Today's round-up is a graphic novel bonus! Three graphic novels, two new releases from 2021, and one 2018 gem I discovered on the library shelves. I recommend all three for you lovers of image and verse mash-ups, with a few caveats. Read on to find out more:
The Cardboard Kingdom #2: Roar of the Beast by Chad Sell (2021)
The first volume in this series centered on gathering the large cast of characters together through the magic of their combined imaginations. In The Cardboard Kingdom #2: Roar of the Beast, we catch up with the gang a few months later, this time battling a metaphor-infused “beast” that is terrorizing the neighborhood, er, Kingdom.
I adored the first book and frequently recommend it to kids, parents, and co-workers at the library. The story is fun and inventive, even when the subject matter is striking at a much deeper context. These are real kids with some real-world issues, and while their imaginary world-building can’t solve all of these issues, it does help them cope.
In the sequel, though, we find that the kids aren’t managing as well through fantasy anymore and emotions are becoming more complicated. The kids deal with concepts like depression, anger, helplessness, but their stories are told in an openness that avoids stigma while fostering a sense of warmth and empathy. It’s a tough balance, but Chad Sell has demonstrated a deft skill in translating these concepts for younger audiences.
The worlds these kids build are projections of their inner selves. Being scared doesn’t mean you can’t have the heart of a knight or a roaring beast in you. The Kingdom is about creating safe spaces and growing them into communities. But beyond all these allegories, it’s still a fun read. This is a universe built upon imagination, a place to process the real world while still having fun in an imaginary one.
Fake Blood by Whitney Gardner (2018)
This took some unexpected, yet delightful, twists.
There is a basic message in this story common (for good reason) among most middle grade fiction about loving and accepting oneself. It’s a solid message important for all kids transitioning away from childhood, but it’s such a pervasive theme in middle grade fiction that the entire genre can almost be defined by it. In lesser books, this can be exhausting. But this is not a lesser book.
Whitney Gardner is here to have fun.
Meet AJ. AJ has a crush on Nia, but he’s too shy to talk to her. He knows she enjoys reading, especially books about vampires, and so he makes the type of bad decisions an eleven-year-old kid is prone to make. He pretends to be a vampire, a plan without an endgame strategy that could go down any predictable road until lessons are learned. But Fake Blood avoids those conventions and takes readers on a entertaining adventure with a really likeable group of characters. Along with AJ and Nia are Hunter and Ivy, two pals with a penchant for one-upmanship behaviors and trouble making. There is BB, AJ’s older and kinda wiser teen sister. And finally, we have Mr. Niles, a Brit teaching at a Portland middle school, who is dealing with his own unusual relationship issues.
A sweet and funny read (especially around Halloween) complete with a gentle skewering of Twilight, Fake Blood is great fun for kids, teens, or adults with a twinge of nostalgia.
The Dire Days of Willowweep Manor by Shaenon K. Garrity (2021)
I loved when gothic romances were the assigned reading in high school. Those books read like soap operas, a collection of dramatic romances, crazy twists, murder, mayhem, castles & old estates. They also had plenty of problematic depictions of mental illness and, as an Italian, I cringed whenever Italians appeared because they were always the unscrupulous villain. Always.
The Dire Days of WIllowweep Manor is here for all the tropes of the genre, but with a mighty twist.
Haley is a fangirl, writing never-ending book reports on Wuthering Heights, coming to class dressed in petticoats, and not caring about any bully’s judgements in the hallways. But when she saves a boy with a serious case of brooding from drowning, she is transported to a mysterious estate/castle/manor with an unusual purpose. I don’t want to ruin the twists, but I want to advise that this is very much a work of science fiction (a solid genre as well, no doubt, just a surprise when it took over this story).
The world-building is complete and effective, but sadly comes at the expense of the characters. Cuthbert, a Victorian lay about with much ambition and little focus, delivers some of the best jokes, all at the cost of his own dignity. Wilhelmina, the housekeeper with a solid and sturdy presence, has a wonderful heroic turn late in the story that makes me wish we hung out with her more. And Haley is a walking encyclopedia of all things gothic, funny and resourceful, but presented here without any explanation. We never learn what drives the relationship she has with this genre, or much about her beyond being a real Bronte stan.
The rest of the characters are just kinda there, telling or learning through exposition, never revealing too much of themselves. There are kernels of interesting personalities in each that we never have time to explore, which is a shame in such an inventive story.
The novel works as a stand-alone story, but it leaves itself open to sequels. This world is interesting, and I hope to learn more about it through future volumes.
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