This is beautiful! I don't pick up picture books often but, y'know, I heard this one was great ;)

And: it is! It's beautiful, both the artwork and the story. There's a lot packed into this small story, and it's moving and age-appropriate without being cheesy.

I feel like I recommend this only under a specific set of circumstances, ie: you are a middle school teacher teaching a unit about the Gold Rush OR Call of the Wild and you want some primary sources.

I picked it up with an eye to booktalk it for fans of nonfiction survival stories, but I just don't think it's... exciting... enough for the average young reader to pick up and read cover to cover. It has these great primary sources, family letters of 2 gold prospectors (Stanley Pearce and Marshall Bond), with great details about their lives, but the problem is... like... they don't find gold... and not that much happens to them really. Which I understand is extremely typical--the book says only 0.5% of gold rushers actually got rich on gold. But it's also uhh kind of a letdown, narratively speaking. Like, they go to Alaska (which: yes! Was a hard journey), they get some bad gold claims, they don't find very much gold, they leave Alaska and die from other reasons.

Also: the effect of the gold rush on First Nations and Native Americans is literally an afterthought, like literally the last page is about how the gold rushers "were clearly not aware of or concerned about the potentially detrimental effects of their actions on the land, animals, or Native people, who had already been living there for thousands of years." Like ok sure, the gold rushers didn't think about them, but you, the author, could have maybe mentioned this sooner.

Anyway, as a historical document of these 2 specific Gold Rush dudes,this is great--great use of the letters, maps, old photos etc! And sort of good job contextualizing the Gold Rush. But it feels like kiind of a stretch to call this "an adventure."

This was a lot of fun and I think it did a great job of highlighting why Leia's diplomatic skills are badass, in addition to her fighting skills. I think it's perfect for its intended MG audience.

I will say, there is a character who is from an alien species called the Abednado, and this character was very literal and socially awkward, and the whole time I was like Uh is this Space Abed Nadir? To be honest I found Space Abed to be a little tiresome, but I think the character would resonate more with the book's intended audience.

Spoiler

Also there are a couple pretty emotional noble, sacrificial deaths and I was like holy shit this book is getting dark. But I guess it's on par with like, Obi-Wan's death in A New Hope, so if a kid has already seen Star Wars this book shouldn't be anything they can't handle?

Aww yiss, Poe Dameron's parents are badass! Princess Leia is badass! The Queen of Naboo is badass! I feel like all the new SW books I've read have done a lot of work to point out how important Leia's skillset is and how many sacrifices she's had to make, and this book was no exception.

Also, the art is gorgeous and so is Shara Bey's hair.

this vol also includes #1 of [b:Star Wars: Princess Leia|25013184|Star Wars Princess Leia|Mark Waid|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1435801343s/25013184.jpg|44684998] and a reprint of a 70s Star Wars comic, the latter of which is notable mainly for how Luke looks weirdly like He-Man and how unfortunate Biggs' mustache is.

Hm, I'm always interested to read first-hand accounts of life in North Korea, and there are definitely some fascinating and sometimes funny observations in here. Sometimes Guy as a narrator seems like a real dick, like he just can't believe the stuff that citizens of an oppressive regime don't know/aren't willing to say to him, and it wasn't totally clear to me if he was aware as he was writing this that he was being kind of a dick about it? Like am I supposed to read this as kind of a confessional or am I also supposed to be shocked?

The black and white sketchy art worked well for a travelogue of a totalitarian regime, and made this a pretty quick read. There are some interesting anecdotes for sure.

I COULD NOT PUT THIS DOWN, I read it all in one day. I feel like the entire contents of this book were like, one paragraph in my AP US History book and I didn't know ANY of the rest of the story and the rest of the story is CRAZY.

I am not sure how to pitch this to teens because it is a really interesting story but it honestly sounds like it might be boring. But it's like a bananas spy thriller. Like. IDK IDK IDK but I definitely recommend this to adults who, like me, have heard of "the Pentagon Papers" but did not really understand what was in them.

Oh man, I love stories about summer camp as a place for personal growth! This captures the whole idea of being someone else at camp really well, and the art is beautiful. The leisurely pace is very summer-y. I think this would resonate with queer/questioning kids for sure, and maybe older kids looking for a girly realistic graphic novel along the lines of [b:Smile|6393631|Smile|Raina Telgemeier|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1438206850s/6393631.jpg|6582125]. It doesn't have a good hook to sell it on but I think its audience will find it and love it.

This book is definitely unique. I've never read anything quite like it. The matter-of-fact blend of industrial history and dragons (who love to eat carbon and thus their population has blossomed with industrialization) is pretty cool.

I picked this up to potentially booktalk to 7th/8th graders and I'm just not sure... content-wise it's fine, no sex, some dragon violence, very Canadian language... but it's very sophisticated and I feel like a lot of kids that age might not quite pick up the alternate history world? BUT I mean, the kinds of nerds who would be interested to pick this up based on the summary would probably be game. Sorry for nerd stereotyping.

OH and I forgot to say, Owen's aunts are lesbian dragon slayers/swordsmiths and they're totally awesome.

I really enjoyed this! It's a quick, compelling read--more accessible than [b:No Place to Hide: Edward Snowden, the NSA, and the U.S. Surveillance State|18213403|No Place to Hide Edward Snowden, the NSA, and the U.S. Surveillance State|Glenn Greenwald|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1383352779s/18213403.jpg|25637147] (which I also enjoyed) and also like, less... objective in tone? Ted Rall is very up front about considering Edward Snowden a hero and this is written in very admiring tones. Which is fine for me, because I also find Edward Snowden admirable, and I appreciate how straightforward Rall is with his POV. BUT for students looking for something objective for research... this might be trickier. Although it does have a lot of documented facts and a detailed footnotes section.

The art style is fun and cartoony, kinda like a Simpsons episode about Edward Snowden. I'd recommend it to people who are maybe kinda curious about Edward Snowden, and I think a certain segment of politically engaged teen would be into this. (Teen Renata, for example, would have loved it.)

While reading this I was like, "DAMN, this is kinda DARK for middle-grade!" and then I was like "Oh I guess it's not any worse than the actual plot of Star Wars, which presumably anyone reading this has already seen?" But like for example in one of the first chapters a group of rebels gets captured and they all kill themselves/each other to avoid being tortured by the Empire??? Which again, isn't out of line with what happens in the movie but for some reason it feels darker to me in book form.

Uhh it was a pretty fun read! Middle-grade Star Wars fans will enjoy it. There was some good Han Solo character development (it's set between A New Hope and Empire Strike Backs and reflects on his changing opinions of the Alliance/Leia).