fencing – Cannonball Read 17

On guard that cha-cha-cha!

On Guard!: A Marshall Middle School Graphic Novel by Cassidy Wasserman

Swing by Audrey Meeker and Sarah Davidson

January 22, 2025 by BlackRaven Leave a Comment

Graphic novels are one of my favorite genres to read. They cover several themes and ages. Currently middle and young adult graphic novels have several being published. Most of the middle readers are nice, not too in-depth but have a good message. They are fun and relatable without being too heavy for the (strong) 8-9 to (younger) 13-14. Two of those books are reviewed below. Over a weekend that was cold, I found a quick graphic novel that I hoped wouldn’t go too deep into […]

Ibtihaj Muhammad’s stories

The Boldest White: A Story of Hijab and Community (The Proudest Blue, 3) by Ibtihaj Muhammad, S.K. Ali and Hatem Aly

January 8, 2025 by BlackRaven Leave a Comment

The Boldest White: A Story of Hijab and Community (The Proudest Blue, 3) is by Olympic fencer, Ibtihaj Muhammad, as well as S.K. Ali and Hatem Aly. This (as the title suggests) their third book in the Proudest Blue series. I did not feel it covered the subject of wearing a hijab as fully as the other two books have, but it does bring that into play. What it does focus on is becoming brave with its main character, and bringing in the Islamic culture […]

I challenge you to a duel

Duel by Jessixa Bagley

July 11, 2023 by BlackRaven Leave a Comment

I read several graphic novels recently with diverse, modern casts. One of them, Duel by Jessixa Bagley, left me with two things. The first was I was not sure about a couple characters. I read Duel via a physical reader copy and the images were not complete (some were sketches, not fully fleshed out and color was not added). Though I was enjoying Aaron Bagley’s expressive artwork when we were able to see a larger image. There are hair-raising moments, images of the fencing, the […]

The sword fighting is more interesting than the romance but not the point

Fence: Disarmed by Sarah Rees Brennan

October 10, 2022 by CoffeeShopReader Leave a Comment

Bingo 20: Star I think I mostly like the comics better; the novels for Fence, including Fence: Disarmed, get too wrapped up in the personal drama. At least Fence: Disarmed fits the star square; part of the premise of the whole series is that Nicholas, the new(est) kid at King’s Row boarding school, wants to become a star fencer to impress his supposed father Robert Coste who is a major figure in the sport. Part of the problem though is that Robert may have no […]

Some Fencing but More Personal Stuff

Fence Volume Four Rivals by C.S. Pascat, Johanna the Mad

April 16, 2021 by CoffeeShopReader Leave a Comment

So there was a YA novel that kind of tells the same story as volume 4 of the graphic novel Fence Volume 4 Rivals; one the one hand, few surprises, on the other, it wasn’t the EXACT same story, just the same kind with similar character development (at least for some characters). I’m reasonably sure the comic series was first, and that the novelization might be by another author. The basic premise is reasonably common: sports story (high school fencing team) + hate/rival to friend/something […]

Play me your tiny violins and order me a waaambulance, because this review is very whiny.

Fence, Vol. 4: Rivals by C.S. Pacat

September 8, 2020 by narfna 3 Comments

These take way too long to come out and they are way too short give me the next one nowwww. Seriously, it’s so frustrating. I just binge re-read the first three volumes as a refresher, and then went straight into this one, and it took me all of an hour, and then it was done, and now I have to wait. And I’ve been trained to wait since I was a wee-reader, but for some reason, waiting for this series is something that is very […]

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