Saturday Morning Cartoons- Cici and Cast No Shadow

Chamblain, Joris , Neyret, Aurélie (Illustrations).Cici's Journal: The Adventures of a Writer-in-Training
November 7th 2017 by First Second

Cici lives in the country in a big olf house with her mother, and loves to explore the nearby woods with her two good friends, Lena and Erica. She has a good friend in a local writer, Ms. Flores, who encourages her to take notes on things around her and pay attention to the stories people tell. Cici observes a man in the woods, Mr. Mysterious, who always seems to be covered in paint, and when she follows him, she finds that the rocks and walls in an abandoned zoo have been covered with beautiful, realistic paintings of animals. Mr. Mysterious has painted the backgrounds of the animal enclosures before the zoo closed, and was very sad that all of the animals had to be rehomed. With the help of Cici and her friends and family, the zoo is brought back to a bit of its former glory.
Strengths: This is an absolutely beautiful graphic novel-- it's almost more like a book of paintings. The story is touching, and all of the characters are pleasant and helpful.
Weaknesses: I hate to encourage children to be writers when they grow up. It seems cruel, like suggesting they become, I don't know, Latin teachers or milk men. (Remember, I am a very bitter ex-Latin teacher!)
What I really think: Will most likely purchase, and it will be popular.

Tapalansky, Nick and Anissa Espinoza. Cast No Shadow.
October 10th 2017 by First Second
Copy provided by the publisher

Greg lives in a quirky town that is always trying to come up with an idea to attract tourists. He hangs out with gal pal Layla and has a complicated relationship with the popular Jake. Greg is a bit odd because he doesn't have a shadow. When he and Layla visit a "haunted house" at the edge of town, he is able to see a ghost named Eleanor, and the two "like like" each other. To complicate matters, Greg's shadow starts doing evil things around the town, and Greg is not happy that his father is involved with Ruth, since he misses his mother, who died several years back. Eventually, the characters all come together to renovate Eleanor's house, and everything is tied up neatly.
Strengths: There's a good balance between text and pictures, and the text is a good size. The illustrations are all in black and white, so the book doesn't have that really horrible smell that many graphic novels do. This is a solid fantasy story, and readers who like both graphic novels and fantasy will enjoy this one.
Weaknesses: I had trouble with the fact that Greg didn't have a shadow. Why? Who would care? This just wasn't my cup of tea.
What I really think: Would probably purchase in a Follett Bound, and I think it would get a lot of use. It just wasn't a title that I could get personally excited about.