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wren_in_black
I didn't think there could be any satisfying conclusion to Pattyn's story, but I actually loved how this one wound up. I also enjoyed Jackie's story and am so glad her perspective was included.
It took me far longer than it should have to get through this book, but once I sat down with it, it was a quick read. The fast pacing means my students, mostly my reluctant male readers with an interest in mythology or battles, will devour this book. The dialogue and descriptions help the reader keep track of which names are important and which aren't, as well as remind the reader who is related to whom and who is on which side of the battle. The author/illustrator employs a masterful use of color (red for the Greeks and blue for the Trojans as well as pastels for the gods and other immortals).
As a teacher, I like that this graphic novel follows the "books" of The Iliad as written by Homer. That makes it much easier to use this novel in lessons or to assign certain sections as follow up for studying the text. If I had students of a high enough grade level, we would certainly study this graphic novel in class. As it is, I'll be purchasing a copy to put in my classroom library and will book talk it for students to read for their own pleasure. I'm sure I'll have some takers. Aside from a couple of odd turns of phrase, such as "Briseis, fairest of cheeks" (uh, which cheeks, dude?) the dialogue is well translated and keeps the original flavor of Homer's work.
My only true complaint with this graphic novel version is that it only dances around Achilles and his relationship with Patroclus. They were not simply "dearest of friends". They were lovers. They had been lovers since their youth. There are some hints to the depth of Achilles' love for Patroclus, but I feel that a more faithful approach would have been to simply state the truth of their relationship alongside the information Hinds did give readers. I will go down with the Achilles and Patroclus ship, especially after reading The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller, so this bothers me much more than it would my unsuspecting students.
Over all, an excellent book. 4.5 stars from me.
*Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an electronic Advance Reader's Copy of this book in exchange for an honest review*
As a teacher, I like that this graphic novel follows the "books" of The Iliad as written by Homer. That makes it much easier to use this novel in lessons or to assign certain sections as follow up for studying the text. If I had students of a high enough grade level, we would certainly study this graphic novel in class. As it is, I'll be purchasing a copy to put in my classroom library and will book talk it for students to read for their own pleasure. I'm sure I'll have some takers. Aside from a couple of odd turns of phrase, such as "Briseis, fairest of cheeks" (uh, which cheeks, dude?) the dialogue is well translated and keeps the original flavor of Homer's work.
My only true complaint with this graphic novel version is that it only dances around Achilles and his relationship with Patroclus. They were not simply "dearest of friends". They were lovers. They had been lovers since their youth. There are some hints to the depth of Achilles' love for Patroclus, but I feel that a more faithful approach would have been to simply state the truth of their relationship alongside the information Hinds did give readers. I will go down with the Achilles and Patroclus ship, especially after reading The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller, so this bothers me much more than it would my unsuspecting students.
Over all, an excellent book. 4.5 stars from me.
*Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an electronic Advance Reader's Copy of this book in exchange for an honest review*
As a postulant to the priesthood, this book makes me realize that it's alright that I am human. It's alright that I'm not as qualified as I want to be to preach the gospel. It's alright that I make mistakes. God's grace and mercy have me covered. It's also a powerful reminder that God is present in those that I would rather not love and to not think myself above any of them.
I absolutely loved this graphic novel! If I had read this story as a teenager, I don't know if I would have understood that nothing was wrong with Sebastian for wanting to wear dresses. I wouldn't have had the language to understand that he is genderqueer. In my religious brainwashing, I might not have understood that nothing was wrong with him for wearing dresses and that a dress is just a dress. I would like to think this book would have opened my mind up a bit, but honestly, no. I would have read the description and immediately dropped it. My teenage self would have missed out.
Now that I'm 28 and a teacher and have gone on my own journey of identity apart from how I was raised, I get this book. I love it. It's absolutely beautiful in both story and art. Sebastian is wonderful. He cares so much about his parents and his kingdom and for his friend Frances. He just wants to do what is right. But he also longs to wear dresses and make up. He draws strength from becoming Lady Crystallia. Lady Crystallia is outgoing and confident. She holds herself with dignity and bearing. She can win fashion shows and Sebastian believes she could lead an army if she wanted to. Frances shines in this book as well. She isn't afraid to stand up for what she believes in and she isn't afraid to go after her own dreams, even when it isn't easy.
I'm putting a copy of this book in my classroom. Right now, I think I only have a couple of already affirming girls who will pick it up and a couple of (very quiet about it) genderqueer students. I don't think it will appeal to my boys or to 98% of my students. I don't care. This book will be powerful to the 2% who will read it. It will be affirming and perhaps transformative for those that are on similar journies or want to understand what their friends are going through. If one student reads this book and feels better about themselves for it, then it's very well worth the money spent.
Thank you, Jen Wang, for writing and illustrating this book. It is powerful. It is needed. It is perfect.
Now that I'm 28 and a teacher and have gone on my own journey of identity apart from how I was raised, I get this book. I love it. It's absolutely beautiful in both story and art. Sebastian is wonderful. He cares so much about his parents and his kingdom and for his friend Frances. He just wants to do what is right. But he also longs to wear dresses and make up. He draws strength from becoming Lady Crystallia. Lady Crystallia is outgoing and confident. She holds herself with dignity and bearing. She can win fashion shows and Sebastian believes she could lead an army if she wanted to. Frances shines in this book as well. She isn't afraid to stand up for what she believes in and she isn't afraid to go after her own dreams, even when it isn't easy.
I'm putting a copy of this book in my classroom. Right now, I think I only have a couple of already affirming girls who will pick it up and a couple of (very quiet about it) genderqueer students. I don't think it will appeal to my boys or to 98% of my students. I don't care. This book will be powerful to the 2% who will read it. It will be affirming and perhaps transformative for those that are on similar journies or want to understand what their friends are going through. If one student reads this book and feels better about themselves for it, then it's very well worth the money spent.
Thank you, Jen Wang, for writing and illustrating this book. It is powerful. It is needed. It is perfect.
I'll start off by saying that I really enjoyed this book. I am probably 15 years older than the target audience (being generous to myself, here). I think the illustrations were excellent. The content was a good mix of inspiring and realistic. However, the choice of three separate main narrators (plus occasionally Leakey) could easily confuse a preteen or teen reader. Using different colors helped to distinguish who was narrating, but it wasn't always easy to realize who was speaking the dialogue. Different fonts were used for this, but to me, only Jane Goodall's cursive stood out. The other two were too similar. I think this would have worked better as an interconnected trilogy where each scientist had her own book and Leakey linked them together across the books.
This is a quick read. My students will pick it up without much prompting and my lower level readers will gain confidence from it, especially if I can warn them first about the shifts in narrator and how to tell who is who while reading.
This is a quick read. My students will pick it up without much prompting and my lower level readers will gain confidence from it, especially if I can warn them first about the shifts in narrator and how to tell who is who while reading.
I'm so sorry to everyone I love that loved this book, but I just, to put it nicely, didn't love it. Reading it was a chore. I tried the audiobook instead and I had to literally force myself to put it on while I scrapbooked. I didn't even want it as background noise. It just wasn't the book for me.
The book lasted too long, and spent far too long on odd points and rushed through important plot points. It rambled on and on and on, describing nothing. I feel like the important points were brushed over and instead most of the book focused on odd jokes, which mostly fell flat to me. I love British humor for the most part. I grew up on British television. But this just didn't resonate with me. The characters didn't either. None of them were really three dimensional. Even Aziraphale, who was probably my favorite due to his love of books, didn't have much of a personality . I like the actual idea of this story, but I also feel like the very idea itself came from C.S. Lewis, and frankly, Lewis did it better.
The book lasted too long, and spent far too long on odd points and rushed through important plot points. It rambled on and on and on, describing nothing. I feel like the important points were brushed over and instead most of the book focused on odd jokes, which mostly fell flat to me. I love British humor for the most part. I grew up on British television. But this just didn't resonate with me. The characters didn't either. None of them were really three dimensional. Even Aziraphale, who was probably my favorite due to his love of books, didn't have much of a personality . I like the actual idea of this story, but I also feel like the very idea itself came from C.S. Lewis, and frankly, Lewis did it better.
3.5 Stars.
It took me 55 days to finish this book. That's unheard of for me. I kept putting it down for other things. It was difficult to read.
Things I liked about this book:
- Tareq's character is golden. He's a pure and helpful soul, despite what he goes through in this book.
- Susan is adorable. She's also blond haired and blue eyed. It's important to remember that not all Syrians look the same and that not all refugees fit a common mold.
- Different perspectives are used to tell the story.
- It humanizes refugees and helpers in a way that makes no one perfect but everyone worthy of help and acceptance.
- The ending isn't perfect and emphasizes that the story isn't close to over.
Things I did not like about this book:
- Odd phrasing from both the narrator and characters can make things difficult to understand. Typically it's Destiny, the narrator, that does this and not the characters. Since the characters don't naturally speak much English, it's forgivable from them. I honestly thought the author wasn't raised around English, but she was.
- The narrator didn't add much to the story. Destiny narrates the story much like Death narrates [b:The Book Thief|19063|The Book Thief|Markus Zusak|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1522157426i/19063._SY75_.jpg|878368]. However, the author only uses Destiny to info-dump early on and then make large generalizations that fall rather flat as the story progresses. It was an interesting idea, but I felt it was ineffective and actually took away from the emotional charge of this story.
- Islam is not really a part of the story. Sure, the characters occasionally say things like, "God willing", but I think making Tareq a mostly agnostic character means that there's a major part missing from this story. It would have served well to show that Islam is not the problem. I almost feel like this aspect is missing from the story to "make it more palatable" somehow.
- The problems causing the conflicts in Syria feel like they're rooted there and they really aren't. I understand that the point of this book isn't necessarily to delve into why so many factions and conflicts exist in Syria, but it would be nice to acknowledge that the evils these people are facing are not of their own making and not caused by Syria, or Islam, or any simple cause. But, that might be offensive, so again, I think that's why it was avoided.
- A plot device near the end should have either taken more time, or better yet, been cut from the book.
All in all, a worthwile and important story that was probably bigger than the author's current ability to tell with the gravitas needed.
It took me 55 days to finish this book. That's unheard of for me. I kept putting it down for other things. It was difficult to read.
Things I liked about this book:
- Tareq's character is golden. He's a pure and helpful soul, despite what he goes through in this book.
- Susan is adorable. She's also blond haired and blue eyed. It's important to remember that not all Syrians look the same and that not all refugees fit a common mold.
- Different perspectives are used to tell the story.
- It humanizes refugees and helpers in a way that makes no one perfect but everyone worthy of help and acceptance.
- The ending isn't perfect and emphasizes that the story isn't close to over.
Things I did not like about this book:
- Odd phrasing from both the narrator and characters can make things difficult to understand. Typically it's Destiny, the narrator, that does this and not the characters. Since the characters don't naturally speak much English, it's forgivable from them. I honestly thought the author wasn't raised around English, but she was.
- The narrator didn't add much to the story. Destiny narrates the story much like Death narrates [b:The Book Thief|19063|The Book Thief|Markus Zusak|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1522157426i/19063._SY75_.jpg|878368]. However, the author only uses Destiny to info-dump early on and then make large generalizations that fall rather flat as the story progresses. It was an interesting idea, but I felt it was ineffective and actually took away from the emotional charge of this story.
- Islam is not really a part of the story. Sure, the characters occasionally say things like, "God willing", but I think making Tareq a mostly agnostic character means that there's a major part missing from this story. It would have served well to show that Islam is not the problem. I almost feel like this aspect is missing from the story to "make it more palatable" somehow.
- The problems causing the conflicts in Syria feel like they're rooted there and they really aren't. I understand that the point of this book isn't necessarily to delve into why so many factions and conflicts exist in Syria, but it would be nice to acknowledge that the evils these people are facing are not of their own making and not caused by Syria, or Islam, or any simple cause. But, that might be offensive, so again, I think that's why it was avoided.
- A plot device near the end should have either taken more time, or better yet, been cut from the book.
Spoiler
Susan's kidnapping only takes the space of a few pages and she's found so quickly it doesn't even have a chance to sink in. It provided an opportunity for the American girl to become a "white savior" and I'm not really okay with that.All in all, a worthwile and important story that was probably bigger than the author's current ability to tell with the gravitas needed.
This is a great introduction to Stonewall and the history of the gay rights movement. The book does an excellent job of placing the movement within the greater context of history and of explaining why the details of Stonewall are so vague. This history is all told around the context of objects, which removes the reader from the emotion of the events, in my opinion. It was a neat idea, but I would have preferred something either more linear or more person-focused. Either way, it was an excellent read and perfect for young adults and adults alike.
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I loved this story. I'll preface my review of this graphic novel by saying that I've read [a:Margaret Atwood|3472|Margaret Atwood|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1282859073p2/3472.jpg]'s original [b:The Handmaid's Tale|38447|The Handmaid's Tale|Margaret Atwood|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1546031886i/38447._SY75_.jpg|1119185] already. That's how I recommend you read this book. Read the original novel first.
The art is lovely. The dialogue is a good mix of from the book and original, but still retains the flavor of the original. Most of it is a dialogue in Offred's head. We don't get the whole story and we don't get a resolution. I'm fine with that, and prefer that, since that's how Atwood's original work ends. But I felt like this needed to have another 100 pages. I didn't get to set with it long enough to sink back into that world (not that I really want to, but if you've read the book or watched the show, you'll understand). The horror is what makes this story so profound and so important, and I think the shorter length of this graphic novel doesn't provide quite enough room to build the horror needed. That's just my opinion. It's not enough to subtract more than one star, because this book is still very close to a masterpiece and I enjoyed it very much.
The art is lovely. The dialogue is a good mix of from the book and original, but still retains the flavor of the original. Most of it is a dialogue in Offred's head. We don't get the whole story and we don't get a resolution. I'm fine with that, and prefer that, since that's how Atwood's original work ends. But I felt like this needed to have another 100 pages. I didn't get to set with it long enough to sink back into that world (not that I really want to, but if you've read the book or watched the show, you'll understand). The horror is what makes this story so profound and so important, and I think the shorter length of this graphic novel doesn't provide quite enough room to build the horror needed. That's just my opinion. It's not enough to subtract more than one star, because this book is still very close to a masterpiece and I enjoyed it very much.
I feel like I'll want to go through this entire book again before I could leave an accurate review. In short, I'm impressed by Aslan's scholarship and find these ideas fascinating. I have so much more to learn and to study. I also enjoyed the look at James vs. Paul, although I think that could be its own book. This reminds me of [b:Jesus for the Non-Religious|80202|Jesus for the Non-Religious|John Shelby Spong|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1432083220i/80202._SY75_.jpg|77444] by [a:John Shelby Spong|45659|John Shelby Spong|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1271959143p2/45659.jpg]. Both are as accessible to a lay person as they can be.