3 September 2024 by Graphix
E ARC provided by Edelweiss Plus
In this second book in the graphic novel adaptation of the 2008 Scholastic series written by a variety of middle grade authors (the first being Riordan's The Maze of Bones), Amy and Dan Cahill find themselves in Vienna, trying to solve the mystery that their aunt left. They are accompanied by Nellie, their au pair. They think a clue is leading them to Mozart, but because other family members are also trying to get the inheritance, they are attacked by the athletic and vicious Holts. When researching and visiting Mozart's house, they realize that the sheet music they have includes an extra line, and also that Mozart's sister Nannerl's journal is missing two pages. Jonah Wizard is on tour and conveniently in the same town, and they think that he has stolen the journal pages. They realize that the extra line plays the tune for an old folk song "The place where I was born", so head to Salzburg. When visiting Nannerl's tomb, they see the Man in Black, and end up in an abbey chased by monks! When they have a moment to rest with Nellie, they find that Saladin, their aunt's cat, had a chip in his collar. They manage to relocate that chip to their Uncle Alistair's cane when they steal a paper from him. They follow Jonah to Venice and locate the missing journal pages, racing away in a stolen boat once they get them. They hide the pages in a seat cushion to keep them dry, but get separated from them. They end up on the Kabra's yacht, but a boobytrapped piano key causes a huge explosion. After that, they find samurai swords, so the next book should take them to Japan.
Strengths: Amy and Dan are very sympathetic characters, and I definitely want them to be the ones to get the inheritance, since most of the other relatives are rather evil and buffoonish. Nellie is understandably irasicible, but ultimately helpful. The graphic novel adaptation makes it much easier to understand what the European cities look like. The historical ties are interesting, and might encourage readers to find out more about the people and places mentioned. I'm curious as to how many books in the series will be adapted into graphic novels. I only have the twelve books from the first series; there are five spin off series that I didn't buy because of the fragility of the paper-over board format.
Weaknesses: These books have a lot of coincidental occurences, and lucky escapes. They have nonstop action, which makes them popular with young readers, but also makes it hard to keep track of everything that is going on.
What I really think: There aren't very many graphic novels that are exciting adventures, so this is a good choice for readers who liked Horowitz's Stormbreaker in this format.
Weaknesses: These books have a lot of coincidental occurences, and lucky escapes. They have nonstop action, which makes them popular with young readers, but also makes it hard to keep track of everything that is going on.
What I really think: There aren't very many graphic novels that are exciting adventures, so this is a good choice for readers who liked Horowitz's Stormbreaker in this format.
The Haunted Mask
September 3, 2024 by Graphix
E ARC provided by Edelweiss Plus
Carly is scared of just about everything, so kids at school tease her. Even her best friend Sabrina gives her a hard time for jumping at every little noise. As Halloween approaches, Carly gives some thought to a costume, but wants to have something that will scare her bullies. When her mother makes her a weird copy of her head in an art class, she thinks this will be a better costume to work on than the giant chicken one her mother has found. Carly manages to find a costume shop still open, but none of the masks look scary enough. She finds a room with horrifying masks, but the owner says they are not for sale. She begs, and gets a creepy green goblin. She combines the mask with her own head on a stick, and goes trick or treating with Sabrina. The maks seems to have an effect on her personality, and she eventually finds the bullies who were troubling her and steal their candy. She forgets her head, and finds that the mask won't come off. Returning to the shop, she speaks to the owner who says that a symbol of love can remove it... but only one time. If anyone ever puts on the mask again, it will be on them forever. Carly goes back to find the head her mother made, and the mask comes off. Unfortunately, when she is busy talking to her mother, her brother finds the mask and puts it on! This was on the younger end of the Goosebumps series, so a great choice for elementary school readers. There was a great shout out to the author; in the mask shop, there is a mask that looks like Bob Stine's face which the owner says is a television character or something!
E ARC provided by Netgalley
Allie and Henry love living in their apartment building, but now that their mom Sam works from home, they are not allowed to make noise and do very much during the day. They gather cans to trade in for money to use to buy their mother headphones, but that doesn't solve the problem. The building superviser, Mr. Jeff, doesn't like messes, so when the kids are snooping around, they are suprised to find a small, dirty room in the basement that isn't being used. It's the old coal bin, and the kids think it would make a great office for their mom. The problem? The landlord would want money for it, and there aren't enough cans for Allie and Henry to afford the rent every month. They manage to come to an agreement; a new family is moving in and wants two parking spaces, and since Sam doesn't have a car, the kids trade the parking space for the office space. With Mr. Jeff's help, they clean and decorate the room so that their mother has a new place to work. This was a cute book for elementary school students, and I love how Allie and Henry identified a problem and found a way to work it out. This would be a great choice for readers who enjoyed LaCoer and Albert's The Apartment House on Poppy Hill or Reynold's Stuntboy, but seems a little young for my middle school readers.
September 3, 2024 by HarperAlley
E ARC provided by Edelweiss Plus
Norah's parents both work in the prison system, and often have to move for their jobs. Norah tries to not cause any more trouble in the family, because her younger sister complains a lot and also has a lot of behavior problems. Money is tight because of the frequent moves, so Norah's mother cuts her hair for her. Starting middle school is a big deal, so Norah wants a new look. After a brief argument, her mother agrees that Norah can color her hair, but doesn't put any on parameters on the activity. After talking to a woman in the drugstore who is training to be a cosmetologist, Norah buys the supplies and bleaches her own hair. It ends up being a weird mottled color, and while her mother isn't happy, she does allow Norah to dye her hair blue. The one friend Norah has made thinks it makes her look cool, and the day is not a complete disaster. Home life, however, frequently is. Norah is prone to accidents, like falling off her bike or burning things in the kitchen (she puts a metal tea kettle in the microwave), and her mother usually overreacts to these incidents in unproductive ways. Her father is more supportive. When the father gets a promotion, the mother must take a job in a different city, and moves out, taking the troublesome younger sister with her. Norah's father works long hours, and doesn't take very good care of Norah, leaving her to cook her own meals and take care of the house. Norah's hair grows out and becomes very unkempt. When she shares the story of the teakettle with her class, a fellow student tells a similar story about taking care of his two younger sisters and running into trouble, and the assistant principal who is observing the new teacher reports the family to children's services. Norah is very worried that something similar will happen to her. Will she be able to have a productive conversation with her parents and get the support she needs to take care of herself?
Strengths: Norah is accident prone in a way that many middle school students are; my own kitchen counter has a spot where my daughter put a hot frying pan even though I'm pretty sure I explained why there are several glass counter savers in the kitchen. She is given more freedom than many children her age, which will be interesting for tweens to read about. The episode with the classmate being reported to children's services was interesting, although I was a bit surprised that it was done so publicly. I was glad to see that despite her move, Norah was able to make a friend, and liked her teacher, who clearly cared about her. The artwork is appealing, with the same bright colors employed by other popular graphic novel series, like The Baby-Sitters Club or Terri Libenson's Invisible Emmie series.
Weaknesses: This is yet another semiautobiographical novel showing a traumatic childhood ala Raina Telgemaier, and is completely on trend with the current thought that it is necessary to share unpleasant details about one's personal life. Maybe the roots of this subgenre really go back to Alison Bechdel's 2006 Fun Home: A Family Tragicomic? I am of the generation that believes these are the sorts of stories best kept to oneself, but younger readers seem to revel in the schadenfreude of these graphic tell-alls.
Weaknesses: This is yet another semiautobiographical novel showing a traumatic childhood ala Raina Telgemaier, and is completely on trend with the current thought that it is necessary to share unpleasant details about one's personal life. Maybe the roots of this subgenre really go back to Alison Bechdel's 2006 Fun Home: A Family Tragicomic? I am of the generation that believes these are the sorts of stories best kept to oneself, but younger readers seem to revel in the schadenfreude of these graphic tell-alls.
What I really think: This is a good choice for readers who like Hale's Real Friends, Sax's Picture Day, Sharp's Just Pretend, Harper's Bad Sister or Ogle's Four Eyes.
September 3, 2024 by Random House Graphic
E ARC provided by Netgalley
Adèle lives in Montreal with her older sister Helen and her grandmother, who runs a small shop. Over winter break, she hopes to spend some time at the library, reading, but when she gets her first period, she finds that she has inherited the ability to see ghosts. Her grandmother has gone to a lot of trouble to NOT interact with the spirit world, so isn't much help, but Adèle does work with one ghost who doesn't want his grandson to sell his house to a wily developer who is trying to ruin the neighborhood. Since the grandmother is also involved in such an endeavor, she is a little more interested in helping Adèle with her new abilities, especially when an especially evil ghost, a soul eater, is on the loose, causing damage in the real world.
Fans of Escabasse's Witches of Brooklyn series will enjoy this one, and will readers who enjoyed Steinkellnerr's The Okay Witch, Paramore's Malcolm Kid and the Perfect Song, or Mandanna and Ballesteros' Jupiter Nettle and the Seven Schools of Magic. I really like Escabasse's illustration style, and this will get a lot of love for the period positivity and fighting against gentrification.
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