In Teen Titans: Beast Boy by Kami Garcia and Gabriel Picolo, the most likeable teenage boy in the world discovers he has unforeseen abilities and rocks supportive friendships. I liked it far more than I’d anticipated, and frankly, I’m ready to adopt Beast Boy now.
REVIEW: Flamer is Searing and Raw
I may be making a pun on the title when I use the words “searing” and “raw” to describe Mike Curato’s fictionalized memoir Flamer, but both are apropos. The main character in this young adult graphic novel feels alone at the intersection of many forces arrayed against him: abusive and conservative parents, being closeted, weight-shaming,…
REVIEW: Lois Lane and the Friendship Challenge Races to Action
In mid-August, just in time for summer reading, comes Lois Lane and the Friendship Challenge, a high-speed bicycle adventure featuring a thirteen-year-old Lois Lane with her cell phone in hand, building her social media brand.
REVIEW: Harrow the Ninth Goes Well Beyond Gideon’s “Lesbian Necromancers in Space”
After the events of Gideon the Ninth you may be asking yourself, is Harrow okay? Like, not “doing good” exactly but basically…all right? I am here to tell you, No. No, Harrow is not in any way okay.
Stepping Stones: A Farm to Table Reading Experience
Stepping Stones by Lucy Knisley is bound to be engrossing for young readers and is satisfyingly layered for an adult audience.
Cook Your Comics: Parsley, Sage, Rosemary and Quarantine Delivers Deliciously
The recipe zine, Parsley, Sage, Rosemary and Quarantine, edited by Mel Gillman, dropped suddenly to great acclaim a few weeks ago! It features simple, easily-modifiable recipes from a large number of independent cartoonists. Designed to be beautiful, it’s welcome to those of us who may be getting tired of our own cooking all of a…
Network Effect Catapults Murderbot into the Wider Universe: Spoiler-free Review
Network Effect is the fifth and as-yet longest installment in the adventures of Murderbot by Martha Wells, introduced in the multiple award-winning novella All Systems Red in 2017. The novel is a great addition to the series, giving readers exactly more of what we love from the Murderbot books: a beloved and sarcastic unreliable narrator,…
Stellar Streaming Storytimes for When You Are Stuck at Home
Now that my husband and I are the chief facilitators of our kid’s remote kindergarten experience, in addition to both working from home at our full time jobs, I find weekday lunches to be a pretty exhausted time for me. Thus, I’ve instituted a lunchtime storytime practice, where some professional reads my kid picture books…
Virtual Book Clubs for Readers Who Want to Connect
Whether you call it social distancing, shelter in place, or hashtag Stay Home, your book club is probably not meeting at the coffee shop this month. There are, however, a number of virtual book club options, some well-established already and some cropping up now to meet the recent demand of people who wish to discuss…
Random House Book Club Is Extremely Hip
If you want to drink wine and chat with smart enthusiastic people about a buzzy book in an extremely cool lounge, the publisher Random House has your back. Continuing their pattern of innovative New York City event planning after their fun Book Fair for Grownups last fall, Penguin Random House launched a swanky new monthly…
Bloodlust and Bonnets Delivers a Madcap Good Time
Bloodlust and Bonnets by Emily McGovern tells a fast-paced and absurdist adventure story in which an amoral young lady called Lucy teams up with Lord Byron and some other vaguely reliable pals to hunt vampires. There’s a giant eagle who speaks French and communicates telepathically. It’s a lot of fun.
One Order of Murder Mystery, Hold the Regressive Politics, Please
After seeing Knives Out, I, for one, felt a new resurgence of my love for murder mysteries. There are many great murder mysteries of course, but one of the reasons Knives Out felt so rejuvenating is that it sidestepped a lot of the conservative political assumptions of the genre. Excitingly, however, there is a rich…