COMIC FIRSTS • Elsewhere #1: What Really Happened to Amelia Earhart » The Novel Hermit

COMIC FIRSTS • Elsewhere #1: What Really Happened to Amelia Earhart

September 15, 2017 Leave a Comment

Comic Firsts

[quote]Comic Firsts, a feature where I talk about the first issues of comics that I’ve bought, received, or borrowed. It’s all about first impressions, what I like or didn’t like about the issue, and whether I would keep reading it beyond the first issue.[/quote]

[quote]COPPERHEAD WRITER JAY FAERBER TEAMS WITH RISING STAR SUMEYYE KESGIN TO UNVEIL ELSEWHERE: THE FANTASTIC STORY OF WHAT REALLY HAPPENED TO AMELIA EARHART!

Mysteriously transported to a strange new world filled with flying beasts and alien civilizations, Amelia desperately struggles to return home. Along the way, she forges alliances and makes enemies as she goes from aviator to freedom fighter in a rebellion against a merciless warlord!— Image Comics[/quote]

Whatever happened to Amelia Earhart, the whole world has been asking since her disappearance.

Wonder no more because Elsewhere tells us that Amelia…well, she’s not Kansas or anything remotely familiar to Earth.

Reviews

REVIEW • A New Shadow In Town (Smoot: A Rebellious Shadow by Michelle Cuevas)

September 14, 2017 Comment : 1

Smoot the shadow has been living a yawn-filled life for years. His boy never laughs and never leaps, so Smoot never does either… until the day he pops free.

This is his chance to live the life he has been dreaming of. And as he enjoys his first colorful day—singing, dancing, and playing—other shadows watch him, and they become brave, too.

Will their bravery and gusto inspire the timid creatures they’ve left behind? Will Smoot’s boy find his own dreams, and become a more joyful version of himself?[/note]

myreview

[note note_color=”#BFD1D1″ text_color=”#ffffff”]I received this book for free from Penguin 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.”

Move over, Peter Pan’s shadow! There’s a new shadow that’s breaking free, and his name is Smoot.

Reviews

REVIEW • My Pet Black Hole and A Dog With No Name (The Care and Feeding of A Black Hole by Michelle Cuevas)

September 12, 2017 Comments : 2

When eleven-year-old Stella Rodriguez shows up at NASA to request that her recording be included in Carl Sagan’s Golden Record, something unexpected happens: A black hole follows her home, and sets out to live in her house as a pet. The black hole swallows everything he touches, which is challenging to say the least—but also turns out to be a convenient way to get rid of those items that Stella doesn’t want around. Soon the ugly sweaters her aunt has made for her all disappear within the black hole, as does the smelly class hamster she’s taking care of, and most important, all the reminders of her dead father that are just too painful to have around.

It’s not until Stella, her younger brother, Cosmo, the family puppy, and even the bathroom tub all get swallowed up by the black hole that Stella comes to realize she has been letting her own grief consume her. And that’s not the only thing she realizes as she attempts to get back home. This is an astonishingly original and funny adventure with a great big heart.[/note]

myreview

First sentence: “This story began on an afternoon the color of comets, with a girl dressed all in black. “

“Have you heard about the new book about anti-gravity?”

“What about it?”

“It’s impossible to put down.”

The Care and Feeding of A Black Hole isn’t about anti-gravity, but it is a book that you won’t be able to put down.

Reviews

(ARC) REVIEW • Cold As Snow, Sharp As Glass (Girls Made of Snow and Glass by Melissa Bashardoust)

September 10, 2017 Comments : 2

At sixteen, Mina’s mother is dead, her magician father is vicious, and her silent heart has never beat with love for anyone—has never beat at all, in fact, but she’d always thought that fact normal. She never guessed that her father cut out her heart and replaced it with one of glass. When she moves to Whitespring Castle and sees its king for the first time, Mina forms a plan: win the king’s heart with her beauty, become queen, and finally know love. The only catch is that she’ll have to become a stepmother.

Fifteen-year-old Lynet looks just like her late mother, and one day she discovers why: a magician created her out of snow in the dead queen’s image, at her father’s order. But despite being the dead queen made flesh, Lynet would rather be like her fierce and regal stepmother, Mina. She gets her wish when her father makes Lynet queen of the southern territories, displacing Mina. Now Mina is starting to look at Lynet with something like hatred, and Lynet must decide what to do—and who to be—to win back the only mother she’s ever known…or else defeat her once and for all.

Entwining the stories of both Lynet and Mina in the past and present, Girls Made of Snow and Glass traces the relationship of two young women doomed to be rivals from the start. Only one can win all, while the other must lose everything—unless both can find a way to reshape themselves and their story.[/note]

myreview

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

First sentence: “Lynet first saw her in the courtyard.”

Mirror, mirror on the wall, who’s the fairest—let me stop there because Girls Made of Snow and Glass is not that fairytale. Generally, with fairytales, there’s always an evil queen or witch or stepmother who makes the main character’s life a living hell, but that is not the case for this book. Girls Made of Snow and Glass doesn’t follow those fairytales.

Discussion

TOO MUCH TBR • September 2017

September 8, 2017 Comments : 2

August was ARC August. September is not, but it’s another month of trying to catch up with my review copies TBR list. Whoo hoo.

For those who do not know, Too Much TBR is a way to help me see which books I really need to read and tackle them. It helps a lot seeing a visual of the books on my TBR pile.

Let’s discuss what I read last month, and what I’m reading this month!

Comics

REVIEW • 5 Things to Do at a Renaissance Faire (All’s Faire in Middle School by Victoria Jamieson)

September 6, 2017 Leave a Comment

Eleven-year-old Imogene (Impy) has grown up with two parents working at the Renaissance Faire, and she’s eager to begin her own training as a squire. First, though, she’ll need to prove her bravery. Luckily Impy has just the quest in mind–she’ll go to public school after a life of being homeschooled! But it’s not easy to act like a noble knight-in-training in middle school. Impy falls in with a group of girls who seem really nice (until they don’t) and starts to be embarrassed of her thrift shop apparel, her family’s unusual lifestyle, and their small, messy apartment. Impy has always thought of herself as a heroic knight, but when she does something really mean in order to fit in, she begins to wonder whether she might be more of a dragon after all.[/note]

myreview

First sentence: “Our story begins here…at the beginning.”

Never been to a Renaissance Faire? Impy (aka Imogene) and her family will welcome you with opened arms. You’re in for quite a treat. The Renaissance Faire is a delightful place where you will see the most interesting sights—both in people (who are all dressed up) and activities—and encounter out of this world things. You’ll find people speaking in olden day speech and jousting and whatnot. This is the place that Impy, the main character of All’s Faire in Middle School, loves in the entire world.

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