The Eternal Smile: Three Stories by Gene Luen Yang

In this collection of three short stories in graphic novel format, Luen tells some tales of fantasy and explores the idea of good vs. evil.

Duncan's Kingdom: When the love of Duncan's life, a princess, puts out a challenge Duncan goes forth to look for the King Frog. When he brings back his head, he will win her hand in marriage. He has a fantastic adventure, but is everything as it seems.

Gran'Pa Greenbax and the Eternal Smile: Gran'Pa Greenbux is all about money. He wants enough money to be able to dive to the bottom of his gold and not not hit the bottom! He demands his worker Filbert to find a way for him to make more and he directs him to a smile that appears to be coming from the sky. Gran'Pa creates a church to get donations from his parishioners...but Gran'Pa is surprised by shocking reality.

Urgent Request: Janet is stuck in a boring nine to five job and her request for a promotion is rudely shot down. When she receives an email from a Nigerian prince asking for money, she complies...time after time. We all know its a scam, but does Janet?


What I Thought:
I loved Yang's American Born Chinese so I was excited to pick up this collection. I enjoyed the setup of the three short stories, and how they really all fit together with the classic good vs. evil plot. Each story also brings to light a more serious issue under the disguise of a great fantasy plot. I love stories that make you think!

Wonderful illustrations, in true Yang style!

Highly recommended.


Want to see more? Check it out on Amazon: The Eternal Smile by Gene Luen Yang.

Reviewed from a library copy.

Lunch Lady and the Cyborg Substitute by Jarrett J. Krosoczka

In this graphic novel, the lunch ladies are super secret undercover spies, complete with cool spy gadgets-made from kitchen utensils!

One day a very odd substitute teacher arrives and sparks suspicion. The teacher he is subbing for has not missed a day in decades, and assigns so much work it is impossible to finish!

Thankfully, the lunch ladies are on duty to save the day!

What I Thought:
Oh my! What a fun book! This is going to be a sure hit with the elementary, maybe middle school crowd! It is a very imaginative and creative book. It's a graphic novel which makes it a fun read as the action is drawn in the illustrations. Illustrations are done in black and white, with some yellow accents.

There was a few points that I particularly enjoyed:
*I loved all the creative gadgets the lunch ladies use: the spatula helicopter, the hot dog nun-chucks, chicken nugget bombs, and cafeteria tray computer. So creative!

*I loved how the author steered away from stereotypes. There are three kids who decide to follow the lunch ladies to see what they do in their spare time. A "cool" looking guy, a "nerdy" looking guy with glasses, and a girl. One may automatically come to conclusions about these kids, but you would be wrong!! The "cool" kid is actually kind of timid and easily scared, the "nerdy" kid is brave and athletic, and the girl is strong and will stand her ground...even against the class bully! Well done!

*The cliff hanger! There's more of this series to come!

I've had these on order for a while now, though they will not be published until July 2009. I can't wait to put this book in a kid's hand this summer!

Recommended.

Want to see more? Check it out on Amazon: Lunch Lady and the Cyborg Substitute by Jarrett J. Krosoczka.

The Babysitters Club Graphic Novels by Ann M. Martin and Raina Telgmeier

Each of these books revive the insanely popular series "The Babysitters Club" written by Ann M. Martin between 1986-2000 in the form of a graphic novel by Rainia Telgemeier.

In the first book, Kristy and her friends form the club that allows parents to call all the girls at once and they split up the babysitting jobs between them. Each subsequent book continues the story and is told from the point of view of a single girl, tackling the problem at the moment such as:
*dealing with the prospect of a parent remarrying and integrating families
*a secret and understanding a friend with diabetes
*a fight within the group that lasts for a month
*growing pains and a parent who won't let their little girl grow up
*fights with siblings
*sick grandparents
*meeting new friends

Each of these books have been (slightly) updated to appeal to the current intended audience while keeping the integrity of the original text.

What I Thought:
[Squeal!!!]

I must preface this by saying I was a HUGE BSC fan in elementary/Jr. high school. I would buy the books in sets of four from Sam's Club. I would start at #1 and read all the way through, then begin again. My mom would be frustrated because it seemed all I would read was BSC books. And I was okay with that.

(However, I am sad that I missed out on all kids of good literature from that time period. I hope to catch up on that one day.)

When I was in high school, my mom told me it was time to clean out the room and get rid of things I didn't use anymore. So, I packed up the BSC books and sold them to a local second hand bookstore.

I want them back now.

Anyway, when I saw book 1 (Kristy's Great Idea) at a chain bookstore about 18 months ago, I ran to the checkout to buy it and immediately sat and read it. In about 30 minutes. BUT, it was like a time machine zapped me back to my 10 year old self. The stories of each of these are identical to how I remember and it was refreshing to see the story brought to life by the illustrations.

Raina Telgemeier was a huge BSC fan herself and has done the series well in these graphic novels.

These are a fun "blast from the past" for lovers of this series, and a wonderful way to introduce the series to young readers today.

Recommended.