Ghostopolis / Doug TenNapel

TITLE: Ghostopolis
AUTHOR: Doug TenNapel
OWNED BY CCLS? Yes.

One of the graphic novels that I frequently recommend to readers new to graphic novels is Ghostopolis by Doug TenNapel. I read Ghostopolis a few months back and I have continued to search out and read all of the TenNapel GNs that I can get my hands on.

Ghostopolis is a bit weird and unusual, but that's what makes it fun. Once you start reading, I guarantee you'll want to read another of TenNapel's comics, if not--see me!

Picture this...
You have an incurable disease, that's as bad as it can get, right? Think again! You're zapped into the afterlife by a ghost wrangler, along with a horse skeleton (that appears to be alive--weird), and the ruler of this afterlife is not pleased with your arrival, so he sends his minions after you. Fantastic! Fortunately the ghost wrangler who accidentally sent you to this other world has an ex ghost girlfriend, who can hopefully get you back to where you belong. All this and more is jammed into Ghostopolis. Want to know how it ends? Check it out! If it's already gone, don't worry, there's another copy on order!

Check out Doug TenNapel's website too : http://tennapel.com/ .

I am currently reading Best Friends Forever by Jennifer Weiner and Power Up by Doug TenNapel.

Hannah Just Read: Hold Me Closer, Necromancer

I would like to start by saying YOU HAVE TO READ THIS BOOK. You will love it--guys, girls, anyone, really... you will like this book.
Sam (full name Samhain Corvus LaCroix) is a college dropout turned professional burger flipper at Seattle fast food joint Plumpy's. He hangs out with his friends, skateboards, and cracks jokes like any normal kid until the night that Douglas Montgomery walks into Plumpy's and recognizes Sam for what he is-- a fellow necromancer with the ability to raise the dead.
Douglas is less than thrilled that there is another necromancer in town, and now he's out to get rid of Sam, who has one week to figure out all this necromancer stuff with the help of his best friend, Ramon, a hottie female werewolf, a talking head, and his mom.
This book was all over the book blogs and lists screaming its praises since it was released in December, and for good reason. Hold Me Closer, Necromancer by Lish McBride is hilarious and exciting, and I hope it is the start of a series or a trilogy or something, because I loved it and I want to read more. I liked, too that it sort of took all of the fantasy stuff that's going on in teen lit right now and turned it on its head, poking fun at it, but at the same time embracing it. It was like the book was one big inside joke and everyone is in on it. I will say, though, just an FYI, Sam and his friends are a little older, like 19 or 20, and they do stuff in the book that people who are a little older do, but read the book if you want to, because I doubt you'll be disappointed. Unless you're boring or have no sense of humor.

Incidentally, this is also my last blog post. Starting the 21st of March I'm going to be moving to Allentown to be the Youth Services Librarian at the Parkland Community Library, so if you're ever in the area, stop in to say hi! I've loved reviewing books on here, and I hope you have liked reading them!

What Hannah's Been Reading: books to GIVEAWAY!

I've been reading furiously over the past few weeks. We've gotten some pre-published books in here at the library, so I've been trying to check them out and see which ones we might buy for the library. BUT we can't put the pre-pubs (see how cool I sound when I call them that?) into our teen collection here, so my plan is to give them away to one of you lucky lucky blog readers.
The first book I read is called Ten Miles Past Normal by Frances O'Roark Dowell. She's an author of juvenile lit, but this is her first book for teens. The book is about Janie Gorman, who lives on a farm with her parents and little sister. Everyone else in her family is 100% into farm life, but starting high school with goat poop on her shoe is not what Janie had in mind. In her desire to fit in she tries joining a jam band, hanging out with senior citizens, and meeting a new friend named Monster.
If there was one word that I would use to describe Ten Miles Past Normal it would be Cute. With a capital C. It seemed to me like there was a lot going on in the book and that the characters could have used some further development. I feel like there were definitely some plot points that could have been developed more, but all that being said, the book was enjoyable, and it was cute, and it was a quick read, and PLUS, you'd get to read it before anyone else, because it isn't even being published until next month!

The other book I read is called Wither by Lauren DeStefano, who is another new teen author. This book is the first in a trilogy, and it is set in a future America where girls only live to 20, and men live until 25. Wealthy men marry early and have multiple wives, most of whom are kidnapped and forced into marriage, like the main character Rhine, who is taken from her home in New York and brought to Florida, where she forced into marriage with a wealthy young man. However it is one of the servants, Gabriel, who Rhine falls in love with as she also plots her escape.
I was surprised that I liked this book. I read it really quickly--it was one of those stay up late to finish it books. It reminded me of a lot of other teen books that are out right now, though. It was kind of Incarceron by Catherine Fisher + Twilight + Delirium by Lauren Oliver, though not quite as well done as any of those (except Twilight... don't get me started on Twilight). I'll be interested to see where the plot goes in the next two books though.

So, here's the giveaway part. Just enter your name and e-mail address here, and I will do a drawing for the winner on March 1, and just so you know, no one will be able to see your e-mail address, and it won't be used for anything other than me sending you an e-mail to tell you that you won.

9 DAYS LEFT!!!!!

According to theleakycauldron.org there are 9 days, 12 hours, and 22 minutes until Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows part 1 is released. This is simulataneously exciting (because I really want to see the movie) and terrible (because I'm only on page 32 of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince) for me. I'm not saying that I'm not going to finish the books in time, but... well... I'm getting a little nervous.
I finished Order of the Phoenix yesterday at lunch, and I was very satisfied. One thing (one of the many things) that I think that J.K. Rowling does really well throughout the series is aging her characters accordingly, and that becomes most apparent in the fifth book, I think, when Harry is SO ANGRY all the time. I mean, I like that, and I can appreciate it, because he has every right to be angry, and he is, and he lets people know.
One of the other strengths of the fifth book, an annoying strength of the fifth book, is Delores Umbridge, because, oh man, she is so much fun to hate. And the Weasley twins' exit from Hogwarts... I love it, every time.
I remember reading Order of the Phoenix for the first time the night that it came out. I stayed up all night just zipping through it, and I remember that at about 3 in the morning I got close to the end and (I won't actually say what happens, just in case someone, somewhere hasn't read it) just crying and crying about the... ahh... end. It is a good ending though.
Ok, enough reminiscing, here's a YouTube video I found. It is the trailer for Part 1, but it is the literal version. I thought it was hilarious:

Goblet of Fire and Order of the Phoenix and What Not...

I feel like I'm way behind on my Harry Potter-ing. I'm about 100 pages into Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (book 5) and I'm starting to worry about finishing. I only have 18 days left, and that's counting today! Then I'll read something different, I swear.

It took me a while to get through book 4, Goblet of Fire, because that is absolutely my least favorite book. I might cause some controversy by saying that. I know a lot of people think that Chamber of Secrets is the worst, but I maintain... Goblet of Fire... too long... so many tasks! And I have a really hard time picturing Quidditch, so that crazy Quidditch World Cup at the beginning just completely looses me.

Of course there is a bunch of pivotal information in the fourth book. It is, after all, the central book of the series, so it would be expected that it is pretty important, and I confess that I cried quite a bit at the end, especially when Dumbledore makes his speech at the end of the year feast. That gets me every time, I swear. I think the most important stuff in the fourth book, though, is the information that we get about Lord Voldemort. Besides the apparition that we see of him as a teenager in book two, this is the first time that we actually see a glimpse of Voldemort as an actual human. We see his father's home if the first few chapters and at the end, we see him needing the assistance of his Death Eaters and Pettegrew, and we get parts of his life story. I admit, I think that Voldemort is one of the most interesting characters in the series--he is one complex dude. I actually think he might be my favorite after Dobby, on a purely academic level that is, don't get me wrong, he's totally evil, and as a Gryffindor myself I certainly do not approve, but you can't deny that he is interesting.

Chamber of Secrets and Worldly Book Covers

I finished Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets last week, and while I profess to being a huge Potter fan, I think that Chamber of Secrets is the book that I've read the least. I know that I've read it multiple times, but I don't think I've read it since the seventh book has come out. By that time I was really concerned with trying to figure out what was going to happen at the end, and I thought that the fifth and sixth books would give me the most relevant clues, but I completely didn't realize how important the second book is. I admit it. Chamber of Secrets was always my least favorite of the series, but I appreciate it a lot more now that I've re-read it after also knowing the end of the entire series. There's so much information in there! Like when Dumbledore gets suspended as headmaster he says, "I will only truly have left this school when none here are loyal to me. You will also find that help will always be given at Hogwarts to those who ask for it." I mean, that pertains to the end of Chamber of Secrets, but also SO MUCH STUFF that happens later. Genius!

Now I'm most of the way through Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, and I found this totally sweet boxed set of the books that I want for Christams, and that got me thinking about the covers of the books from other countries. There are some really awesome ones. I think the Swedish one is my favorite:

But I really like the Dutch one, too:

And can we please discuss how hilarious the one from the Ukrane is? I think it is particularly awful:

Which cover is your favorite? Do you know of any other particularly good/really really terrible ones? Let me know! I should have Prisoner of Azkaban finished by the end of the week, which puts me perfectly on schedule to read one a week until the 19th. Is anyone else counting down the days? I can't wait!

What Mrs. N's Been Reading - For the Win

Just finished Cory Doctorow's For the Win. I'm a big fan of Doctorow's Little Brother, so I snagged this one when it came in. Although there are some similarities, this one is a bit different. If you're about to take a course in macroeconomics, or any history that covers the rise of unions, I'd suggest that you check out For the Win. Now, if you aren't, don't let that last sentence frighten you away from this one either. It starts out a little slow, and follows about half a dozen people in alternating chapters. Although you're getting several people's stories at once, you can see where Doctorow is heading to bring them all together later in the book. He does an incredibly good job of explaining basic economics, and labor relations, both of which can be incredibly dry, but does it by introducing them in a futuristic world based on gaming. In Doctorow's world, some online games have taken on a life of their own to such an extent, that the economies of the most popular games are larger than the economies of most actual countries. Kids are being used as almost slave labor in third world countries and the Pacific rim, to prop up those economies, and keep American kids pouring money into the games. Corporations and unscrupulous bosses are getting rich, while the main labor force struggles to eke out an existence. A movement starts, to unionize the gaming workers, but they need the backing of other unions to have a chance. The rich bosses use force, sometimes deadly, to try to keep their workers in line. A violent confrontation and uprising is almost guaranteed, given the circumstances. Highly recommended!

What Mrs. N's Been Reading - Shiver

Just finished Maggie Stiefvater's Shiver. I really liked this one! It's told in alternating points of view - that of Grace, a young girl who had been attacked by wolves six years earlier, and Sam, who was a member of the wolf pack that attacked Grace. Sam and the other members of his pack are actually werewolves. They live relatively normally during the summer months, but the cold weather brings about their change into wolves. They change for a number of years, but eventually reach a point where they remain wolves for the remainder of their lives. Grace has been fascinated by the wolves since her attack. Actually her attention is focused on Sam, who called the other wolves off of her during the attack, before she could be seriously injured. Sam and Grace have been watching each other for 6 years, and finally meet while Sam is in human form. Their bond has already been developing, and quickly becomes stronger. As they fall in love and winter approaches, Sam tries to avoid telling Grace that this will be his last summer in human form. This one was very well written. You really get inside the heads of the 2 main characters and connect with them. There's plenty of back story fleshed out, and some side stories about members of the pack, attacks on additional kids, Grace's dysfunctional family, some horrific events in Sam's young life, etc. to keep interest up. Some mature content, but nothing graphic or explicit, even with the wolf attacks. Highly recommended! Look for the sequel, Linger, coming soon.

Enjoy

What Mrs. N's Been Reading - The Boy Who Couldn't Sleep and Never Had To

Finished D.C. Pierson's The Boy Who Couldn't Sleep and Never Needed To a few days ago. Honestly, I'm still deciding how I feel about this one. Darren, one of the main characters, is a relatively nerdy high school student who likes to draw. He pretty much keeps to himself, until another, even nerdier student, Eric, notices his drawings, asks serious questions about them, and doesn't make fun of Darren or the drawings. In fact they quickly discover a shared love of sci-fi, and soon are hanging out together, developing a full-scale series of movies, and books, based on their character and story ideas. Eventually Eric confides in Darren and tells him something about himself that he has kept quiet. He never sleeps. Never has. Ever. He doesn't get tired either, but Darren later sees the periodic, near-breakdowns, that Eric suffers as a result of never having the down brain time that everyone else does. Together, they start trying to test the limits and consequences of Eric's "ability." Along the way, a girl comes between them, and Darren breaks the confidence in retaliation. Suddenly big, mean men are looking for Eric in order to run tests on him. When Darren and Eric go on the run, Darren learns something even more fantastic about the extent of Eric's "ability" that makes it even more dangerous. Due to a bit of language, and some mature, though not really graphic content, this one is for high school, not middle school students. Generally, pretty funny, with some teenage angst, and sci-fi stuff thrown in as well. Enjoy!

What Mrs N's Been Reading - Leviathan

I've been swamped with prep for summer reading (Speaking of which, registration starts June 1. Use the link to the right.) so haven't gotten around to posting on this one. In fact, the book just perked to the top of a pile on my desk - I had forgotten about it. It's Scott Westerfeld's Leviathan. I've liked just about all of the Westerfelds that I've read. This one's no exception, but I thought it was written quite differently than his other ones. This one falls under the steampunk category. It takes place just as WWI is breaking out, but in an alternate Europe. Science has progressed a bit differently than it did in our world. Europe is split between the Darwinists, who have harnessed the secrets of DNA and crossed the DNA of very different species to get new altered species that are used for things like travel, and the Clankers who rely on machines. The story is told from 2 alternating points of view. The first is Prince Alex of Austria, who's parents have just been assassinated and he is being whisked off into hiding by men loyal to his late father. The Austrians are Clankers. The other is Deryn, a young girl disguised as boy to try to join the British Air Service. The British are Darwinists. Deryn ends up on a giant airship/beast called Leviathan. It is composed of primarily whale DNA, with other things mixed in that allow it to produce hydrogen from the food it eats and use that to levitate and fly. Passengers can ride in a gondola attached to the beast, or actually crawl around inside it. That seems to gross out some folks who hear about this book, but it didn't faze me. Of course the 2 main characters paths intersect, just as war is breaking out. I liked it a lot. I'll warn you that it ends screaming for a sequel, and one is in the works. I'll be getting that as soon as it's available. It's a cool alternate look at both science and history. Nothing objectionable for middle school readers, but enough meat to keep high school students interested as well, especially if you're into the genre.

Enjoy!

What Mrs N's Been Reading - Lips Touch Three Times

Just finished Laini Taylor's Lips Touch Three Times. It was recommended by Hannah, a co-worker here who also reads primarily teen books. I was getting ready to officially give it up and just say that she and I just have different taste, 'cause we haven't been agreeing. But I gotta say, I liked this one quite a bit. It's actually a collection of three short stories (side story about that later) about goblins, demons, curses, and the power of a kiss. The third one, Hatchling was exceptionally well written. There's some fabulous artwork as well. Some slightly mature content, but handled very well. Probably OK for most older middle school kids, as well as high school students. For once, I just picked up the book without reading the jacket notes or anything. I was into the third story and asking myself how in the world Taylor was going to tie these three parts of the book together, when I finally realized that it was three independent short stories, and she had no plans of trying to tie them together. Duh!!

Oh well, excellent book! Enjoy!

What Mrs N's Been Reading - London Calling

Just finished Edward Bloor's London Calling. Not sure what made me pick this one up, because the cover is kind of bland, but I sure am glad I did. I really liked this one! Kind of hard to describe without giving too much away, but I'll give it a shot. Martin Conway is just finishing 7th grade at a private school, when the story begins. He really hates the school, because the students are mostly rich kids. He's there because his mother is the school secretary, so his tuition is free. On the last day of school he ends up in the middle of a disturbance instigated by the son of a prominent family. When Martin's best friend, a kid on scholarship because his dad is a mason working on a project at the school, defends him and winds up getting expelled, Martin goes into a bit of a depression and holes up in his basement bedroom. After Martin's Nana, who seems to have been slipping into dementia, and who he always felt close to, dies, he inherits an old cathedral style 1940's radio from her. When he falls asleep with the radio tuned between stations acting as white noise and a night light to help him sleep, Martin has a very detailed and nagging dream in which he is sent back to 1940 London during the blitz, and meets a boy named Jimmy. But was it a dream? Martin writes down details and starts to research them to see if the events he witnessed and the people he met were in fact real. This sets him off on a long adventure that ends with him traveling to England to try to right a wrong. He ultimately changes some of what had been accepted as historic facts, and changes the course of several families' futures including his own, some for the better, some worse. The end is very moving. I was sniveling. Excellent book! Nothing objectionable for middle schoolers, and you may learn a little history along the way as well. Enjoy!

What Mrs N's Been Reading - The Hunger Games

Finished Suzanne Collins' The Hunger Games late last night. Wow! I see why this one has been so popular. It's set in a futuristic country, taking up what's left of North America after several natural disasters and wars. There is a central government area where all of the power and money are, and 12 outlying districts where the people live under oppression and in severe poverty. There had been a 13th district, but after they led an unsuccessful attempt at an uprising, the entire district was destroyed to set an example. Now, as a reminder of the uprising, the central government holds the annual Hunger Games, where a boy and girl from each district are chosen at random and put into a cordoned off area to fight to the death, with the last child left alive winning fame and fortune for him or herself and a year of extra supplies for their district. The people in the districts are forced to treat the games like a festival, and to watch it being televised. I won't give away more of the plot, but I will say that it's well-written and compelling reading. I put myself in the hold line for the sequel, and I very seldom read more than one book in a series. Enjoy!

What Mrs N's Been Reading - The Adoration of Jenna Fox

I've enjoyed most of the books that I've read recently, but it's been a while since I finished a book, closed it, and just sat there and said, "Wow!" That is, until last night. OK, actually it was a little after midnight, so I guess technically it was this morning. Anyway, I just finished Mary Pearson's The Adoration of Jenna Fox. Wow! What a great book! It opens with 17-year-old Jenna waking up after having been in a coma for several months. As she adjusts, she notices a lot of things that just aren't quite right. Her mother has moved her across the country. Her dad is still visiting occasionally, but still lives back east. She has no contact with any old friends, and mother is reluctant to let her out of the house. She has been given video of her life to try to jog her memory. As she starts to put the pieces together, she realizes that something is horribly wrong. The book deals with some heavy issues like life after death, the nature of the soul, and what it really means to be human. But it does it without being preachy, and keeps you absolutely riveted to the story. There really isn't anything objectionable for middle-schoolers, but I'd recommend it for high school students and adults, simply because they will get a lot more out of it. Very highly recommended!

What Mrs N's Been Reading - Inkheart

Just finished one of those books that I probably should have read a few years ago, but just now got around to - Cornelia Funke's Inkheart. I was surprised that it was on the shelf when I picked it up a week or so ago, what with the movie coming out soon, but I'm glad it was. I'm frequently sceptical of books that have been translated, as this one has been. In case you never noticed the fine print, it was originally written in German. I had read Funke's The Thief Lord a few years ago and was kind of disappointed. This one was much better. It's the story of young Meggie and her father, Mo, a repairer of books. Meggie has been told that her mother "went away" when she was very young but had never been given a real explanation. She also thought it was a little strange that her father, who made his living working with books, and told wonderful, off the cuff stories, never reads aloud to her. A mysterious man named Dustfinger appears one night, they leave abruptly to visit an "aunt." After some bizarre and frightening things begin to happen, Mo finally tells Meggie that when he reads aloud, he sometimes brings characters and objects to life in this world, and things or people disappear from this world into the book. Can you guess what happened to mom? Mo has been trying desperately to bring her back. An evil tyrant who was brought out of a book, wants Mo to read something even more evil out of the book for him, and Dustfinger, who was read out of the same book, blames Mo for his situation, and desperately wants to go back. I thought it was very well written, with enough plot twists to hold your interest. I liked the characters. I'm looking forward to the movie version. I just may pick up the sequel. (And if you know me, you know how unusual that is!) Highly recommended, and appropriate for both middle school and high school (for a nice light reading break) students.

Enjoy!

What Mrs. N's Been Reading - Stardust

Ok, for the first time in quite a while, I ventured out of the Teen realm for my reading material and picked up Neil Gaiman's Stardust. The reason for this venturing was that I was considering doing a book vs. movie discussion on this one for next summer's Teen Summer Reading Program. I'm probably going to hear from irate Gaiman fans, but I just couldn't really get into this one. In fact, it was the first book in quite a while that I seriously considered bailing out on under the philosophy - "Why waste time on a bad book when there are so many good ones." After about 2 weeks , when I was only half way through (and it's a fairly short book), I tried to figure out why it was taking me so darn long. After a little thought I decided that basically, I really didn't care about any of the characters. Stardust is considered somewhat of a classic in some circles, but I found the story to be not terribly original, and all of the characters to be the kind of whiny people that I don't want to be around in real life either. I may still show the movie next summer. I haven't seen it yet, so I'm not sure. The book has one stupid passage that makes it inappropriate for middle-schoolers, therefore ruining it as a book discussion book. What's really annoying about that, is that the passage really wasn't necessary. Yes, you need to know Tristran's parentage to understand some other things, but you don't need all of the intimate details. Sorry Gaiman fans, but I can't recommend this one. On to another Teen book.