"Smile" & "Sisters" by Raina Telgemeier

9 and Up

Raina just wants to be a normal sixth grader, but one night after Girl Scouts she trips and falls, severely injuring her two front teeth. What follows is a long and frustrating journey with on-again, off-again braces, surgery, embarrassing headgear, and even a retainer with fake teeth attached. And on top of all that, there’s still more to deal with: a major earthquake, boy confusion, and friends who turn out to be not so friendly.

Just like ‘El Deafo’ and ‘The Dumbest Idea Ever’, this is a graphic memoir based on Raina Telgemeier’s childhood. Books and TV shows that are based on the creators real life are always the best. For example: ‘Gravity Falls’ was based off of Alex Hirsh’s childhood and ‘The Goldbergs’ was based off of Adam F. Goldberg’s childhood.

I never liked going to the dentist, even when I didn’t have braces. I hate the sound the dentist tools make when they scrap against your teeth, it just grates on your brain. I can understand why some people think dentists are evil. What sane person chooses a career where you stick pointy metal objects into peoples’ mouths?

This might or might not be a good book to give to a person who is just about to get braces. On one hand, it might scare them but on the other hand, they’ll know that even if they are getting braces at least they won’t have to go through what this girl had to go through. At least I hope so. Either way, this is a great graphic novel.

Raina can’t wait to be a big sister. But once Amara is born, things aren’t quite how she expected them to be. Amara is cute, but she’s also a cranky, grouchy baby, and mostly prefers to play by herself. Their relationship doesn’t improve much over the years. But when a baby brother enters the picture, and later, when something doesn’t seem right between their parents, they realize they must figure out how to get along. They are sisters, after all.

I was really surprised when I found this book. I did not think Raina Telgemeler would draw another book about her life. Apparently there was more excitement going on in her life that didn’t include her teeth.

I don’t really have much experience living with a sister since my sister was 16 when I was born and now has two kids of her own. My niece and nephew are closer to my age and feel more like my siblings than my actual sister. From what I’ve read in this book and other books about siblings, I might have dodged a bullet. Except I do like my sister.

This weeks’ Weird but True Fact about Dentistry

Dentists are experimenting with a device that uses electric pulses to straighten teeth up to 50% faster than braces do.

Brave by Svetlana Chmakova

Anyone remember the graphic novel ‘Awkward’ by Svetlana Chmakova? 
Well, here’s it sequel.

Middle School and High School

In his daydreams, Jensen is the biggest hero that ever was, saving the world and his friends on a daily basis. But his middle school reality is VERY different – math is hard, getting along with friends is hard...Even finding a partner for the class project is a big problem when you always get picked last. And the pressure’s on even more once the school newspaper’s dynamic duo, Jenny and Akilah, draw Jensen into the whirlwind of school news, social experiment projects, and behind-the-scenes club drama. Jensen’s always played the middle school game one level at a time, but suddenly, someone’s cranked up the difficulty setting. Will those daring daydreams of his finally work in his favor, or will he have to find real solutions to his real-life problems?

The main subject in the story is bullying and isolation. This graphic novel should be a mandatory read for middle school kids. 

The bullies from the first book are back and worse than ever. They actually go out of their way to target poor Jensen. Who actually takes the time to track someone down just to give him or her a hard time? And poor Jensen doesn’t even realize that his own friends are being mean to him until he gets a pamphlet about bullying. 

I was bullied in school. I won’t go into detail about it but it could have been a lot worse. Like on a scale of 1 to 10, I was about a 3. Unlike Jensen at first, I stood up for myself. I wish this book had been around when I was in middle school. Maybe I would have found better ways to deal with bullies.

This weeks’ Weird but True Fact about Sunspots

Some sunspots – magnetic fields on the sun – are bigger than Earth.

Roller Girl by Victoria Jamieson

4^th Grade and Up

Twelve-year-old Astrid has always done everything with her best friend Nicole. So, when Astrid signs up for Roller Derby Camp, she assumes Nicole will too. But Nicole signs up for dance camp with a new friend instead, and so begins the toughest summer of Astrid’s life.

There are bumps and bruises as Astrid learns who she is without Nicole and what it takes to be a strong, tough roller girl.

This is an excellent girl-empowerment book that every girl should read. Roller Derby girls are definitely tough and maybe a bit crazy to go out and slam into each other on skates for the sake of fun. 

The best thing about Roller Derby (in my opinion) are the creative derby names. Here are a few of my favorite names featured in this story:

Rainbow Bite

Slay Miserables

Napoleon Blownapart

Scream Soda

The Blast Unicorn

Little Bonebreaker

And the best one: the author, a bona fide roller girl herself, reveals her secret identity –

Winnie the Pow!

Another point this story makes is that some friendships don’t last. You make a friend when you’re young, when you get older your interests change and sometimes you just go your separate ways. It’s sad but that’s just the way things are sometimes.

Anyone remember when I posted ‘The Secret Tree’by Natalie Standtford? In that story, Minty loved roller derby and was practicing her skating in the beginning of the story. Minty was so cute trying to come up with a tough Roller Derby name to go with her name but could only come up with ‘Minty Fresh’, which to me sounds cool. If you like Minty, you’ll love Astrid.

And if you like this graphic novel, check out the movie ‘Monster High: Friday Night Frights’. 

This weeks’ Weird but True Fact about Roller Skates

The man credited with inventing roller skates crashed into a mirror while showing off his new invention.

Cardboard by Doug TenNapel

3^rd Grade and Up

The adventure begins when cardboard comes to life!

Cam’s down-and-out father gives him a cardboard box for his birthday and he knows it’s the worst present ever. To make the best of a bad situation, they bend the cardboard into a man – and to their astonishment, it comes magically to life. But the neighborhood jerk, Marcus, warps the powerful cardboard into his own evil creations that threaten to destroy them all!

Another great story and artwork made by the hands of Doug TenNapel. 

I’d love to know how Doug TenNapel came up with this idea. Cardboard coming to life! How random is that? This book proves that with a little bit of imagination and a lot of cardboard, you can build just about anything. If you don’t believe me, check out these creations:

Here’s one I would’ve liked to build when I was a kid. Who am I kidding? I would like to build that now.

So, here’s a tip, if you know anyone under the age of 10 who’s having a birthday, I suggest buying them a bunch of large cardboard boxes and colored markers and tell them to go nuts. I know I would’ve loved that as a kid.

This weeks’ Weird but True Fact about Cardboard

A man made a bike almost entirely out of cardboard.

Ghostopolis by Doug TenNapel

4^th Grade and Up

Doug TenNapel is the author and illustrator of several graphic novels but in this blog, I will only be reviewing the two I enjoyed the most.

Garth is as good as dead…the only problem is he’s still alive.

When Frank Gallows, a washed-up ghost wrangler accidentally zaps Garth Halle into the ghost world, Garth discovers he has special powers in that world.

Soon he finds himself on the run from the evil ruler of Ghostopolis, who wants to use Garth’s newfound abilities to tighten his grip on the spirit world. After Garth meets Cecil, his grandfather’s ghost, the two search for a way to get Garth back home, nearly losing hope until Frank Gallows shows up to fix his mistake.

Great artwork and an even greater story: it has action, humor, heart and, best of all: GHOSTS!

But this story doesn’t have just ghosts. It also includes mummies, will-o-the-wisps, goblins, skeleton horses, zombies and bogeymen. Pretty much all your favorite horror monsters shown in a different light.

Anyone remember the Nickelodeon classic Danny Phantom?

Danny Phantomis about a 14-year-old boy who, after an accident in his parents’ lab, obtains ghost powers. If you love that show and ghosts in general, you’ll love this graphic novel.

Tune in next week for another of my favorite graphic novels by Doug TenNapel.

This weeks’ Weird but True Fact about Ghosts

Nearly half of Americans say they believe in ghosts, according to a news poll.

The Dumbest Idea Ever! by Jimmy Gownley

For all beginning artists 

Renowned comics creator Jimmy Gownley shares his adventures as he grows from an eager-to-please boy into a teenage comic book artist. This is the real-life story of how the DUMBEST idea ever became the BEST thing that ever happened to him.

As I read this book I actually got so overwhelmed that I had to keep putting the book down to calm myself.

After reading Jimmy Gownley’s life story, ‘Amelia Rules’ makes a lot more sense. It’s kind of like he poured his whole self into the characters. Or maybe not like that. The way his stories and drawings are, they are just too amazing to explain in mere words. 

As part of Jimmy Gownley’s job, he goes around the country speaking at schools and libraries and conventions. I know if I had seen one of his speeches as a kid I would have been inspired. A relative of mine asked me to speak at his schools’ career day and I talked to three classes about my comics, doing animations, and owning a service dog. After the second talk, I found out that I was one of the most popular speakers there. I thought it was because of my service dog, Dude, but then I learned there was also a policeman with a police dog speaking too, and apparently, we were more popular than them. I didn’t really understand that since Dude just sat there the whole time while I spoke. I think I gave the kids hope that, ‘Yes. You can make a living drawing cartoons.’ A couple of kids actually showed me some of their drawing that they had drawn on the spot, they were all pretty good. About a week later, I got a ton of thank you letters from the students and they were all filled with drawings. Most of the drawings were of me and my dog.

As a cartoonist myself, this story really got to me and reading Jimmy Gownley’s origin story made me think on my origin story. I always loved to draw as a little kid (mostly stick figures) but I really started to take off when I discovered Calvin and Hobbes. It was in 5^thgrade that I decided I wanted to be a cartoonist. I started out by drawing my own spoof of ‘Calvin and Hobbes’ which I called ‘Halle and Carrie’, Halle being a human girl and Carrie being a kangaroo (I have no idea why a kangaroo). I had to start somewhere. And my origin story is still in progress. I’ve just finished writing my own children’s book featuring my own characters. It was a long stressful journey but I did it. I’m getting back from the publisher a week from today. Here’s what the front and back cover is going to look like.

I’ve already started drawing a sequel which will probably be published next year if I’m lucky.

I love the idea of making a graphic novel based on your life experiences. I wish I could do that but I don’t remember enough details to make it interesting enough. Although the story of how I got hit by a golf cart is pretty interesting. I’m hoping to put that story in one of my comics someday. 

And for any artists out there, who are reading this, keep drawing. Even if you just start off drawing stick figures, that’s a good start, you can only get better.

This weeks’ Weird but True Fact about Comics

Artist Charles M. Schulz created nearly 18,000 “Peanuts” comic strips.

'Amelia Rules' Graphic Novel Series by Jimmy Gownley

I figured I’d start with the best first in my list of great graphic novels. 

And yes, the correct term is ‘graphic novels’, not comic books.

 And whoever said that graphic novels aren’t real books never read these.

For kids and adults who are still kids at heart

Meet Amelia Louise McBride.

She’s 9 years old, a former New Yorker who’s now living in a small town after her parents decided to get divorced, and dealing with everything from being the new kid in school to getting her first kiss. But you know what? She’s got her mom and her aunt Tanner (who happens to be an ex-rock star) and her friends Reggie, Rhonda, and Pajamaman, and everything’s going to be okay. 

Except, of course, when it isn’t.

I found out about this series at Barnes and Nobles and I am so glad I did because they changed my life. I’ve read many graphic novels but these were my first and they are still the best.

The art is amazing and the story plot is even more amazing. Through all 8 books we watch Amelia grow from a 9-year-old kid to an 11-year-old tween. The first three books are more about being a kid and doing fun kid things, after that you see Amelia and all the other characters begin to grow more into themselves. These stories are wild, crazy, funny, but also shows that life is hard, that it isn’t simple or fair. 

Since I started reading these books, it’s been my dream to write my own graphic novel with my own characters. Unfortunately, that’s probably never going to happen. I have a hard time coming up with a complete story and I have a hard time finishing things. I’m surprised I’ve been able to keep this blog going for so long.

I actually read the 3^rdbook first by mistake and in my opinion, it’s the best one. ‘Superheroes’ has more humor and more heart than any other graphic novel I’ve ever read before or since. 

‘Her Permanent Record(Book 8)’ was written back in 2012 and I don’t know if Jimmy Gownley plans to continue the series but I reallyhope he does. It’s hard to put into words just how great these books are. You’ll just have to read them and see for yourselves. I think everyone should read these books whether they’re a kid or an adult.  

I found this video on YouTube of Jimmy Gownley revealing the origins of Amelia Rules and I would like to share it with you because finding out where the idea for a story came from is cool:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sjQp9IBO530&t=76s

Before I wrap up this review, I would like to share a quote from each book:

The Whole World’s Crazy: “Anytime you find magic in this world, you have to fight hard to keep it.” - Tanner

What Makes You Happy: “Was that a flying ninja?” - Amelia

Superheroes: “Everyday, you sit in class, and the clock seems to stand still. Then, one day you look behind you…and you wonder where all the time went.” - Amelia

When the Past is a Present: “Who are we? Why are we here? What can we do to freak out some poor, random, convenience store clerk?

The Tweenage Guide to Not be Unpopular: “We are visitors from the future! A future without war! Or pollution! Or gangsta rap.” – Amelia and Rhonda

True Things (Adults Don’t Want Kids to Know): “I think the reason people have kids is so they can pass their own brand of crazy on to a new generation.” – Tanner Clark

The Meaning of Life and Other Stuff: “All that matters is that we’re in this together now…forever…and no matter what trials, what challenges, what evil is thrown at us…they will never tear us apart.” - Reggie

Her Permanent Record: “Life is tough, Tanner! And sometimes crap happens that you don’t like! But you don’t run! You act like a grown-up!” – Amelia 

Well, that’s it for this review. Tune in next week for another graphic novel by Jimmy Gownley.

This weeks’ Weird but True Fact

Until 2011, the Comics Code Authority made rules about what could appear in comic books. Werewolves, vampires, and zombies were not allowed.