The October Girl (Book One), by Matthew Dow Smith

     I had my human pick this up at the local public library because I was in the mood for a graphic novel, and he thought this one looked interesting. I have not read anything by author/illustrator Matthew Dow Smith before, but it seems he also does some DC Comics work, which makes some sense, as his artwork in The October Girl is really interesting and cool! 

    Main character Autumn is 18 years old, and although she used to believe in magic and fairy tales, now she is wondering if there is anything more to her boring life than school and her part time job. She misses her childhood imaginary friend, Barnaby...until Barnaby appears again! The story then dives into a fantasy world of magic and characters beyond belief...even her family is involved! Another world exists right around her, and has all this time...but what is her role in it?

    A short book, and some very clever lines in it. Definitely written for older middle and high school readers, although there isn't anything questionable in the story, just a healthy dose of teen angst that 8th graders and older will totally understand. There is a Book Two that was just released, although I have not seen it yet, but might check it out if I happened across it someday. A lot less dark feeling than Halfway There was, and I liked it a bit better because of that. Not a must read, but if angsty graphic novels and/or fantasy stories appeal to you, I think you'd like this. 4 paws!

Diamond Fever! by Steve Sheinkin & Jon Chad

     Yahoo for the newest book by my favorite non-fiction author Steve Sheinkin! And a nice bonus to have some comics added throughout by artist Jon Chad.  Diamond Fever! A True Crime Story in the Wild West tells the real story of a giant diamond discovery that happened in the western United States beginning just after the Civil War, in the late 1860s. The transcontinental railroad had just been completed, allowing cross-country travel in about a week for the first time ever. This allowed the stories two main characters to do what they did in a very believable way. Of course, there was no Internet, nor television, so traveling and communicating long distances was very new, or not possible, at least not in the ways we are used to today, and this also played into the story - the setting was almost its own character in this tale!

    According to this book, two men claimed to have found a diamond field in the western part of the country, a wide range of barren land full of diamonds and rubies...although they wouldn't tell anyone exactly where it was. At this time in history, the gold rush was not terribly old yet, so many people had high hopes of getting rich quickly, by traveling west and finding gold, mostly. But what if a diamond field actually existed? How rich could someone get from such a discovery? In the course of a few years, many people would try to find out.

    Sheinkin is the author of many non-fiction stories, several of them award winners, and every single one of them exciting to read! I know, because this literate pup has read every single one! His books read like some of the best fiction books I have read, with an added bonus of learning a lot about a particular subject, usually embedded in United States history somewhere. Diamond Fever! is no exception - I got it from my local library Saturday and finished reading it today - Monday! I couldn't wait to read the next page! I hope you find it as enticing as I did...I recommend it (or any Sheinkin book)! 5 paws!

A Hero's Guide to Summer Vacation, by Pablo Cartaya

     The newest release by author Pablo Cartaya, author of Marcus Vegas Doesn't Speak Spanish, as well as a few others, most of which, it seems, I have also read! I think he is one of my go-to authors, even though I didn't realize it until writing this review! A Hero's Guide to Summer Vacation is a really cool idea as far as stories go; protagonist Gonzalo is pushed by his mom to accompany his grumpy grandfather across the United States in an old car to promote the elder's fantasy book series. Gonzalo doesn't really know his grandfather, and doesn't really want to go. Grandad doesn't want to do a book promotion tour, because he mostly doesn't like people, he says. Gonzalo's mom wants him to travel with his grandfather anyway, and wants Gonzalo to read the book series as well - something he hasn't done. In fact, Gonzalo has invited his grandad to his school a few times to speak about his books, but Grandad always says no, which is one reason Gonzalo doesn't want to travel with him. Why should he, right?

    The main character in the highly popular book series is named Gonzalo, too, which makes a book tour weird for the real Gonzalo...is the series about him? But as the trip begins, Gonzalo begins to unravel the connections in the books to his family, and it brings up a lot of unanswered questions for everyone involved. This is what I enjoyed about the book - a book about a book, where the book's main character is named the same as the other book's main character, and everyone is looking for answers, although the real characters don't really know that yet. Confused? Don't be! 

    A Hero's Guide is easy to follow and well written. A couple of times I thought some plot twists were too easily solved, but it didn't happen a lot, and didn't really take away from the overall book. Cartaya is a good writer, and consistent, although I think his books usually fall just short of 5 paws for me - I'll have to double check that, though! A good story, a clever idea, and easy to read from start to finish - enjoy! 4 paws!

Halfway There, by Christine Mari

     In Halfway There, the debut graphic novel memoir by author and illustrator Christine Mari, she decides to spend a year studying Japanese in Japan, trying to complete herself as a "hafa" -  someone who is half American and half Japanese. But she finds it isn't as easy as she hoped, nor does it make her feel more complete. In fact, it makes things for Christine even worse as she tries to embrace her Japanese roots but finds she is still a hafa in Japan, too.

    The artwork is simply wonderful, with a great use of color (and the absence of it) throughout. I love how Mari draws herself and others when they are feeling low or confused - I won't describe it, and it's a simple technique, but when you see it you'll know what I mean, and it's very effective. More effective than words, I think. As the author of this story, as well as its main character (it is an auto-biography, after all), you'll feel Mari's confusion, sadness and loss as she tries to figure out who she is, and what she is.

    The sentiment will speak to many teens, especially older ones, I think. I do think that she really expressed her feelings throughout the story, even when I, as the reader, wanted her to find a way to see her own light before she actually started to. In other words, the story got pretty heavy and dark, and took a long time to recover. Maybe too long for some of you readers, but for those who relate to her trouble, it will probably seem exactly right.

    I love the idea of dual culture and identity in a teen and following along as she tries to figure out where she belongs in all of it. I felt for her as she got stuck in depression but I also kept hoping she could find her way out of it. Spoiler alert: she does, but it takes some time and hard work. Again, the artwork is the star here, and Mari seems like a wonderful person all around. Her writing was good but it didn't tell her story like the artwork did. 4 paws. 

A Sea of Lemon Trees, by Maria Dolores Aguila

     This book started out as a picture book, but according to author Aguila's notes, someone convinced her to make it a chapter book instead. Written in verse, A Sea of Lemon Trees: The Corrido of Roberto Alvarez is the story of Roberto Alvarez, who, as a young person, helped to end an injustice in his San Diego town in 1931. As the nation experienced economic depression, people looked for someone to blame, as they will do in times of crisis, and Mexicans and Mexican-Americans living in San Diego at that time became targets of anger. Some people in the community decided that "brown" kids should not be going to school with White kids, so a barn was turned into a school and the Mexican students were told to start attending the other school. Not everyone agreed with this direction, and the story behind A Sea of Lemon Trees was born!

    I'll say again that I generally love books written in verse. I think that writing a book would be challenging on its own, but to tell a good story using fewer words on a page would make it that much harder. Some of my favorite authors over the years - Kwame Alexander, Karen Hesse, Sharon Creech - have written one or more books in verse, and I find them wonderful! So I liked that Aguila's first chapter book is written in that style, and until I finished the book I didn't know that it had started as a picture book. This book was also awarded a Newbery Honor and a Pura Belpre Honor - both very high praise! I liked the book and enjoyed learning about this part of our nation's history that I didn't know before. But I wasn't sure, while reading, why the author chose to write this book in verse...it just seemed to be because she didn't have enough words, as odd as that sounds. It made more sense learning that it began as a picture book, because it seemed like it might have been a better picture book, in a way.

    All that said, the last 30 or 40 pages of the book makes the entire story, so if you start this book, please finish it! The reward comes at the end! It's an important story as well, one we should all know, and isn't a lot different than what is happening in our nation today. So what can we learn from this, and how can we live differently moving forward? All told, I give this 4 paws, which is high praise, especially for the first chapter book by an author. The ending really made the whole story, and the writing style was promising, just not quite hitting the mark entirely.