howlinglibraries's Reviews (1.85k)

 I evidently spoke too soon when I said in my review of Volume 2 that there wasn't a cohesive storyline, because the plot felt much more linear and fleshed-out in this volume—and it was my favorite volume yet! I immediately placed a library hold on Volume 4 and can't wait to read the next one. I'm happy we finally got to see some communication between Flora and Oscar!
 

 I'll be honest, these books are so all over the place at times and the cohesion to the storyline is nearly nonexistent... but they're hilarious and adorable and I love them anyways. I'm loving seeing other cats like Creepy come into the plot!
 

 This collection started off strong with Gabriel Hernandez's great illustrations for The Werewolf of Fever Swamp, but unfortunately, the second and third stories weren't nearly as enjoyable. The Scarecrow Walks at Midnight was one of my favorite Goosebumps books as a kid, but the art in this story, while eerie and cool in its Scary Stories-esque style, was hard to follow because the characters looked so much alike. Then, Scott Morse's art style in The Abominable Snowman of Pasadena struck me as something you'd expect to see in the Sunday newspaper comics and I didn't like it at all. 😬 Then again, Pasadena was always one of my least favorite Goosebumps titles, so maybe I was biased against that adaptation to begin with!
 

 Cullen Bunn's works tend to be a bit hit-and-miss for me, and sadly, this one was a miss. It felt like I was getting the middle of a story that was missing the beginning and never effectively worked its way back to explain what was happening, or why. I did get a bit more interested in the backstory by the end of this volume, but it ended so abruptly that my interest fizzled out and I probably won't continue the series.

Thank you to the publisher for the review copy! All thoughts are honest and my own. 

 Given what a popular book Maus has been, and how many book banning controversies it's been at the center of, I'm surprised I hadn't read it sooner, but when I saw this edition at my local library, I decided it was time to finally pick it up for myself. I have to state the obvious: the fact that this book has been challenged and banned so many times is ridiculous and downright disgusting. I'm fully aware of the "reasons" that have typically been given, such as the nudity and depiction of suicide, but there are endless books that are far more graphic and haven't received the same treatment, so why are we even pretending it's anything other than outright erasure and bigotry?

Anyways, The Complete Maus is a tough read at times, but one that I feel like I'm going to be thinking about for a long time to come. I've read a lot of books inspired by actual people's experiences during the Holocaust, but never one that was quite this brutal or hit this hard. 

 I grabbed this from the library on a whim, though I wasn't sure I would be into it. I'm glad I gave it a chance, because I ended up really enjoying it!

I felt so bad for poor Jen, especially dealing with her dad, and I'll admit that I cringed a bit to see that he never really dealt with any repercussions for being such a jerk, but unfortunately that's the reality of these situations most of the time and I did appreciate how candid that portrayal was.

At its core, Stepping Stones is a tale of a kid having no control over their situation and trying to find ways to survive and make the most of it regardless, and that's exactly what Jen does. 

 I've read a few graphic novels now about internment camps, and I would say this may be the most friendly to young audiences I've seen—especially for any kids who enjoy baseball or sports in general. It focuses more on family, baseball, and the main character's father, and less on the uglier aspects of internment camps than other books I've read on the topic, but still portrays them clearly enough to drive home the fact that these camps were a cruel treatment of innocent people in North America's recent history.

I thought the art was stunning and the story was incredibly engaging, and felt like it could easily have been nonfiction instead of historical fiction. I'd highly recommend Stealing Home to anyone who enjoys historical graphic novels, especially young readers who aren't familiar with the WWII internment camps!