Poison Ivy: Thorns is the story of Pamela’s transition into Poison Ivy. Ivy’s origin story is heartbreaking but shows her perseverance. This graphic novel is vividly illustrated and fun to read. 5 stars!
CRISPR stands for Clustered Regular Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeats. Gene and genetics research are complicated and already have a history of positive and negative results. The decisions of choosing whether or not to modify or enhance genes vary by subject, disease, and creature. Controversial and also exciting, this research and what’s become of it is amazing. I’m not a science buff but I enjoyed reading this informational book because everything is broken down into understandable bits. The illustrations helped immensely also. The big questions of, should we or shouldn’t we? arise with every aspect of gene research. How far should it be taken and what effects will the research, and acting on it, have on the world. Fascinating and frightening all at the same time, 5 stars!
An interactive look at the supernatural!
Thanks to NetGalley, Wide Eyed Editions and Quarto Publishing for the opportunity to read and review Illuminightmare with illustrations by Carnovsky and written by Lucy Brownridge. Three lenses are included with the book, a red lens to view earthly history, a green lens to view places and the surroundings, and a blue lens to view ghostly, supernatural images. Each spotlighted place has its own section containing pages of overlapping colors and images and a list of what to look for through the lenses, descriptions of each item on the list gives tidbits of interesting information. Some places featured are the Winter Palace, Salem, Massachusetts, The Black Forest, the Giza Pyramids, and Picton in Australia. Magnificent and highly interactive to pique the interest of history and geography buffs of all ages! 5 stars for interactive fun!
Action, adventure and awesome illustrations!
Thanks to DC Comics and NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review Black Canary Ignite by Meg Cabot, illustrated by Cara McGee. This seven chapter graphic novel tells the story of Detective Lance’s daughter, Dinah. Dinah’s mother is the Black Canary and she helped fight crime before Dinah was born. Dinah has inherited her mother’s Canary Cry, a supersonic voice. Dinah tries to control her power but it’s not easy. Fun origin story full of action, adventure and colorful illustrations, 5 stars!
Accident! by Andrea Tsurumi is a creative, simply drawn, moral of a story! Accident! shows that mistakes aren’t the end of the world and it’s okay if we make a few mistakes. We all do and we just pick ourselves up and get on with our lives again. Humor and charm make this picture book entertaining for all ages!
Precious book that builds self-esteem!
Thanks to NetGalley and Sourcebooks Jabberwocky for the opportunity to read and review Lots of Love Little One by Sandra Magsamen!
Drawn stitching on the illustrations and some of the words adds charm to this book. The illustrations are very cute! Unique ways to say I love you more than… compares how much a dog loves her bone and how much the stars twinkle at night. The language page shows the phrase, “I love you”, in several translated languages. Adorable and sweet, 5 stars!
Atlantis adventure, comic-book style!
Thanks to NetGalley and Aftershock for the opportunity to read and review The Lost City Explorers Volume 1 by Zack Kaplan and Alvaros Sarraseca!
Graphic novel full of gorgeous backgrounds, realistic illustrations mixed with a bit of the supernatural and a high stakes adventure! A father is presumed dead but may actually only be missing. His young adult children go with a group of friends to search for him and what they find is more than they bargained for! First volume in an Atlantean adventure series! Journal entries at the end of the graphic novel add to the mystery and built my curiosity for the next book. 5 stars for the action-adventure graphic novel series!
Thanks to NetGalley and Candlewick Press for the opportunity to read and review The Whole Wide World and Me by Toni Yuly!
Cute, simple and charming prose! Illustrations are reminiscent of Eric Carle because of the patterns, paint on paper and construction paper looking images and backgrounds. A sweet book with a strong message of uniqueness and belonging. 5 stars!
Cozy read!
Thanks to NetGalley and Sourcebooks Jabberwocky for the opportunity to read and review One Snowy Day by Diana Murray and Diana Toledano!
Aesthetically pleasing illustrations accompany rhyming text as the story counts up to ten and then back down again. Very cozy wintertime book, 5 stars!
Eliza and her Monsters by Francesca Zappia introduces us to Eliza, a high school student that feels invisible and prefers it that way. Other students treat her like she’s weird and sometimes frightening. The only friends she has are Max and Emmy and she met them online when they noticed her art and story, Monstrous Sea. The two of them helped Eliza build her comic into a popular blog. This is the part of Eliza’s life that she enjoys. Eliza has a grass-is-always-greener-on-the-other-side attitude. For example, She believes that college won’t have problems, such as the difficulty of finding a place to park. Little does she know that’s usually one of the main complaints about college: jam packed parking lots. Wallace, a new student, and Eliza discover that they both like Monstrous Sea. This starts a friendship between the two of them. Wallace shares his past with Eliza and she feels that she needs to let him know she’s the creator of Monstrous Sea. Then her parents tell her story about her hard work on Monstrous Sea, not realizing how letting the secret out will affect Eliza. Her life seems to come crashing down around her! Eliza must work through everything so she can live her life without anxiety and she has a tough time with it. Realistic fiction with imperfect, lovable and relatable characters-4 stars!
The Thought Spot 