Graphic novels are a huge love of mine, so Newsprints was a guaranteed read.

STORY:

Newsprints by Ru Xu (208 pg) introduced Blue, a young orphan girl who worked as a newsboy, got offered an apprenticeship with the eccentric inventor, Jack. From meeting Jack, many opportunities opened for her, and she later encounters a woman, Jill, and a strange boy named Crow. Throughout the discovery of new people and the bustle of newspapers, Blue worries how her orphan brothers/friends will treat her if they knew her true gender.

I enjoyed reading this story. It started a bit slow but once the momentum quicken and Hector, the oldest orphan boy, arrived I was hooked. I did wonder where the story was set, I thought it was in a fictional 1920s or 1930s era.

Honestly, I spent a bunch of time just marveling at the art.

CHARACTERS:

Blue is not particularly exciting but she is likable, not annoying and sweet.

Crow has too much cuteness inside him, and I adore him immensely. He is a free spirit and just wants to play with birds. Where his strong dislike of adults stemmed from was interesting to learn. He's stylish with his poofy red scarf too.

Hector, an aspiring news reporter, is desperate for a groundbreaking story and he thinks Blue can help him find it. He is a super cool "big brother type." Although he is near twenty, he is still quite childish.

The side characters are wonderful, each one is unique. Hector, Jill, and Crow are equally all my favorites. Hector is just a bit higher in my favorite poll, though.

ART:

Gorgeous Gorgeous Gorgeous art. Xu's color direction is visually-pleasing. The white highlights mesh well with the artwork. Her style is sleek, bright, and colorful, and her characters are expressive.

OVERALL:

A fun read for any age. I am not sure if this is a stand-alone book or not, but I would read a sequel if there was one.

At times, I wanted to drop this book, but then I would read a section that caused me to stick around until the cycle repeated. The chapters from the perspectives of inanimate objects were quirky. In the beginning, I just was not feeling the Zan and Rico connection, but toward the second half, their interactions got less cringy and better. I was really tired of Rico’s mom. If you want to suffer in silence, have at it, but don’t let your decision affect the kids. Overall, I liked the story for the most part.

Not too sure how I feel about the ending.

if Rico would've stopped being prideful, she could have had it all! Just snatch it out his hand and walk away. I think Zan overstepped his boundaries at the end.

2.5 ish

Full of drama (so much drama!!!), character development, lovable Kenji, Warner redemption (some of which is iffy, but he's a ridiculously interesting character), and Juliette finally getting her junk together, and I loved every minute of it. I'm not looking at this from a critical standpoint, but just concerning enjoyment I had fun reading it. This is definitely one of those guilty pleasure books.

In this story set in the 90’s, Jackie is trying to change her ways from being a class clown, and, of course, is failing miserably at it. Since her mom’s stationed in Saudi Arabia and her dad’s busy, Jackie looks for attention through her antics. At the suggestion of one of the teachers, Jackie tries to harness her innate talent of goofiness into acting. The story seemed a bit bland, but there’s some heart here. I think Jackie’s journey to expressing her true feelings was done well.

Also, there is such an undeniably LONG vomiting sequence that I’m surprised no one else has mentioned it as of yet. I get some kids like gross-out humor, but this was far too gross. Yes, this shows Jackie is a light-hearted goof who doesn’t think things through, but I just feel that could’ve been portrayed another way. As an opening scene, that just turned my stomach, and I don’t have emetophobia.

Anyway, the art style is certainly bright-eyed and super cute. The art is what grabbed my attention, and I enjoy the style a lot. This is an overall cute story with a character overcoming the need to overcompensate with humor.

3.5

Basically, common sense with a few generalizations mixed in with scriptures, but it is engaging. Will probably only appeal to an already Christian audience. I do not know if a non-religious person would have the patience to wade through this book because everything is connected to and referenced from the Bible.

in the “men need sex” section, I think it’s worth stating if “your body is not your own,” then if your wife does not feel like it, then you need to accept it. Who wants sex with someone just going through the motions? Sexual intimacy is certainly important, but I would hope it does not become a burden in marriage. I am not married, so I’m just thinking aloud.

Anyway, the book is written very much in the voice of Michael Todd, so if you like his messages, you will like the book. I particularly liked the bit about not using your secondary emotions (i.e yelling in anger when really you felt afraid the other person didn’t care).

Read for BUL3130

Read for Organizational Behavior

More of the same though ch 99 is the highlight. It's so cute!

Ah, the quintessential man and man’s best friend story. Yorick is a newly-turned living skeleton, desperate to make some friends, who meets an adorable canine pal. Yorick is so pure and sweet that you feel sad seeing his failures. I think kids will love the cute art style, but I don’t see why Yorick has to speak ye olde English. For kids not familiar with old-timey speak, there goes half their enjoyment of the story though I found it charming.