketches and notes

Normally on Mondays I share a finished craft project with you. Here it is Monday and while I have several projects in progress, I don't have anything finished. So I thought this would be a good time to give you a peek at some of my in progress writing projects through pictures.

These first pictures are from my idea wall. It's made up of character sketches, maps and hcarts, summaries, and assorted notes for writing projects I'm working on.
 

Quite literally, this is the wall over my bed.

A character sketch with costume notes.

Hair styles

The rest of these pictures are from a graphic novel project I'm working on. These are mostly sketches that will be used for assorted panels.

The opening splash panel

An establishing shot

These guys are the main character, Auggie the sea snake, and his best friend Drake, a weedy sea dragon.

Auggie and a friend he meets late in the book, Gunner.

 

Book Review: Don't Look Back

Title: Don't Look Back
Author: Jennifer Armentrout
Genre: Mystery
Similar books: Loud Awake and Lost by Adele Griffin
                     The Dark Days of Hamburger Halpin by Josh Berk
Rating:

Nail-biting suspense

Summary: Sam wakes up in the woods, with no idea of who she is or what she is doing there. After she returns home and tries to put her life back together, she realizes she doesn't really like the person she had been. She'd like to take full advantage of this opportunity to reinvent herself. There's only one problem: her best friend is still missing. The best chance to find out what happened to Cassie is for Sam to remember. And someone wants Sam to stay quiet.
My Opinion: This book has really great pacing and it is just as much driven by character as by plot. The mystery of Sam and Cassie's disappearance is nicely blended with Sam's rediscovery of her old life. We begin to understand how Sam got to be such a cruel person the same way she does: in bits and pieces through stories told by those around her. Plus, the twist at the end is fantastic, with just enough hints in retrospect to make it believable without becoming obvious. A fantastic mystery for older teens.
Other Information: Don't Look Back releases April 15, 2014

Advanced Reader Copy provided by Netgalley

Graphic Novel Spotlight: Rudyard Kipling's Just So Comics

Rudyard Kipling's Just So Comics by Rudyard Kipling and Pedro Rodriguez

Visuals are a great way to retell classic stories and improve the understanding of a modern audience. And this book has fantastic visuals. The pictures are very cartoony and appealing to small children. The expressions are dynamic and telling. Plus, they picked some of the best Just So stories for this volume. It has my favorite from childhood (The Elephant's Child) and my favorite from adulthood (How the Camel got his hump).

On a side note, is it just me or does the cartoon of Rudyard Kipling on the cover there look kind of like Teddy Roosevelt?