Review: Star Wars: Jedi Academy by Jeffrey Brown

Star Wars: Jedi Academy by Jeffrey Brown

Roan couldn’t wait to finish elementary school so he could finally move on to Pilot Academy for middle school. All of his friends got acceptance letters, but he was rejected. When he receives a letter from a Jedi named Yoda, things start looking up. Fitting in at a new school is hard, and some of his teachers are hard to understand - master Yoda and his Wookie gym teacher, especially. He was recruited because Yoda sensed the force in him, but so far, that isn’t going well either. Could middle school get any worse?

In journal format filled with written entries, Roan’s comics, and other memorabilia from his first year at Jedi Academy, Brown’s latest Star Wars title is fun, funny, and quite an original take on the Star Wars enterprise.  Fans of Star Wars, graphic novels and quirky diary format books (read: Wimpy Kid) will look for future installments as Roan’s continues his education at Jedi Academy.  A great choice in particular for 4th-6th grade.

Funny story: One of my students was peering over my shoulder while I was reading this during break at our after-school program and said "Ugh! Graphic novels! I HATE graphic novels!" and then, instead of walking away, he stood over my shoulder for the next 15 minutes and read along with me.  When I put the book down I said "So, graphic novels? You HATE graphic novels! And yet you stood over my shoulder reading and laughing for the last 15 minutes. What do you have to say about that?" He insisted he still didn't like graphic novels, but somehow, I don't believe him.

Star Wars: Jedi Academy was recognized by YALSA as one of the Top Ten Great Graphic Novels.

And since it exists and is cute, here's the book trailer!



The LibrariYAn is an Amazon Associate. If you click from links on this blog to Amazon and buy something (anything!), I receive a small percentage of the purchase price.

Graphic Novels from Rainbow Rowell

Seriously!?! This has been just a downright awesome week for YA lit.  Entertainment Weekly reports that Rainbow Rowell (author of my most beloved Eleanor & Park and Fangirl, which I've yet to gush about, but stay tuned) inked a deal with First Second to write two graphic novels which will be illustrated by Faith Erin Hicks.

So.Much.Amazing.

The LibrariYAn is an Amazon Associate. If you click from links on this blog to Amazon and buy something (anything!), I receive a small percentage of the purchase price.

Review: Friends With Boys by Faith Erin Hicks

Friends with Boys by Faith Erin Hicks



For all of her educational life, Maggie has been homeschooled by her mother.  Now, her mother is gone and she's faced with the overwhelming experience of starting her freshman year at the local high school.  Her older brothers have already been at the high school, but each has found their niche.  Thus, it's up to Maggie to face this new world on her own.  If only she could give up the ghost...that's been following her, and make some real friends.  

How can you not love an awkward new girl?  If Zoey Deschanel has taught us anything, it is that Peter Pan collars go with everything "new girl" is someone in whom you can see parts of your awkward self.  Maggie is awkward.  She is quiet. But that doesn't mean she can't be confident or loud in the right circumstance.  She'll call her brothers out on stuff and take the blame when it belongs to her. She's offbeat. And she sees ghosts! Well, okay, just one ghost.  So much to love. In fact, the only thing I didn't like about this graphic novel is that it ended too quickly.  There are a lot of loose threads.  What's the deal with her mom? Will she and cute alterna-girl Lucy and her mohawk-y brother Alistair stay friends? What was up with that ghost?   And will we see Maggie again in another book?  I hope so.

Want to check out the first 20 pages?  They're available free on Faith Erin Hicks' website!

The LibrariYAn is an Amazon Associate. If you click from links on this blog to Amazon and buy something (anything!), I receive a small percentage of the purchase price.

Nonfiction Monday: A Game for Swallows by Zeina Abirached

Nonfiction Monday is a weekly meme in the Kidlitosphere that invites bloggers to read and review a nonfiction book on Monday as a way to promote high-quality nonfiction titles.  Each week, a different blogger "hosts" Nonfiction Monday and provides a roundup of all the posts.  This week Nonfiction Monday is hosted by Wrapped in Foil!

A Game for Swallows: To Die, to Leave, to Return by Zeina Abirached



Zeina Abirached was born and grew up in Beirut, Lebanon in the 1980s, during the country's civil war.  Windows were barricaded, sandbags were piled up in the streets, and everyone tried to stay inside, away from snipers and bombings.  A Game for Swallows focuses on one night of Zeina's childhood, when her parents went to visit her grandmother.  As their absence grows longer and longer, neighbors come by to eat, drink, talk and keep things as normal as possible.

When I first came upon A Game for Swallows on a display at the public library I saw the cover illustration and color scheme and thought "Oh, another title by Marjane Satrapi!" You'll forgive my ignorance, I hope.  As I came closer and read the title I realized that this was in fact, one of this year's Batchelder Honor books.  How lucky for me that no one had it checked out.  As I read, the black markered illustration style and theme of a childhood marred by war and violence continued to remind me of Satrapi's Persepolis, even though the meat of the story is distinctly different.  By focusing on just a few hours of one evening, Abirached's graphic novel encapsulates all of the fears and dangers of living in war-torn Beirut.  By focusing on just those few hours, though, she is also able to encapsulate the importance how friends and family can make such trying times not just bearable, but able to be remembered fondly.  The tension as they await the return of their parents is real and palpable.  And so are the bonds of friendship that have been strengthened and tested as the building residents come together to be there for one another.  Simply drawn.  Beautifully told.  Moving. Personal.

Recommended for 7th grade and older.

A Game for Swallows is a 2013 Batchelder Honor book.  

The LibrariYAn is an Amazon Associate. If you click from links on this blog to Amazon and buy something (anything!), I receive a small percentage of the purchase price.

YALSA List-O-Mania! Best Fiction and Great Graphic Novels

Two weeks ago I blogged about the Youth Media Awards winners and honorees.  And I also spotlighted the Amelia Bloomer and Rainbow List books.  But I haven't gotten around to other awesome YALSA lists.  You know, the awesome ones that are exactly what you need in order to do collection development! While the awards are fun, it's these lists that really help librarians figure out what to buy.  So let's look at them now, shall we?  We'll start with Best Fiction and Great Graphic Novels...

Best Fiction for Young Adults
There's no set number of books that makes the cut on this list.  Rather, committee members read 200+ nominated books (and yes, as I am on the 2014 committee, I can confirm that every committee member must read every nomination!), and then select however many of those books they agree are the "best" and put them on a list.  And then, they create a Top Ten.  These are books to put on the top of your TBR pile.

• Andrews, Jesse. Me and Earl and the Dying Girl. Abrams/Amulet Books, 2012.
• Bray, Libba. The Diviners. Little, Brown Books for Young Readers, 2012.
• Hartman, Rachel. Seraphina. Random House/Random House Books for Young Readers, 2012.
• Kontis, Alethea. Enchanted. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt/Harcourt Children’s Books, 2012.
• Levithan, David. Every Day. Random House/Knopf Books for Young Readers, 2012.
• McCormick, Patricia. Never Fall Down. HarperCollins/Balzer + Bray, 2012.
• Quick, Matthew. Boy 21. Little, Brown Books for Young Readers, 2012.
• Saenz, Benjamin. Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe. Simon & Schuster/Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers, 2012.
• Stiefvater, Maggie. The Raven Boys. Scholastic, 2012.
• Wein, Elizabeth. Code Name Verity. Disney/Hyperion, 2012.

Great Graphic Novels
Similar to BFYA, there's no set number of books that make this list, and all have been vetted by the full committee.  I spend so much time reading fiction and nonfiction that I personally do a bad job keeping up with graphic novels.  This list was made for people like me, who desperately need assistance growing a fine graphic novel collection for their eager teens.

Non-Fiction

• Backderf, Derf. My Friend Dahmer. 2012, illus., Abrams, paper, $17.95, 978-1419702174.
• Fetter-Vorm, Jonathan. Trinity: A Graphic History of the First Atomic Bomb. 2012, illus., Farrar, Straus and Giroux/Hill and Wang, $22.00, 978-0809094684.
• Lambert, Joseph. Annie Sullivan and the Trials of Helen Keller. 2012, illus., Disney Hyperion/Disney Book Group, $17.99, 978-1423113362.

Fiction

• Bendis, Brian Michael and Sara Pichelli. Ultimate Comics Spider-man, V.1. 2012, illus., Marvel, $24.99, 978-0785157120.
• Hicks, Faith Erin. Friends with Boys. 2012, illus., Roaring Brook/First Second, paper, $15.99, 978-1596435568.
• Kwitney, Alisa, Rebecca Guay and others. A Flight of Angels. 2011, illus., DC/Vertigo, $24.99. 978-1401232009.
• Long, Mark, Nate Powell and others. The Silence of Our Friends. 2012, illus., Roaring Brook/First Second, paper, $16.99, 978-1596436183.
• Murakami, Takashi. Stargazing Dog. 2011, illus., NBM Publishing, paper, $11.99, 978-1561636129.
• Telgemeier, Raina. Drama. 2012, illus., Scholastic/GRAPHIX, $23.99, 978-0545326988.
• Waid, Mark, Paolo Manuel Rivera and Marcos Martin. Daredevil V. 1. 2012, illus., Marvel, $19.99, 978-0785152378.

Stay tuned for Quick Picks, Popular Paperbacks and Fabulous Films, coming later this week.

The LibrariYAn is an Amazon Associate. If you click from links on this blog to Amazon and buy something (anything!), I receive a small percentage of the purchase price.

Review: Drama by Raina Telgemeier

Drama by Raina Telgemeier



Middle school. Drama. The two are synonymous.  Put them together as "middle school drama," and heck, it just ups the ante.  Callie is a seventh grade theater geek who can't sing a bar.  She also seems to have a chronic problem of crushing on the wrong guy.  But she doesn't let her lack of musicality stop her from getting involved; she is a faithful member of stage crew and devotes herself to doing a "bang" up job designing sets on a limited budget, including - she hopes - a confetti cannon.  As for romance, she's working on getting that right, too.

What I Love:

• Callie's purple hair (pink in the front), which is similar to several students at my middle school
• Twins Justin and Jesse who are both best friends and individuals with distinct personalities
• Raina Telgemeier's simple, well-drawn, full color illustrations. Oh yeah, it's a graphic novel!
• How it's a play (Moon Over Mississippi) within a play (the overall structure of the novel)
• The drama.  From unrequited crushes to on-stage catastrophes, it feels authentic
• A diverse cast of boys, girls, gays, Asians, African-Americans, glasses-clad kids, athletes and drama queens (and kings).  No matter who you are, it's not just okay to be yourself, it is imperative.

Read it if:

• You were/are/aspire to be a drama nerd
• You watch Glee (yes, this is drama, not show choir, but it has a similar feel)
• Contemporary fiction (with a little romance) is your thing
• You want something quick and entertaining, but don't want to slack on story or characters

I'm ashamed to say that I haven't yet had a chance to read Telgemeier previous graphic novel, Smile, which won the 2011 Eisner Award (basically the Oscars for comics) for Best Publication for Teens.  I'll have to get on that.

The LibrariYAn is an Amazon Associate. If you click from links on this blog to Amazon and buy something (anything!), I receive a small percentage of the purchase price.