Graphic Novel Wrap Up | #2

American Born Chinese by Gene Luen Yang

 This was a really interesting story about Jin, Danny, and a monkey king. Jin is a young Chinese-American boy who has just moved to a new school and just wants to fit in with everyone else. Danny is an All-American boy who is embarrassed annually when his cousin Chin-kee comes to visit. The monkey king struggles with wanting to be the master of everything and not wanting to be a monkey. Each story adds a new facet to a great story of self-discovery, understanding your worth, and being comfortable with who you are. Each character damages their lives with choices they have made and now they need to right the wrongs. This is a great story for anyone to read because it makes you think about choices you have made. Plus it is just a fantastic graphic novel with beautiful art and story telling. ★★★★

Seconds by Bryan Lee O'Malley

This was such a fun read! If you have ever thought back on an event in your life and wanted to change it thinking that it would only get better this book illustrates just how wrong you might be. Katie has it pretty good, she helped start an amazing restaurant and is now moving on to owning a new restaurant but things are not happening the way she wants them and when given the chance she is able to write her mistakes away. I love Katie and Lis and would love to read more of this story and the magic involved. The art in this book is gorgeous and the story was so intriguing and quick to read. ★★★★

Through the Woods by Emily Carroll

Through the Woods is a collection of "spooky" stories based around the woods. Knowing that this is a Middle Grade/YA book I new that it would not be super scary but it was spooky enough to be perfect for the month of October when I read it. I really enjoyed the second story of the book. It had a good rhythm and flow to it. The rest of the stories were just okay. None of the stories in this book blew me away but I definitely appreciate what Carroll was trying to do. I kind of wish the stories fit together better and that the conclusion would have tied all of the stories together. The art is lovely and the stories are unique and interesting. ★★★

Here by Richard McGuire

Here is a graphic novel that focuses on the corner of a living room and how that one corner evolves over billions of years. The most interesting thing about this book for me was that it was not a linear progression of time and that multiple years of time were depicted in one image. It was so interesting to see how time and history can be shown through a fixed point. This is such a surreal and thought provoking novel that makes me think of how the would may have changed over the course of time in my own fixed point, my own corner of the world. What was here 50, 500, 5 million years ago? What will be here in my place in another 500 years? I definitely recommend you leaf through this a few times to get the full impact. I have noticed something new each time. ★★★★

Saga Vol. 5 by Brian K. Vaughn and Fiona Staples

Saga is a FANTASTIC sci-fi graphic novel!

"When two soldiers from opposite sides of a never-ending galactic war fall in love, they risk everything to bring a fragile new life into a dangerous old universe."

Saga is all about this family and their fight to stay together despite all of the attacks coming at them for being from two different races and having a child together while their planet and moon are fighting a civil war. This story is crazy, awesome, action-packed, and graphic. It is definitely for mature audiences. I have enjoyed every single volume of this story, so much that I had to start buying the individual issues to sate my obsession. The art style and the amazing cast of characters are just two more reasons you should dive into this story sooner rather than later! ★★★★★