Book review - The Trolls Will Feast

Title: The Creeps #2: The Trolls Will Feast
Author: Chris Schweizer
Genre: humor/horror/graphic novel
Similar books: Camp Midnight by Steven T. Seagle
                     Lumberjanes by Noelle Stevenson
Rating:

a fun adventure

Summary (provided by publisher): In Pumpkins County, monster attacks are a common enough occurrence, but when Jarvis is attacked by an invisible monster, the Creeps know they've found their next case. Through Mitchell's extensive monster expertise, the gang identifies the culprit: a Troll. Unfortunately, Trolls travel in packs. They hibernate together, and they feast on humans together. The tastiest type of human? Those who have been marinating in their own stress hormones. And there's an awful lot of stress to go around these days, what with the town's gossip site spewing out nonstop misinformation and alarmist messages. Could the Trolls be behind the county-wide breakdown in communication? With the town's anxiety levels soaring off the charts, it's up to the Creeps to find out—before the Trolls' big feast.
This hilarious graphic-novel series celebrates the power of underdogs and the importance of finding your tribe—even if your tribe is weird and just, well . . . creepy.

My opinion: When I read the first Creeps book last year, I was somewhat underwhelmed. While it was entertaining, it didn't blow me away as I had expected from a Chris Schweizer book. This book is much stronger. While still odd, it is more endearing. Perhaps that's because we are expecting something strange or because we are familiar with the characters so there is less emphasis on introduction. Either way, we have a quirky humorous horror plot with subtle messages about social media, bullying, and societal stress. There's certainly no sophomore slump here. If Schweizer continues on this arc, each successive book in the series should reach an increasing level of awesome.

More information: The Trolls Will Feast releases March 8.
Advance Reader Copy provided by NetGalley.

A few pages from my sketchbook

While I have a few crafts in progress, I've not finished anything since Christmas. Since I can't bring myself to post pictures of Christmas ornaments right now, I thought I'd share some sketchbook pages. Most of the contents are just doodles, though a few hold promise for future projects that just might make their way onto this blog at some point. For now, this is a small part of what my creative process looks like.

 

Book review - Behind the Canvas

Title: Behind the Canvas
Author: Diane Zahler
Genre: Adventure/fantasy
Similar books: The Goblin's Puzzle by Andrew S. Chilton
                     Chasing Vermeer by Blue Balliett
Rating:

surprisingly intellectual

Summary (provided by publisher): There is a world behind the canvas. Past the flat façade and the crackling paint is a realm where art lives, breathes, creates, and destroys.
Claudia Miravista loves art but only sees what is on the surface-until the Dutch boy Pim appears in the painting in her room. Pim has been trapped in the world behind the canvas for centuries by a power-hungry witch, and he now believes that Claudia is his only hope for escape. Fueled by the help of an ancient artist and some microwaveable magic, Claudia enters the wondrous and terrifying world behind the canvas, intent on destroying the witch's most cherished possession and setting her new friend free. But in that world nothing is quite as it appears on the surface. Not even friendship.

My opinion: This is a pretty solid adventure story with loads of art history facts, both incorporated directly into the text and added as footnotes. I like that the footnotes are both informative and entertaining, with a solid dose of humor. Readable and conversational instead of dry. I felt like the writing was a little bulky, perhaps overly descriptive at times. I was able to skim some passages without feeling like I was missing anything important (similar to when I read Chasing Vermeer). Not something you're going to read casually but for an middle grader who enjoys an intellectually challenging read this is a solid choice.

More information: Behind the Canvas releases February 23.
Advanced Reader Copy provided by NetGalley

Books on screen

The Tale of Despereaux

I know that The Tale of Despereaux was an award winner and is beloved by thousands. It wasn't my favorite though. So I didn't have very high hopes going into the movie. Again, not a bad movie though it's not my cup of tea. More importantly, it's not the best representation of the book. Firstly, Despereaux is a very different character type on screen: brave and adventurous rather than the fearful shy mouse in the book. Another important characterization change is that of the antagonist, Roscuro. In the book, he is twisted by circumstance, conspiring to destroy the lives of royalty to suit his dark ideas. In the movie, he is more of an anti-hero, a wandering rat who causes accidental harm and seeks revenge on those who judge him unfairly. When you look at these changes along with a number of other, smaller changes, you can see that this all comes down to a difference of intent for the two mediums. The book is focused on characters overcoming their nature for the good of others, finding bravery when one is fearful, looking past the prejudice we are taught, and so on. The movie, on the other hand, looks at how others judge us and we must use our actions to help them see through their prejudices. In all, the book is stronger as it gives motivations and history to secondary and tertiary characters.

Book review - The Extincts

Title: The Extincts
Author: Veronica Cossanteli
Genre: Humor
Similar books: The Big Hairy Secret by Thomas Kingsley Troupe
                     Goblins by Phillip Reeve
Rating:

Summary (provided by publisher): George is looking for a job in order to raise money for a new bike, so when he sees a help wanted ad for Wormestall Farm, he goes for it. Before long, he's embroiled in a madcap adventure involving creatures both (supposedly) extinct and (previously thought to be) mythological, a new friend (a girl!), and a maniacal taxidermist who wants the animals of Wormestall Farm in her own private collection . . . stuffed, of course.

My opinion: This book was a great deal of fun. Clever and just the right level of silly to be entertaining. Yet the comedic elements never become the main focus of the novel, that honor going instead to foiling an evil plot. The story is ridiculous, of course, but in an amusing way. It's very tongue-in-cheek. This is a great choice for fans of Roald Dahl and the NERDS series.
 
More information: The Extincts releases February 9.
Advance Reader Copy provided by NetGalley.

A simple, yet entertaining, craft

In my new job, I work in a cubicle which has a corkboard on one wall. I bought some thumbtacks for my board, but plain old white tacks are really dull. I have plans to decorate them in a variety of ways, but to start out I glued a piece of craft foam to one of them. Given the general design of tacks, this arrangement seemed fairly obvious to me.
 

When I made my Pac-Man tack, my brother immediately asked me when I planned to make some cherries to go along with it. I figured I'd get to it eventually. The day after I put up my tacks, though, I arrived at work to discover this on my board:
 

I am impressed by my mystery co-worker.

Book review - These Vicious Masks

Title: These Vicious Maks
Author: Tarun Shanker and Kelly Zekas
Genre: historical fiction/sci-fi
Similar books: The Diviners by Libba Bray
                     The Caged Graves by Dianne K. Salerni
Rating:

not great, but not bad

Summary (provided by publisher): Evelyn has no interest in marriage and even the dashing Mr. Kent can’t make her want to live up to society’s expectations. She’d much rather assist her beloved sister Rose in achieving her radical dream of becoming a doctor. But everything changes the night she meets Sebastian Braddock – not only is the reclusive gentleman both vexing and annoyingly attractive, he’s also quite possibly mad, and his interest in Rose is galling. So when Evelyn wakes up to discover that Rose has disappeared, she immediately suspects Sebastian.

But then she discovers that Sebastian’s strange tales of special powers are actually true, and that Rose’s kidnappers have worse in mind for her than simply ruining her reputation. Surrounded by secrets, lies, and unprecedented danger, Evelyn has no choice but to trust Sebastian, yet she can’t help but worry that Sebastian’s secrets are the most dangerous of all… 

My opinion: I've read other historical fiction with fantastical elements like mental powers. For such novels to be truly successful, there needs to be a careful blend of historical elements and the fantastic, using the history to give the fantastic context and heavier impact. Unfortunately, in this novel, the balance is off. There's too much focus on Victorian propriety and match-making, not enough on the powers and conspiracy around them. While the historical elements are important, giving the plot and the characters context, they don't need to be the major focus of the novel. Evelyn is a great character, full of attitude and thoroughly fed-up with the society in which she lives. The other characters are less well-fleshed and the plot is a little murky. There's certainly room for growth, though, and future volumes could make the series as a whole quite strong.

More information: These Vicious Masks releases February 9.
Advanced Reader Copy provided by NetGalley.