1st Graphic Novel of the Year - American Born Chinese

Even before I started my obsession with Graphic Novels, I had planned on reading Gene Luen Yang's American Born Chinese (233 pgs., First Second Books, 2006). Not only did it win the Michael L. Printz award in 2007, but so many other bloggers have read and loved it, including Dewey, our beloved friend. So....I'm not only using this as a selection for the 2010 Graphic Novel Challenge, but also as a notch on the perpetual Printz Challenge.

One bright and starry night, the Gods, the Goddesses, the Demons, and the Spirits gathered in Heaven for a dinner party.

This book, told in Graphic Novel format, contains 3 separate tales:

The first tale is the legendary Chinese fable of The Monkey King. The Monkey King was the ruler of all the monkeys on the Flower-Fruit Mountain. When the Gods were having their dinner party, he tried to attend. But because he was a monkey (and didn't wear shoes) he was denied admittance. This changed the Monkey King. He was embarrassed by it, and decided to change himself. He required all monkeys to wear shoes. He studies the 12 disciplines of kung fu to become more than just a monkey. In fact, he transforms himself into a different type of deity all together.

The second tale is about Jin, an American-Born Chinese. His parents immigrated from China and met in college. Jin's mom told him the reason she chose to marry Jin's father. "Of all the PhD. students at the university, he had the thickest glasses. Thick glasses meant long hours of studying. Long Hours of studying meant a strong work ethic. A strong work ethic meant a high salary. A high salary meant a good husband." When Jin is 9, his family moves out of Chinatown, and Jin has to start a new school. Where he is different; the outsider. He suffers from bullies and bouts of embarrassment over his culture.

The final tale is of Danny, the American boy that has a Chinese cousin, named Chin-Kee. Chin-Kee is the epitome of a negative Chinese stereotype. He has buck teeth, a thick accent, and even eats cats. Danny is so embarrassed by Chin-Kee's yearly visits that he has to switch schools every year.

What can be said about this beautiful little book that hasn't already been said?? It truly is a masterpiece. We follow Jin through grade school, where he befriends the student, Wei-Chen, who has just arrived from Taiwan. At first, Jin tries to ignore the other student, but when the two boys start talking about toys (Transformers), they soon become best friends.

The 3 stories eventually come together, all related in a surprisingly beautiful ending. It is basically the story of loving the person that you are. And if you try to change yourself to fit another's persons image of how you "should" be, then you will eventually lose yourself. It sounds deep, and it is. But it is told with a light-hearted humor and really great pictures. Just a small example:

"The only other Asian in my class was Suzy Nakamura. When the class finally figured out that we weren't related, rumors began to circulate that Suzy and I were arranged to be married on her thirteenth birthday. We avoided each other as much as possible."

Not only is this a wonderful tale that highlights the pain of stereotyping and racism, but also teaches a lesson on self-appreciation and self-awareness. An incredibly quick read (I was finished in about an hour), American Born Chinese is absolutely a must-read. Warm, heart-breaking and yet uplifting, this is one book that I can not truly recommend enough. And for anyone that ever says Graphic Novels are just "comic" books, I think you have a lesson waiting for you. A true 5 Star read!!! 5/5

Monster: The First Printz Award Winner

As part of my ongoing quest to read the entire list of Michael L. Printz Award winner and honor books, I picked up Monster by Walter Dean Myers (281 pgs, Harper Collins, 2001). Not only was this book the very first winner of the Printz Award, it was also nominated for a National Book Award and was named a Coretta Scott King Award Honor. Figured it would be worth my time!

The best time to cry is at night, when the lights are out and someone is being beaten up and screaming for help. That way even if you sniffle a little, they won't hear you. If anybody knows you are crying, they'll start talking about it and soon it's be your turn to get beat up when the lights go out.

Sixteen-year-old Steve Harmon is in jail. He is awaiting trial as an adult for felony murder. He is a relatively good kid from Harlem, that was the supposed lookout in a holdup at a drugstore. When things went wrong, the cashier was killed. Steve is looking at 25 years to life if he is convicted.

What makes this book unique is the format in which it is written. Because Steve was in a film club in high school, he tells his story of the trial as if it was written to be a screenplay. The rest of the book is in diary format. The prosecutor called the defendants Monsters. So this is the title Steve is using for his screenplay.

Also on trial is the alleged shooter, James King, a gang member. Steve was an acquaintance of King's.

I was very impressed with this story. The format, as strange as it was to read, really worked. It was like watching an episode of Law and Order! The harsh reality of prison life is made abundantly clear through the diary entries. Although sixteen qualifies Steve as an adult, it is plain to see that he is just a very scared little boy who is looking at spending the rest of his life behind bars. Is he really a monster that deserves this fate? Was he really the lookout during the botched robbery? Did he really want to be like King and the other gang members? Or was he just a boy who happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time? That is actually left up to you, the reader, to decide.

Honestly, this book should be mandatory reading in high school. The diary entries give you a glimpse into the harrowing world of prison. Here is an example:

Lying on my cot, I think of everything that happened over the last year. There was nothing extraordinary in my life. No bolt of lightning came out of the sky. I didn't say a magic word and turn into somebody different. But here I am, on the verge of losing my life, or the life I used to have. I can understand why they take your shoelaces and belt from you when you're in jail. When the lights went out, I think I heard someone crying in the darkness.

It is so raw and honest, you can feel the fear that Steve is feeling. Any student that reads this book, might think twice before doing something really stupid. An excellent book that rightful deserves the awards it was given. 4.75/5

Not for the Faint at Heart - Tender Morsels

I have been putting off this review for awhile now because I really didn't know where to start. I really wanted to like this book. Hell, I wanted to love it. And that just wasn't the case. I picked up Tender Morsels by Margo Lanagan (448 pgs, Knopf Books for Young Readers, 2008) for a number of reasons: As a retelling of Snow White and Rose Red, it fit well with the Once Upon a Time Challenge. It is on the list of Printz honor books (and I have challenged myself to read them all). And most importantly, it is Nymeth's favorite book!! (Fortunately, she has chosen to forgive me for not liking it!)

There are plenty would call her a slut for it. Me, I was just glad she had shown me. Now I could get this embarrassment off me. Now I knew what to do when it stuck out its dim one-eyed head.

From the very first paragraph, you can tell this isn't going to be a Disney's re-telling of ANY fairy tale. Fourteen-year-old Liga lives in the woods with her father. Her mother is dead, she is scared to death of her father. Her father not only sexually abuses her, but has caused her to miscarry a couple of babies when she inadvertently gotten pregnant. Liga herself is so naive, she didn't even realize she was pregnant. But when it happens the third time, she tries to hide the fact from her father so she can have the baby.

When her father is killed by a passing carriage, Liga gets to keep the child she is carrying and her daughter Branza is born. If dealing with her father's abuse all those years wasn't bad enough, next she is attacked by five of the town's boys and gang-raped, causing yet another pregnancy. Liga then decides she has had enough pain from this world and tries to end her life and Branza's. But an intervening "spirit" won't allow it. She is given a chance at a better life in another "world". Similar to the one she knows, it is a place of her Heart's Desire. A plain vanilla world, where bad things don't happen and the bad people just don't exist. It is here that her second daughter Urdda is born.

But this Heaven can't last forever, and while Branza is content to live quiet and peacefully with just animals as friends, Urdda is more adventuresome. A few people from the "real" world have found their way into Liga's Heaven, and Urdda is determined to find out where there go. And this is the beginning of the end.

This is just a quick synopsis of the book. There is a lot more to it than just this. Other people have been able to enter Liga's Heaven. Some for their own selfish reasons. Others completely by accident. Basically, the book is broken into 3 parts. The Before Heaven, Heaven, and the Real World. I wanted to like this book, I really did. But it was just too harsh for me. I was expecting a fairy tale, and that is not what I got. Although the rape scenes are not explicit, Lanagan certainly doesn't pull her punches. It is tragic. The things that happen to this poor girl are tragic.

While some people liked the beauty of the story, I seemed to be more focused on the negatives. The real world was over-the-top harsh. There wasn't a lot of gray area here. When the women were returned to the real world, there was either good or bad. Not much in between, as you would normally see. And while, I liked the last section the best, the ending highly disappointed me. As far as I was concerned, there was no "happily ever after".

I can see how polarizing this book is: I think you will love it or you will hate it. Unfortunately, I happen to fall in the hate category. I almost quit reading after the first 2 chapters. And while I can appreciate the uniqueness of the story, I just didn't like it. If you are looking for a sweet, tender re-telling of a fairy tale, don't read this one. Because it's not. And I don't think I would consider it YA either. Maybe for older teens, but certainly not for the pre-teen or Tween set. I'm far from a prude, but the sex in this book is over-the-top. There is incest, gang-rape, drawf sex, and some really disturbing animal sex. But don't let me discourage you from reading it. In fact, I like to hear other opinions. I'm giving it 3/5 stars for being a unique and well-written story, but if I had to rate it for how much I enjoyed it it would only be a 1.

A Disreputable History Indeed...

I first saw a review of The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks by E. Lockhart (Hyperion Books, 352 pgs. 2008) over a year ago and thought that it looked great. I'm a big fan of YA books, as you well know. Not sure what took me so long to read it, but once I decided to join the Printz Project, I knew this would be one of the first books I read.

I, Frankie Landau-Banks, hereby confess that I was the sole mastermind behind the mal-doings of the Loyal Order of the Basset Hounds. I take full responsibility for the disruptions caused by the Order -- including the Library Lady, the Doggies in the Window, the Night of a Thousand Dogs, the Canned Beet Rebellion, and the abduction of the Guppy. That is, I wrote the directives telling everyone what to do.

Frances (Frankie) Landau-Banks is a student at the prestigious Alabaster boarding school. As a freshman, she was pretty much unnoticed. When she was, it was only because her sister, Zada (a senior) was really popular. But the summer after her freshman year was good to her, and she came back to school in the fall with a knockout figure. When Senior Matthew Livingston, the boy she coveted her entire freshman year, showed interest in her, she was ecstatic. Until she realized she was playing second fiddle to his best friend, Alpha.

Then she found out that Matthew was a member of Alabaster's secret ALL-MALE society known as the Loyal Order of the Basset Hounds. Because her father was also a member when he attended Alabaster, Frankie knew a bit about the group. And she wanted in. Of course, as a girl, there was no way the boys were going to let her in.

But after she figured out the clues given to her by her father (and spying on a meeting of the Bassets), Frankie found the lost and secret Disreputable History written by years of members. Arming herself with a new email address, Frankie set in motion a series of events that was sure to leave the campus talking.

What I loved about this book was Frankie. She is strong-willed and smart. Not a person to take stereotypes lightly, Frankie tried to break ranks and do what she felt was right....and damn the consequences. She decided she wasn't going to sit by and do nothing when she knew she was smart enough and strong enough to be a member of this group. She was going to break down the barriers that said she couldn't do something because she was a girl. My favorite paragraph in the entire book is this:

Matthew had called her harmless. Harmless. And being with him made Frankie feel squashed into a box -- a box where she was expected to be sweet and sensitive (but not over sensitive); a box for young and pretty girls who were not as bright or powerful as their boyfriends. A box for people who were not forces to be reckoned with. Frankie wanted to be a force.

I love a strong female protagonist. I've said that many times. And that is exactly what Frankie is. She doesn't want follow the expectations of others....she has her own expectations. And she is taking no prisoners.

But as in real life, every action has a consequence. And Frankie has to face up to those consequences. She is young and naive enough to think that Matthew and the other Bassets are going to be impressed with her intelligence instead of upset that she thought outside the box. I have to say, I wasn't thrilled with the ending, but in all actuality, it was probably the best way it could have been written. Very real life, and not some fairy-tale, happily-ever-after conclusion. In Frankie, Lockhart has created a strong, unforgettable character, that defies cliques and stereotypes and just is. She is the person SHE wants to be, not the person that others thinks she should be. And that is commendable. Every girl should read this book to show them they don't have to follow the "rules" society has set for them. And every boy should read it as well...just to prove to them that there are girls that won't handle being "put in a box"l!! Highly Recommended!! 4.5/5

The Printz Project

Oh yeah....like you didn't know this was coming!! Suey, from It's All About the Books and Jessica, from The Bluestocking Society have come together to host the perpetual challenge - The Printz Project. It even has it's own blog!!

Like unto other book award projects, the Printz Project is a perpetual challenge to read the winners of the Michael L. Printz Award (and perhaps the honor books if you’re brave).


Since the Printz Award is a relatively new award, we’re structuring this site a little differently. Each Printz Award-winning book and honor book has its own post. When you read one of the books, head on over to its post and leave either a link to your review on your own blog or go ahead and post your thoughts right there in the comments. This format is designed to keep reviews on the same book together. Each book’s post has a picture of the cover and the synopsis from the publisher. Feel free to browse about.

Seriously...I love YA books!! And out of the entire list of books, I've read 4 of them. And LOVED all 4: Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson, I am the Messenger by Mark Zuzak, The Book Thief by Mark Zuzak, and Looking for Alaska by John Green. So, yes, I'm IN!!