On My Wishlist

"On My Wishlist" is a variation on several memes I've seen in the blogosphere. What makes this one different is that I take a screenshot of an item on my actual amazon wishlist every week. Usually, I end up buying the items that I post about after I write about them for this post. All of the thought that goes into these weekly posts makes for an argument that my checking account cannot refute.

This week's pick is a new graphic novel that is going to be part of a series. It's called Resistance: Book One and it was written by Carla Jablonski. I've never read anything by this author, but need to create a list of materials for a course I'm teaching next year. The subject of the course is the Holocaust, and the central text I'm using is The Book Thief. That should keep us busy for some time, but I like to immerse myself in other works while teaching a particular unit of study. Hopefully, this graphic novel will broaden my understanding of the events of the resistance movement in France during WWII.

I'll let you all know what I think after I read it!

Book Review: The Eternal Smile

I finished The Eternal Smile: Three Stories by Gene Luen Yang, Derek Kirk Kim in one sitting, but I have required an extra few days to think about these seemingly simple and straightforward stories before writing this review. Though they seem innocent enough, these stories are filled with meaning and, in my case at least, are not easily forgotten.

Some may poo-poo graphic novels as inflated comic books, but I beg to differ. I think that the combination of language and artistry can reach a whole new level of meaning and significance than can a traditional prose novel. For instance, some of the most powerful panels in this book are ones with no words whatsoever. And, conversely, words become so important in a graphic novel because there are so few of them. There is not room for a lengthy descriptive paragraph, and the reader shouldn't be able to skim. It is like a great haiku in this sense. Everything matters. Nothing is extra.

I found The Eternal Smile to be a blend of great writing, excellent artistry, and dynamic storyline. As the title promises, there are three short stories contained in this book. Each story has its own message or commentary on society. I will not talk about all of them at length, because they are short and I don't want to give too much away.

What I will say is that each of the stories is completely different from the others. Each could stand alone and is important in its own right. My favorite of the three is the last. I could see it being turned into a movie.

I think that boys in particular gravitate toward this genre of writing, but there are several amazing graphic novels that are written for the ladies. This one, in my opinion, is a fairly gender-neutral collection. I've already passed it on to a male student. He read it in one sitting and had a different favorite story than I did. He said that he felt that the story would stay with him for a while. This is a good sign!

On My Wishlist: Alice's Adentures in Wonderland

I prefer to have read the print version of a story before I see the movie version. I've heard of others who are okay with seeing a movie or stage performance first, but I like to have a basic understanding of the original text before I try to grasp an adaptation. That's just my style.

Alice's Adventures in Wonderland is going against the grain for me because I watched the old movie version way before I could even read. I've seen it a few times over the years, and was always intrigued by the plot and characters and magic of it all. I don't know why I never actually read the book; maybe I thought I already knew it? Well, in preparation for 3-D movie event that is this new Alice in Wonderland, I thought it was high time that I read the darn book. I wanted to be privy to all of the inside jokes and see the changes that have (inevitably) been made to turn this short children's book into a souped-up blockbuster.

So, I headed to Barnes and Noble one fair afternoon (before we got three feet of snow) to purchase a copy of this book. Since it's a classic, I thought that I'd be able to get a copy fairly cheaply, and I was right. I purchased a low-maintenance, garden variety copy for about five dollars. But, what really made me drool was the new graphic version of this story. As much as I wanted to, I could not bring myself to drop almost twenty dollars on a graphic novel. But, I did have the presence of mind to put it on my amazon wishlist once I returned home.

I am happy to report that the amazon price is far less expensive than the Barnes and Noble. After I see the movie, I know that I won't be able to hold myself back much longer and I'll end up buying a copy on amazon. But, I will have saved a cool ten bucks or so in the meantime. I'm sure I'll come up with another title that I simply have to have to get rid of my savings!

Book Review: Chess Rumble

Though G. Neri's graphic novella Chess Rumble resembles a children's book, there is nothing childish about it. Middle school student Marcus is in trouble. Not just for the fights he's getting in, but because his dad has basically abandoned the family, his little sister just died, and his mother is overwhelmed with taking care of her remaining three children. Luckily, Markus has a teacher who cares about him and who wants to see him stay out of trouble. She hooks him up with "CM", a one-time criminal who's turned his life around and who's teaching boys to play chess in hopes that they'll stay out of trouble.

G. Neri's writing poetry packs a powerful punch. With lines like "In my hood/ battles is fought every day", Neri makes the link between street life and the game of chess obvious. CM tells Markus that the game of chess is not played thinking about the move that you're making now, but the ones that you'll want to make in the future. Otherwise, in life and in chess, shortsighted thinking and motivations will cause you to be vulnerable. With this metaphor in place, the message to teen boys is clear: you need to think ahead before you move.