Now, I am intrigued. I have never read Tuck Everlasting but now, I feel like I need to. When I saw this graphic novel sitting on the shelf, I knew I had to read it. I thought perhaps I would know if I would like to read the full novel after reading the graphic novel and now, I do. As I read this graphic novel, I realized that I am probably missing some information from the full-length version of the story and that, my friend, is what I want to read.
What an interesting story. What an interesting concept. Why hadn’t I read this story before? This is my kind of story! The idea behind the water.
The relationship between Winnie and Jesse. The relationship between Winnie and the Tucks. How Winnie has changed. What would I do?
Oh my goodness……why had I waited so long!?? So glad I picked up this graphic novel! The illustrations were fantastic and now, when I read the full-length novel, these illustrations will be in the back of my mind, and I will love the story even more. Even more!
I liked all the extra information that the author included with this graphic novel, I thought it provided some great insight, and it helped fill in some gaps. This graphic novel was easy to follow, it had great illustrations and it contained an emotional story about a family trying to come to terms with the loss of their husband/father.
Ben and his family have arrived in Shogahoma, Japan to visit family. Ben’s father was from this area, and they are staying with an uncle. It’s hard being here as Ben is constantly reminded of his father.
When an earthquake hits the area, Ben takes covers with his brother. His uncle wants to immediately evacuate and well, since he is from that area, I thought they had better listen to him.
They all pile into the car, but they don’t get very far when water makes driving the car impossible and they all escape, except Ben.
Ben is trapped inside the car. It’s the inner voice of his father that comes calling to Ben and Ben can now escape the car, but he’s faced with more uncertainty as he’s in the middle of a tsunami. Cut off from the rest of his family, Ben must rely on himself more now than ever.
The energy and pacing in this book were good as I felt there weren’t any breaks as Ben was navigating trying to stay alive and trying to find his way back to his family. I was interested in more information about the events, and the author gave some of that in the information, in the notes, in the back of the book. 4 stars
This looked like a creepy graphic novel, so I picked it up while I was cleaning this section at the library. It’s the end of summer vacation and the teens want one more fishing trip before school starts. There have been some stories around town about some strange happenings in the water since the last storm, but they’re bound and determined to fish, so they make it happen. One adult, two brothers and a few of their friends hop onto the boat and they set off.
Andrew hesitated when the others wanted to try a new fishing spot. He knew that part of the river had been closed off since the hurricane and he didn’t want to get into trouble. Andrew ends up caving in from all the pressure they put on him and the thought of all the fish they tell him are over there. The new fishing spot ends up being a jackpot as there are fishes everywhere! Are these fish acting strangely?
The kids become so focused on fishing that they don’t notice the fog in the distance. The weather has started to change, and the fishing boat is now in the middle of it. An incident leaves a few of the boys in the water and that’s when the book took some twists.
What just happened? Many unknowns as the crew head home. Their friendship becomes tighter as the questions about what they have survived mount. They can’t shake off what they experienced. The mystery of the fog and what they experienced in the water has changed them forever. Where scientists were stumped at an explanation, can these teens find the answer?
I thought there was a lot of text to read in this graphic novel. The timeline was easy to follow as the boys made their discovery and how they went about solving it. I thought the beginning of the book was easier to follow than the ending of the book. The ending of the book, even with the illustrations, felt jumbled and confusing. Towards the end, the illustrations were very dark and trying to compare the illustrations to see progress, it was very difficult to see any change. Four stars
For being a thick graphic novel, this book went fast. I liked the combination of text bubbles, text and diary entries. The variety of fonts made the story move along quickly too.
The illustrations were simple, cute, and sometimes took up a lot of the page but that was okay as the text bubbles, or some text was added onto the page. If you like dogs: talking dogs, this story is for you.
This was so much better than the book. I enjoy graphic novels but I think the presence of the illustrations helped make this book more meaningful to me.
Three young sisters, yet only two of them get to be children while the oldest, eleven-year-old Delphine, must take the place of their mother Cecile. Vonetta, Fern, and Delphine were left behind with their Pa, when Cecile decided she needed a new life. Pa and Big Ma cared for the girls, but it was Cecile who took over being the mother to her younger sisters. It’s now been seven years, and the girls are about to be reunited with their mother. Mom has been living in California, being a voice with the Black Panther movement since her departure.
Delphine has high hopes for California. Sure, she will meet her mother again, but Delphine has never forgiven her, even after all these years. Having read about California, Delphine’s excited about all the different sights and sounds that await her in this new environment, experiences that she can’t wait to try.
So much emotion is wrapped up inside this book. Arriving, the girls have high expectations and see an endless list of possibilities before them. They start to see their true mother immediately and their expressions, thoughts and comments tell us their true feelings. Whether Cecile is trying to teach the girl’s independence or she’s a strict, unconcerned parent is a decision that needs to be made as you read the pages and capture the spirit in the illustrations.
There are a lot of eye-opening moments for the girls as they experience their mother’s world and the girls start to see the life of young children like themselves, in California, when they go to a Black Panther’s Community Center.
It was a womp, womp, womp moment as the girl’s get a dose of reality. Their mother has no plans to take them to any of the wonderful, fun-seeking places that Delphine has read about. No, the children must entertain themselves while mom works and later, when they’re sent to the community center, they’re introduced to the Black Panthers.
Character development and growth occur almost overnight as the girls are thrown into the mix. They soon find their strength and voice which caused me to laugh and smile as they finally got over their culture shock. They didn’t slink away or cower in a corner, their bond remained strong.
I thought this was a great book about the Black Panthers and it gave a great story which young readers could connect with. The illustrations were bright and colorful and added a great deal to the storyline. I highly recommend this graphic novel.
I was excited when I came across this book while volunteering at the library last week. Once a month, I clean the children’s graphic novel sections at two of the branches that our library has in town, and when I came across this graphic novel, I immediately snagged it up. This book brought back so many memories of reading the smaller paperbacks of Choose Your Own Adventure stories with my own children when they were younger. I really had high hopes for this graphic novel. Unfortunately, this book didn’t work for me.
I was totally lost in this book, I mean really lost. I started it multiple times and took many of the different options that were offered within its pages, but it still didn’t make any sense to me. I even backtracked and thought that perhaps I had landed on the wrong page and had read the “If you want …… go to page XX” wrong but nope, I was just lost. It felt that when I page hopped, there was no connection to the previous page that I had just read, which was unfortunate.
I liked the storyline as I thought it could have lots of different possibilities. Thirteen-year-old Rabbit has just moved into a new city, into a new house, that has been rumored to be haunted. From day one, things are a bit weird and I’m not sure if she’s a witch or if she’s not but that’s just one of the questions that she’s confronted with. There seems to be a lot happening in Rabbits new surroundings, bits and pieces that I tried to put together, but it was the illustrations that drew me in.
The illustrations were great, and I liked the variety of text fonts that were used throughout the book as they made the scenes pop.
I remember loving the original Choose Your Own Adventure books in fact, I still have some of the books that I used to read with my own children. I will try to find another one of these graphic novels and try it again, as perhaps it was the story itself that I couldn’t follow. Perhaps I am better off imagining these books in my head instead of seeing them in a graphic novel. This book, I’m not a fan. 2 stars
Overload. Tony is trying, I mean really trying to find a place to land. I thought the main character, Tony, acted more mature than those around him which made him different. As Tony enters a new school again, you’d think he’d be used to all the challenges being in a new environment brings. Tony even has a list of survival tips but this time, those tips aren’t working. Tony is being pulled in multiple directions the minute that he arrives at Chambers Academy. He knew that being in the high achiever’s program would be a challenge, but he was not expecting this. It’s not the schoolwork that’s dragging him under but it’s everything else. It was a tense and frustrating time for Tony and for me! Dang, Tony really stuck with it longer than he should have. Once again, Tony is facing another school, another day where he’s the new kid and learning the ropes. Hopefully, this school will be better than the last one– it has to be, right?!?!!
He made it. Tony found somewhere safe. Somewhere where he can be Tony and be accepted. Tony has a voice and with others, they learn to use them.
There’s a lot of hard topics discussed in this book(memoir). Hard topics, real topics that young individuals must deal with today. I liked the honesty and openness that the topics are discussed. The textboxes were easy to follow in this book and there was quite a bit of text to read. For mature audiences: there are mentions of attempted suicide, bullying, depression, and other mental health issues. 4.5 stars.
Oh,Corey. Corey looked to his mother for love and security, but she was dragging him with her. Based on the true life of Corey Ebgert, Corey had a religious upbringing in the Mormon faith. His mother was the center of his life, and he felt the need to watch over her. After his parents’ divorce, Corey and his sister would visit their father according to the arrangement they had set up. Mother would be ready when they returned home with questions about their visits and the battering that went on, mother was just looking for something, anything to “hang on” their father.
Corey and his sister’s life begin to take a drastic change one evening as they prepare to go to their father’s. According to their mother, she tells the children that they don’t have to go to their dads for a visitation and when he arrives, all three of them ignore and hide from him. Mother takes this behavior a bit further as she tells the children to pack their bags and soon the whole family is leaving the house, in their car. They are on the run. Running from everyone. The children listen to mother’s “logic” as their car becomes their home and they have nothing to cling onto but themselves and each other. As a child, I could see how their world would become confusing and scary. Mother is spiraling out of control and taking those small innocent children with her.
This graphic novel was such a powerful story about mental health, religious control, abuse, parental kidnapping and childhood trauma. I commend Corey for writing it and speaking about his own personal story as I’m sure this will help and/or bring comfort to other individuals who read it.
I was a bit confused about the angel images in the later part of the book, otherwise it was a great book for older YA readers. 4.5 stars
Sage loves all things enchanted while her dog Thunder doesn’t. Sage doesn’t like the cape and hat that Sage dressed him up in, in fact he believes it’s all wrong. While Sage is diving into her fantasy obsession, Thunder’s inner self materializes.
Thunder knows he’s a dog but who were his past ancestors? Discovering that wolves were his descendants, Thunder is told by his inner self to embrace this new knowledge and to gain strength and power from it. No longer is Thunder the easy-go-lucky dog, he now has his own thoughts and ideas.
Sage’s energy and spirit fill the pages, as she tries to entertain herself and her dog Thunder while Thunder’s inner wolf spirit is pushing back. Thunder needs to find a balance with the person who loves him the most. With cute illustrations that help retell the story, I think this book is geared more towards the younger elementary readers. 4 stars
It’s bullying….short and simple. Everyone is different and that even goes for family members, yet Garvey’s father wants his son to be more like his sister. He wants an athletic son, a son who plays football, someone who can score points, a son who can shoot a basketball but unfortunately, Garvey doesn’t do any of these things. Garvey likes science, he likes space, he likes reading and because he knows he doesn’t fit the mold for his father, Garvey likes food. Garvey uses food to escape, and his classmates have notice and their comments have fallen upon Garvey.
Garvey just wants to be accepted for who he is. He doesn’t feel safe at home or at school. At school, his friend Joe suggests a new club to him and unfortunately, his mind drifts to thoughts of his father. This was Garvey’s choice, but he did it, he made up his own mind and jumped in! He joined a club which ends up being life changing.
This was a great graphic novel to read. I liked how Garvey found himself and his growth throughout the book. Being able to see the characters facial expressions helped tell the story. Most of the text in this graphic novel is found in the captions inside each of the text boxes. This text is quite lengthy on some pages. I find it interesting that some pages do not have any speech bubbles on them while others only have one or two. The text is not difficult to read, and the story is easy to follow. The color palette was nice and keeping all the chapters separate was nicely done. Definitely worth picking up. 4.5 stars
One Chapter 