Graphic novel spotlight - Billy Johnson and His Duck are Explorers

Billy Johnson and His Duck are Explorers by Mathew New

As you might expect based solely on the title, this is kind of a silly book. But it's silly in the good way. It doesn't take itself too seriously. Instead, New is having fun with the plot. The adventures go to ridiculous extremes but are never truly dangerous. Billy and the duck encounter ghosts, monsters, magic, and shadowy figures. And by pushing these ideas well past the sensible point, we primarily humor with just a hint of heart behind it. There are suggestions of a larger plot at play: references to Billy's parents and a hooded villain. For the most part, though, each adventure is a complete story on it's own and can be enjoyed in isolation. The cartoon style adds to the lighthearted approach. A fun romp that can be appreciated even with repeat readings.

More information: Billy Johnson and His Duck are Explorers releases August 1.
Advance Reader Copy provided by NetGalley.
 

Non-fiction book review - Corpse Talk

Corpse Talk: Groundbreaking Scientists by Adam &  Lisa Murphy





At heart, this is a fairly standard collection of profiles, centering on scientists and their discoveries. There is little exploration of their lives outside of the field of science, only as necessary to explain an influence on their research. The framework is what sets this book apart. Firstly, it's a graphic novel, so there's a strong visual element. And since the narrator is interviewing the undead, there's a bit of a gross-out humor element. Even without corpse jokes, the tone is certainly humorous. Now, the subjects are all well-known figures. No surprises here. An entertaining approach to stories we may already know.


More information: Corpse Talk releases August 4.
Advanced Reader Copy provided by NetGalley

Book review - Beach Nightmare

Title: Beach Nightmare
Author: Steve Foxe
Genre: horror graphic novel
Similar books: Curse of the Dead Eyed Doll by Thomas Kingsley Troupe
                      Fraternity by Juan Diaz Canales
Rating:

less than I wanted

Summary (provided by publisher): Emma can't believe her luck when her phone mysteriously reappears after she dropped it in the ocean. She thought she'd lost her vacation pictures forever! But when Emma returns home, her phone starts flashing strange underwater images and receiving calls with no sound but crashing waves. Turns out Emma didn't just bring back souvenirs from the beach, but a spirit who is tired of swimming alone . . . In this Scary Graphics tale, easy-to-read text and eerie, full-color art combine to deliver just-right scares for kids who crave chills and thrills.

My opinion: I can't say as I found this book especially frightening. It fails to create a spooky atmosphere and the choice of moments doesn't really lend itself to jump scares. The progression of the haunting doesn't work especially well either. We don't get a good explanation of how or why the ghost is haunting this particular girl. Without that explanation and with no real character development, there's not much to sell me on this book. If you're looking for a child friendly scary story, I recommend looking elsewhere.
More information: Beach Nightmare releases August 1.
Advanced Reader Copy provided by NetGalley

Book review - Being Toffee

Title: Being Toffee
Author: Sarah Crossan
Genre: realistic fiction
Similar books: Hello? by Lisa M. Weimer
                      Solo by Kwame Alexander
Rating:

its got heart

Summary (provided by publisher): I am not who I say I am,
and Marla isn't who she thinks she is.
I am a girl trying to forget.
She is a woman trying to remember.
Allison has run away from home and with nowhere to live finds herself hiding out in the shed of what she thinks is an abandoned house. But the house isn't empty. An elderly woman named Marla, with dementia, lives there – and she mistakes Allison for an old friend from her past named Toffee.
Allison is used to hiding who she really is, and trying to be what other people want her to be. And so, Toffee is who she becomes. After all, it means she has a place to stay. There are worse places she could be.
But as their bond grows, and Allison discovers how much Marla needs a real friend, she begins to ask herself - where is home? What is a family? And most importantly, who is she, really?

My opinion: For the most part, this is a pretty standard verse novel. It doesn't break any new ground, doesn't especially experiment with form or structure. We don't even get a lot of detail about events. This is entirely an emotional exploration. Both Allison and Marla are hiding from truths. Truths that will eventually catch up with them and force them to face reality. We see the subtle change in their relationship from one of mildly guilty convenience to real emotional connection and concern. It's not always a comfortable read but the conversation it prompts is a valuable one and well suited to the verse novel format.
Advanced Reader Copy provided by NetGalley

Listen with me

Absolutely Everything by Christopher Lloyd

I've been trying to listen to more non-fiction audio books, trying to expand my knowledge of the world. Sometimes when you listen to the history of a specific event, though, it can feel like you don't understand the events that influenced. So what better way to remedy that than to listen to a history of everything?

Non-fiction book reveiw - Bright Dreams

Bright Dreams: the Brilliant Ideas of Nikola Tesla by Troy Dockery

In my childhood, the inventor we learned the most about was Edison. These days, Tesla is serving that role. Dockery shows us Tesla's brilliant mind, his determination, and his social innocence, his tendency to think only of the common good rather than his own interest. We follow him from childhood to his career in the United States. While the main text is simple and easy to understand, there are sidebars that explore some concepts in more detail and a fairly comprehensive glossary explores vocabulary terms. With utterly charming line drawings, it's compelling to read and a joy just to look at.

More information: Bright Dreams releases August 1.
Advanced Reader Copy provided by NetGalley.

Book review - The Mulberry Tree

Title: The Mulberry Tree
Author: Allison Rushby
Genre: fantasy
Similar books: A Snicker of Magic by Natalie Lloyd
                      The Lost Boy's Gift by Kimberly Willis Holt
Rating:

Not as spooky as I expected

Summary (provided by publisher): Do naught wrong by the mulberry tree, or she’ll take your daughters . . . one, two, three.
Ten-year-old Immy and her family have run away from their storm cloud of problems to a tiny village in Cambridgeshire, England, where her depressed physician father can take a sabbatical and get back on his feet. Luckily, they find an adorable thatched cottage to begin a new life in. But their new home comes with one downside: in the backyard, there is an ancient, dark, and fierce-looking mulberry tree that has ceased bearing any fruit. There’s a legend that the towering tree steals away girls who live in the cottage on the eve of their eleventh birthday, and villagers even cross the street when they pass by the house. Of course, Immy thinks this is all ridiculous. But then she starts to hear a strange song in her head. . . . In a page-turner perfect for middle-graders, Allison Rushby folds themes of new-school travails, finding friends, being embarrassed by parents, and learning empathy into a deliciously goose-bumpy supernatural mystery.

My opinion: For a curse plot to be strong, it has to follow a strict rule structure. That's the strength of this novel. The curse follows a very specific pattern. So, then, does the plot: strange occurrences lead to the discovery of the curse, leading to specific steps being taken to break the curse. This book has a long lead in, devoting far more time to revealing the curse than to the curse breaking. This imbalance, though, allows for more development of the characters and their relationships, the subplots of mental illness and the ways we treat each other. The stakes are actually pretty low so it's not especially spooky. Still, an interesting exploration of the way a single action can have long ranging consequences.
Advanced Reader Copy provided by NetGalley.