REVIEW • I Do Believe in Yetis (Henry and the Yeti by Russell Ayto) » The Novel Hermit

REVIEW • I Do Believe in Yetis (Henry and the Yeti by Russell Ayto)

August 14, 2018 Leave a Comment

Henry loves yetis.

Yes, yetis.

The problem is nobody knows if yetis actually exist. Henry, however, is sure they do, and he sets off on an expedition to find one. He has packed everything he needs, including a camera to take photos for evidence. But can he find a yeti? And will anyone believe him when he returns home?[/note]

myreview

[note note_color=”#BFD1D1″ text_color=”#ffffff”]I received this book for free from Bloomsbury for review consideration. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.[/note]

First sentence: “If life is a book, then Smoot the Shadow had been reading the same yawn-colored page for seven and a half years.”

When you love yetis so much, but people don’t believe they’re real, of course you’re gonna set out to prove that yetis exist. That’s exactly what Henry does.

Everybody that Henry encounters—his dad, the principal, his schoolmates—don’t believe that yetis are real. For Henry, he’s not deterred by their disbelief and their teasing; Yetis do exist, and it’s a matter of proving it to everybody else. He’ll travel through rivers, forests, and mountains to find this mythological yeti.

The story is a delightful tale that is witty enough for young kids to understand. The art is top-notch with Henry with his red and white Peruvian Hat, black turtleneck, and red framed glasses, and the simple-yet detailed scenery. It’s cute and funny. The illustration helps progress the story forward beautifully—when Henry travels through, Ayto does a fantastic job of using one page to portray three different places. You really feel like you’re moving along with Henry.

Henry and the Yeti is a heartwarming tale about a boy who doesn’t let others discourage what he believes in. Be like Henry and search for your own yeti.

Have you read any of Russell Ayto’s work? Do you believe yetis exist?

Discussion

BOOKS IN HAND • What Customers Bought in July 2018

August 4, 2018 Comment : 1

You ever want to know what people are buying in bookstores? Well, it so happens that I work at one!

During the last week of February, I pondered about what type of post to make for “Books in Hand.” At first, I planned to discuss all the books customers came in asking for or buying, but that’s a bit too much because everybody came in asking for different books, and I didn’t remember all of them. My boss showed me a way to check our store’s best selling books, and I found out what we sold a lot of!

And that’s what this post is—seeing the top ten selling books of May. Let’s take a look.

FICTION

Crazy Rich Asians by Kevin Kwan | The President Is Missing by Bill Clinton & James Patterson | The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho | Rich People Problems by Kevin Kwan | 1984 by George Orwell

Comics

FROM PANEL TO PANEL • Come In Come In Come In (Spilled Zone: The Broken Vows by Scott Westerfeld & Alex Puvilland)

July 28, 2018 Leave a Comment

[quote]Only the very brave or the very desperate dare enter the Spill Zone—Addison Merritt is a little of both. In exchange for a suitcase full of cash, she made one last to the Zone. She survived the encounter, but came back changed.

Addison is not alone. In a remote village in North Korea, a young man named Jae was touched by the unholy fire of the Spill Zone. He made it out alive—alive, but also changed.

Now bestowed with uncanny powers, Addison and Jae may be the only ones strong enough to face a new threat that has risen in the Spill Zone. This deadly entity is searching for his runaway bride—and his hunt is bringing him closer and closer to Addison and her little sister.[/quote]

myreview

[note note_color=”#BFD1D1″ text_color=”#ffffff”]I received this book for free from First Second (Macmillan) for review consideration. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.[/note]

If you’ve read Spilled Zone and needed to learn more of this bizarre world, prepare yourself because there’s a sequel! Spilled Zone: The Broken Vow! (If you haven’t read the graphic novel, what are you waiting for? These are the reasons why you should!)

In Spilled Zone: The Broken Vow, Addison Merritt came back changed after what she thought was her last trip into the Zone. In that wake, she bands together with Jae, a teenager from North Korea who shares similar abilities and stories like Addison, to save her and her little sister.

Reviews

REVIEW • Happy Valley High Sucks (Neanderthal Opens the Door to the Universe by Preston Norton)

July 7, 2018 Comment : 1

Cliff Hubbard is a huge loser. Literally. His nickname at Happy Valley High School is Neanderthal because he’s so enormous-6’6″ and 250 pounds to be exact. He has nobody at school, and life in his trailer-park home has gone from bad to worse ever since his older brother’s suicide.

There’s no one Cliff hates more than the nauseatingly cool quarterback, Aaron Zimmerman. Then Aaron returns to school after a near-death experience with a bizarre claim: while he was unconscious he saw God, who gave him a list of things to do to make Happy Valley High suck less. And God said there’s only one person who can help: Neanderthal.

To his own surprise, Cliff says he’s in. As he and Aaron make their way through the List, which involves a vindictive English teacher, a mysterious computer hacker, a decidedly unchristian cult of Jesus Teens, the local drug dealers, and the meanest bully at HVHS, Cliff feels like he’s part of something for the first time since losing his brother. But fixing a broken school isn’t as simple as it seems, and just when Cliff thinks they’ve completed the List, he realizes their mission hits closer to home than he ever imagined.[/note]

myreview

[note note_color=”#BFD1D1″ text_color=”#ffffff”]I received this book for free from Disney-Hyperion for review consideration. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.[/note]

First sentence: “There are three rules to high school irrevocably inscribed within the interstellar fabric of the universe.”

So, the neanderthal and the football star—two unlikely students—have a mission.

It begins with a list—a list from God delivered by the formerly comatosed football star and all-around popular guy Aaron Zimmerman—that said to recruit Cliff Hubbard, the Neanderthal outcast, on a divine mission to save Happy Valley High School from sucking. And boy, does it really suck at this high school.

This is far from a religious book, but when you have a near-death experience, you’re gonna see God. When you get a list from God, you do it, but these boys learn that these things they are supposed to do will change their whole purpose and understanding of who they are and the world around them.

Discussion

BOOKS IN HAND • What Customers Bought in June 2018

July 5, 2018 Comment : 1

You ever want to know what people are buying in bookstores? Well, it so happens that I work at one!

And that’s what this post is—seeing the top ten selling books of May. Let’s take a look.

FICTION

The President Is Missing by Bill Clinton & James Patterson | Crazy Rich Asians by Kevin Kwan | The Outsider by Stephen King | The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho | There There by Tommy Orange

Comics

FROM PANEL TO PANEL • If You Say So (All Summer Long by Hope Larson)

June 12, 2018 Comments : 2

[quote]Thirteen-year-old Bina has a long summer ahead of her. She and her best friend, Austin, usually do everything together, but he’s off to soccer camp for a month, and he’s been acting kind of weird lately anyway. So it’s up to Bina to see how much fun she can have on her own. At first it’s a lot of guitar playing, boredom, and bad TV, but things look up when she finds an unlikely companion in Austin’s older sister, who enjoys music just as much as Bina. But then Austin comes home from camp, and he’s acting even weirder than when he left. How Bina and Austin rise above their growing pains and reestablish their friendship and respect for their differences makes for a touching and funny coming-of-age story.[/quote]

myreview

Summer vacation is around the corner! What kind of adventures did you go on or will be going on? For Bina, her Summer isn’t gonna be spent doing the Summer Fun Index with her best friend Austin like the past few years. Nope, this Summer is gonna suck because she won’t have Austin this summer. :(

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