5 stars A fantastic memoir dealing with issues of gender, identity, acceptance, and perception. The story follows Kobabe as ey learn about and explore eir self-identity. This includes coming out to family and dealing with their reactions; navigating crushes, sexual relationships, and doctor visits; discovering eir pronouns; and finding eirself in music and books. Through…
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5 stars A gorgeous picture book with a powerful message. When the people in her life question where she’s really from, a little girl starts to question whether she belongs. She asks her wise abuelo for an answer. In beautifully illustrated spreads, he answers perfectly, asserting her belonging while also teaching her about various aspects of her…
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4 stars Delightfully spooky and surprisingly heartwarming. I never read Mary Downing Hahn’s novels growing up, but I just might after finishing this graphic novel adaptation. An interesting way to revive an older tale and make it more appealing to a modern audience. A new house, a blended family, and sinister secrets. This story had…
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3 stars Written as part of her Master of Fine Arts project, this book gives glimpses into El Sayed’s life, both from childhood to adolescents and into adulthood. The book tackles many topics including cancer, parental expectations and double standards, racism, bullying, divorce, friendship, religion, and moving to a different country. It deals largely with…
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4 stars Delightfully creepy. Perfectly macabre. As with many macabre stories, while reading this I often found myself wanting more information, to know what happened after the end. But the unknown has a special place is each of these tales, which adds to their unsettling charm. Great artwork that wonderfully captures the tone of the…
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5 stars So happy to see Prince and Knight back for another adventure! (See my review of the first book here.) A lovely story about acceptance, understanding, forgiveness, and love’s power to inspire and bring people together. As with the first book, the artwork is amazing. Great use of color and contrasting light and dark….
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5 stars A fantastic follow-up to Eyes that Kiss in the Corners (read my full review here). Joanna Ho and Dung Ho team up once again to create a lyrical story with gorgeous artwork on every page. This book celebrates the power of one’s eyes and their connection to family. Wonderful themes of love, looking to…
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4 stars A nice graphic novel adaptation of I Survived the Attack of the Grizzlies, 1967. This story has been one of my favorites so far in the series (You can read my review here ). Nice balance of showing the dangers of grizzly bears, but also what humans can do to avoid dangerous interactions. There is a…
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5 stars A wonderful book with lush illustrations and a powerful message. Whether you have a name that’s deemed hard-to-pronounce by others or not, this is a great read and learning opportunity. At first, Mirha is excited for her first day of school. But when no one pronounces her name right, she feels unimportant. With…
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3 stars A powerful coming-of-age story. This novel-in-verse takes a young poet, a forbidden love interest, a strict, religious mother, an apathetic father, a secretive brother, a supportive best friend, and an encouraging teacher, mixes them together, and presents a story of hardship, hope, and healing. This book tackles so many issues such as mother/daughter…
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