Astronauts, by Jim Ottaviana & Maris Wicks

     The full title of this graphic novel is Astronauts: Women on the Final Frontier. The writer and illustrator also created the book Primates, which is very similar in style and  probably isn't terribly surprising. Both Primates and Astronauts are good but pretty specific in their subject matter, which isn't a bad thing, but it means that their audience might not be as broad as, say, the audience for Raina Telgemeier books (Smile, Sisters, Guts, etc.). 

    Astronauts tells the story of women and their difficult and long path to be included in space exploration in the United States. In the early days of NASA, to be considered for a job as an astronaut, you had to have been a fighter pilot. But back then women were not allowed to be fighter pilots, which kept them from being considered as astronauts. Of course that old way of thinking was driven by men, mostly, and thankfully that has changed some in the last several decades, but only because some very smart and very determined women fought hard for that change. The result was (is) that women have now flown space missions into outer space and been very successful contributors to space exploration and space science. 

    As a graphic novel, Astronauts is well illustrated, but I found the story a little choppy. The authors include so much detailed history, including the history of Russia's push to have women in the space program, that the story gets a little bogged down and tedious. Overall it's an important story, and a good story to be told in the graphic novel format. But I don't know if this book, start to finish, is going to appeal to very many readers outside of those who are really interested in the history of women in the space program. It's a good story, and inspiring, but needs a little more personality to it. 

    If women's history interests you, and/or space exploration and space science, you'll probably want to own this book! If not, you might enjoy it, but I'm not sure if it will be one you go back to read again and again. 3 paws and a wag.

Impossible Creatures, by Katherine Rundell

     This book arrived on the shelves in 2023 or 2024, and I have watched it since, seeing all of the wonderful good reviews it gets, paying attention to all of the positive press it receives. Finally, finally, I was able to get my paws on a copy to read for myself. Could this book really be that good? 

    Impossible Creatures is book 1 in what is currently a 2 book series. Author Rundell has written several other books, but I have not yet read them nor heard of her before this book appeared in every bookstore I visit. This is a story I could not possibly explain in this short blog, but I can say it is a magical world she has created, with magical creatures both known and new. This book has dragons and centaurs, ratatoskas and nereids. The setting is a group of islands that exists outside of human knowledge, but right in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean. The mythical and magical creatures that live there do so because humans cannot see it or find it on their own. But the archipelago, the group of islands, is in danger...

    I don't read a lot of fantasy stories, because on the surface they don't appeal to me as much as other genres (such as historical fiction, for example). Yet I usually find the fantasy books I read are really good, and I wonder why I don't read more of them (books like The Girl Who Drank the Moon by Kelly Barnhill, one of my favorite books of all time, of any genre!). I also don't usually read book 1 in a series and then read book 2, and when I do, I rarelyread them one after the other. I think this may be an exception...The Poisoned King just came out in September, and I admit I may have to go find it and read it next! 

    Do yourself a huge favor and read this book! 5 paws!

Spirit Week, by Ira Marcks

    If you are a fan of scary books or the horror genre, it's possible that you've heard of author Stephen King. He's not an author for kids or teens, but older teens sometime read his stories anyway (hopefully with some parent permission). They are intense, scary, well-written...he may be the King of Horror!

    One of King's most famous books is called The Shining. It takes place in the mountains of Colorado outside of a tourist town called Estes Park. The book I am reviewing here today, Spirit Week, also takes place at a hotel in the mountains of Colorado, outside of Estes Park. Spirit Week is about a possibly haunted hotel where a famous but older author of horror stories lives. One young photographer has been invited to create a film about the hotel, and along the way his trip to Estes Park has other people involved.

    Spirit Week is well drawn, but I found the storyline difficult to follow. The first part of the story is clearly a reference to Stephen King and The Shining, and I even checked the author's notes at the back of the book about half way through reading it to see what Marcks had to say about these references - I thought maybe Marcks had written a graphic novel tribute, of sorts, to The Shining or King. I was "horrified" to find no reference or mention at all...really?!? The second half of the book was not The Shining, but I'm not really sure what it was. On one page the characters were outside in the snow at the hotel, and the next page they were going into a mine. The storyline tried to make sense of this sort of transition, but it did not work for me. By the time I had less than 75 pages to read, I just wanted to finish the book so I could start another one. That is not a good sign, or the sign of a good book.

    I give Spirit Week 3 paws, and that is a little generous...I did enjoy the artwork. But using someone else's story as your own, to the degree that Marcks did, should require some mention or reference to the book and author being written about. In all, not a terrible graphic novel, but there are far too any great graphic novels out there for you to spend a lot of time on this one. Darn.

Water, Water, by Cary Fagan

     Water, Water by author Cary Fagan is a very unique book, indeed! Rafe, a young boy and the main character of the story, wakes up one morning in his bedroom, which happens to have separated from his house and is floating in what appears to be a vast ocean. He has his dog, Buddy, with him, but no one else seems to be around. There is no reason given for why his room has detached from the house, why the world has suddenly turned to water, where all the other people and creatures of the planet have gone, or what he should do next...which is, I think, the beauty of this short book! Rafe manages to keep floating on his room, but different problems present themselves along the way (where should he and Buddy pee?), and together try to figure things out as best they can. Other objects come and go into the story, and eventually other people do, too. 

    This book is quite unlike any I have read before, and this dog has read a lot of books! I kept expecting the entire room-floating-on-an-ocean-of-water thing to become this wonderful metaphor, and maybe it's supposed to be, but if so, I still haven't gotten it. But that was part of the fun of this story as well! Not knowing what the overall purpose of the story was...when all the time I was waiting to discover the point of the story, I was drawn into Rafe's life and situation. And then, just as it had started, it was finished!

    This is a short story and you could probably read it in one day, possibly even one sitting. Expect to be surprised, but don't expect the usual story lines that other books follow. Just read, and enjoy (the story and the cool artwork, which adds to the overall effect)! Overall I was surprised that it didn't go where I thought it might, but then I realized that made it better! 4 paws! 

Rules for Vampires, by Alex Foulkes

     I know it's barely September, but I was in the mood for something spooky when this book rolled up to my kennel! Rules for Vampires is the first of a two-book series (so far!), and it was delightfully scary! Leo is an eleven-year-old vampire, who is heading out for her first-ever "feeding" by herself. What she stumbles into is an orphanage, with one particular orphan preparing to kill the orphan master. The orphan master is very, very mean, and Minna is finished being mistreated by this evil man. But the "live" world and the "dead" world collide in very unexpected ways. Quickly vampires are fighting ghosts, and then ghosts and vampires are fighting together to stop another, seemingly unstoppable ghost, which goes against one of the rules vampires are supposed to follow: never ever fight a ghost!

    This book is a lot of fun, but don't get me wrong - it isn't "fun" like Goosebumps, but quite scary at times! Although it isn't "scary" like a Stephen King book would be...more like a Neil Gaiman The Graveyard Book scary, or The House in Poplar Wood by K. E. Ormsbee scary...just scary enough for readers your age, but probably too scary for your younger siblings!

    I enjoyed Foulkes' writing. She uses words and phrases that make my brain think I know what is coming next and then she writes something else instead! The "something else" is usually funny and clever, and it makes the entire book easier and more fun to read. For instance, Leo the vampire sleeps all day and is awake all night - she is a vampire after all! So she never remembers "yesterday", but she does remember "yesternight". Fun, right? Anyway, I suggested to my human that he recommend this book to kids looking for something new and scary to read as autumn approaches. I'm giving it a spooky 5 paws!

Lo Simpson Starts a Revolution, by Melanie Florence

     Lauren "Lo" Simpson is in middle school, and as the school year starts she is trying to figure out what in the heck is wrong with her best-friend-since-2nd-grade Jazz. All of the sudden Jazz only wants to talk about make-up, and spend time at the mall shopping for clothes (and underclothes!). What happened to being quirky and odd and liking Doctor Who? Lo doesn't know, but she wants to find out. Along the way, she finds her true self, her own voice, and the "revolution" she starts is the crown on her work and discoveries.

    Lo Simpson Starts a Revolution is the first book by author Florence I have read (but not her first book), and I enjoyed it! Once I finished it, I found that I really enjoyed it - I couldn't get Lo Simpson out of my head! She is one strong, rockin' teenager! Quirky and nerdy and smart...and someone I would totally be friends with in school! In this book, she discovers a problem at her school that needs fixing, and doing what strong, smart kids do, she sets out to correct it.

    There were a couple of things in the book that I thought were a little too over-emphasized, like Lo's trouble with her friend Jazz wanting to buy her first bra. But this was easy to get past in favor of the rest of the story. Pretty realistic storyline, and I think you'll also find yourself rooting for Lo all the way! I also love the cover with the one pushed over chair and the shadow of a butterfly in front of Lo...yep, Lo is wonderful! 4 paws and a wag!

Lunar Boy, by Jessica & Jacinta Wibowo

     A graphic novel by new authors and illustrators Jes and Cin Wibowo. According to the inside back cover, they are twins, born in Indonesia, and living both in Indonesia and the United States. Very colorfully drawn and illustrated - in fact, the artwork is the strength of this book. 

    Lunar Boy tells the futuristic story of Indu, a boy who is found alone on the moon. They are brought to a place called New Earth where they try to fit into their new family, all the while trying to discover their gender identity. Along the way they meet many different people, most of whom are also trying to figure out their identity. The story touches on non-binary characters, transgender characters, queer characters, panromantic and more. It seems, upon just one read through, that the Wibowo's have tried to create a story where questioning your gender is not easy, but eventually embraced by the people around them. 

    I love the idea behind this story, and know that there is a great need for more gender affirming and exploring books for teens and young adults. Even though the "book climate" around the United States has become scary in the last couple of years, with so many more challenges and bans on young people's books than ever before, books that continue to mirror everyone in the world (not just some people) are vital. So for that reason alone I support Lunar Boy and the story it is telling. However, it is not very well written. The graphics seem to be the strength of both artists, but the writing is below average. Again, I appreciate and support the messages, but books like The Prince and the Dressmaker and the Lumberjanes series are so much stronger in their story lines. 

    In short, I like the idea of this book. I hope Jes and Cin continue to create and grow as artists. Credit given for taking on such a needed yet controversial topic (although it shouldn't create controversy, should it?). But their writing needs help, or time, or both. Too simplistic, at times confusing. I think future efforts will be stronger. 3 paws.

The Magician of Tiger Castle, by Louis Sachar

     This is the first book I have ever blogged about that will not get a paw rating. The reason is that The Magician of Tiger Castle, contrary to it's name (which sounds like a potentially wonderful fantasy story for teens), is not a middle school book. It was written for adults. The reason I read it is twofold: One, I read one or two adult books a year, on average, just to take a break from teen/tween/young adult stories. I love reading what you read, or what I hope you'll want to read based on my amazing paw review system! But once or twice a year I come across something I want to read that falls into the adult category...so I read it! Two, the author of this book is Louis Sachar, who wrote one of the first Newbery Award books I ever read, Holes. Maybe one of my top five favorite books of all time. Perhaps you've heard of it, or seen the movie (which is nowhere near the quality of the book, so please read the book if you've seen the movie). Sachar has written a lot of books for elementary, middle and high school readers. The Magician of Tiger Castle is his first book written for adults.

    It is a story of Anatole, a magician living in the 1500s, who ends up being favored by a king of a fictional kingdom. The princess - the king's daughter - has been promised in marriage to the prince of another kingdom. But she is supposedly in love with a regular man, who is not a prince, and who in fact never met the princess, but thus the confusion - and humorous storyline - begin. The story involves tigers in moats, potions, deception, romance, dungeons, magic...it really is a fun story throughout! And it's written for adults. Which means it has suggestions of situations that wouldn't occur in books for kids. That said, there are plenty of adult books that get recommended for teens and young adult readers, and although I don't read many of those, I didn't find anything in this book that I would say a teenager could not or should not read; no strong, inappropriate language, no explicit sex scenes, no excessive or gratuitous violence.

    So, if you are an adult reading my canine words of wisdom, you may enjoy this fantasy story, written for you, by a master storyteller. If you are a teen reading this blog, you might like this latest release by Sachar, but you could easily find other fantasy stories written more for you that are just as good (scroll through my blog to find some recent reviews). As books go, Sachar is a wonderful writer, and Magician was fun to read, but it isn't Holes. If I was rating it, I would probably give it an average rating...maybe 3 paws. Make what you want of that, and I promise I'll be back to middle grade books as soon as I post this entry!

    Whatever you do, keep on reading!

Best of All Worlds, by Kenneth Oppel

     The first book I've read by author Oppel since Ghostlight, which was scary and fun! Best of All Worlds is a little science fiction, a little weird (in a cool way), and a little romance. Where Ghostlight was different and over-the-top spooky and fun, Best of All Worlds is pretty slow, focused way too much on the romance (and I love a good romance, but Oppel makes too much of this story a romance thing between main character Xavier and Mackenzie).

    The Oak family - Xavier, his step mom and his dad - wake up one morning in a totally different world...not on the beach in the cabin where they fell asleep the night before but on a large, beautiful farm, with a beautiful big barn, and farm animals, all needing to be milked and fed and cared for! No stores, no other people, no cars or buildings (other than the barn).  They explore their new world while trying to decide on what exactly happened - taken by aliens? Taken by the government? In their three years in this place, a new baby brother is born, who doesn't know (or miss) the world they used to know. 

    Then the Jacksons suddenly appear. A new family with their own very strong opinions about how they ended up being dropped in this strange new world. The families cooperate but also disagree on where they are, how they got there, and what to do about it. Xavier would be in high school, and Mackenzie, already in high school, becomes his love interest. And so these plots intertwine.

    This wasn't a terrible book, and Oppel is usually a really good story teller. But as a dog I can readily point out when something doesn't "smell" right. Best of All Worlds made me want to read a really good science fiction story, maybe a classic like War of the Worlds by H.G. Wells or Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury. Or something newer, like Shipbreaker by Paolo Bacigalupi. I often recommend Oppel to strong 7th grade and 8th grade science fiction fans, but this one...only for a die hard Oppel fanatic.

3 paws.

Black Star (The Door of No Return #2), by Kwame Alexander

  Black Star is the sequel to The Door of No Return (which I reviewed in Feb. 2023). If you only have a minute to read this entry, let me say this up front; if Kwame Alexander wrote it, everyone - you, me - everyone should read it! Like his many other wonderful books this one is written in verse, but I found myself wondering what it would be like to read his work in non-verse format. Perhaps one day I'll have the chance to find out...

    Black Star is being narrated by Charley, short for Charlene, who lives somewhere in Virginia sometime in the 1920s. She dreams of being the first woman professional baseball player, so baseball is a part of the story (but you don't need to have a lot of baseball knowledge to follow the book...but if you enjoy baseball, like I do, then it's a bonus!). She lives with her parents and grandfather, Kofi Nana (from the first book), who enjoys telling her stories to help her navigate the world. Living in the segregated South, she finds that what she doesn't know about Black history in America creates trouble for her and her family. Being twelve years old, her parents and family haven't shared the ugly parts of that era with her. But when she challenges some neighborhood bullies to a baseball game (who happen to be White), that reality becomes part of her life, too.

    Alexander weaves history with exceptional storytelling, and his word choices are so poetic and powerful...there is history here but also just the humanness that we all share, both good and bad. It's a shame that lately the forces of control are wanting to keep all of us from reading different perspectives about life in the United States, from the earliest times until now. Not knowing your history does not make it disappear - quite the opposite. Knowing your history, and the history of the place you live and perhaps were born in, is power. And necessary for all of us to continue to strive for a better world. Alexander informs, inspires, intrigues and entertains us with every book, and this is no exception, thankfully! 5 paws!