We Are Allies! by Taimani Emerald
We Are Allies! by Taimani Emerald is a short book. Even though it has been out for over a year, I found an online reader copy. And I am curious about how the final copy looks. Things are pretty basic with how you can be an ally. And though, yes it does focus a bit more on the GLBTQ aspect, being an ally is pretty simple. You stand up to help when people need it. You try to stop something that is not right. And […]
A Sky of Paper Stars by Susie Yi
A Sky of Paper Stars by Susie Yi is probably more of a 3.5 than a pure 4 rating as there were a few bumps for me. However, I enjoyed seeing Korean culture, some of it I knew and other aspects new. My unscientific opinion is that probably Korean culture is not known well by the aimed age reader (a stronger 8 to 12). My experience with Asian based characters seems to lean towards Chinese first, with Japanese second, then the people of Taiwan and […]
WHAT: new poems from the Poet Laureate of Punk by John Cooper Clarke
I did not finish WHAT: new poems from the Poet Laureate of Punk, but I was maybe about half way before I stopped. I had not heard of John Cooper Clarke, but that did not stop me from trying it. After all, I haven’t had much luck with the poets I did know or even the ones I liked, so why not try someone new? The poems have the elements I like (flowing text that makes sense without sounding artsy, understandable themes, and images are […]
The Scariest Story You’ve Ever Heard by Ron Keres
It's Pride, Baby! by Allen R. Wells
Not a Smiley Guy by Dia Valle
Picture Book time! They are fun! They are scary! They are full of pride! And one of each is below. First with have The Scariest Story You’ve Ever Heard by Ron Keres and illustrations (what they are) by Arthur Lin. Read via an online reader copy, though available, this book has mostly all black pages. The narrator says this is so because it is just too scary to see! Two brothers (or so the narrator says), let their imagination run wild when they start hearing […]
Armed With Madness: The Surreal Leonora Carrington by Mary M. Talbot
Armed With Madness: The Surreal Leonora Carrington by Mary M. Talbot and illustrated by Bryan Talbot I didn’t have time to be anyone’s muse… I was too busy rebelling against my family and learning to be an artist. — Leonora Carrington How reliable is the narrator? How honest is Carrington’s story? Was her madness her greatness or greatness her madness? The complex life of this artist unfolds in a mix of beauty, ugly and something in-between. A product of her time, a rebel of it […]
Woman World by Aminder Dhaliwal
Woman World by Aminder Dhaliwal is a graphic novel that I was thinking was going to be this uber feminist book that was all “yeah women, boo men!” And it is far from it. Okay, men don’t have the best of reputations, but they are not totally villainized. And except for Max (whomever he is), their sperm is still here and useful (but we have figured out how to synthesize a way that women can be “sperm donors” or bone marrow donors). As one person […]
