four graphic novel reviews
Sep. 21st, 2011 09:36 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
psocopteraSquish #1: Super Amoeba and Babymouse #1: Queen of the World by Jennifer L. Holm and Matt Holm. Cute, but not my demographic. I read middle-grade, but mostly the "higher" end of middle-grade (darker, more complicated, or just really well-written), and this isn't. And that is totally fine - nobody would make it to the higher end of middle-grade without a lower end to start from, and I am super in favor of age-appropriate graphic novels for elementary students. In fact, I would recommend these without hesitation to actual elementary-aged children. Just not to other grownups.
Gingerbread Girl by Colleen Coover and Paul Tobin. I think I was inclined to forgive a lot more not-quite-hanging-together back in Colleen Coover's Small Favors days. This just wasn't satisfying, and not just because I wish Coover was still doing something more like Small Favors; it's an interesting gimmick here with all the different narrators, but at the end, when I first read it online, I wasn't even sure I'd actually read the whole thing. (It seems to still be online here if you're curious; the 30-some chapters aren't linked, so you'll need to change the chapter number by hand in the address bar.)
The Secret Science Alliance and the Copyright Crook by Eleanor Davis. Ok, back to middle-grade, but I totally recommend this one to adults. I loved this. I want to write it fanfic. I want to buy its sequels. Clever, engaging, tons of detail on every page (I caught things in a re-read I hadn't even noticed on the first pass). And I think actual middle-graders would like it too.
Gingerbread Girl by Colleen Coover and Paul Tobin. I think I was inclined to forgive a lot more not-quite-hanging-together back in Colleen Coover's Small Favors days. This just wasn't satisfying, and not just because I wish Coover was still doing something more like Small Favors; it's an interesting gimmick here with all the different narrators, but at the end, when I first read it online, I wasn't even sure I'd actually read the whole thing. (It seems to still be online here if you're curious; the 30-some chapters aren't linked, so you'll need to change the chapter number by hand in the address bar.)
The Secret Science Alliance and the Copyright Crook by Eleanor Davis. Ok, back to middle-grade, but I totally recommend this one to adults. I loved this. I want to write it fanfic. I want to buy its sequels. Clever, engaging, tons of detail on every page (I caught things in a re-read I hadn't even noticed on the first pass). And I think actual middle-graders would like it too.
