Comics Roundup #69: “Isla to Island”

I’m so happy I gave this one a chance, since I downloaded it entirely at random from my library. I just liked the cover and the description, believing I’d find it relatable (which I did), and decided to give it a go.

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Isla to Island by Alexis Castellanos (illus.)

GENRE

MG Historical

SERIES

n/a

PUBBED

2022

QUICK SUMMARY

Set in the 1960s, Isla to Island is a wordless middle-grade graphic novel about a girl named Marisol growing up in Cuba. When Fidel Castro began taking over the country, Marisol’s parents sent her away to live in the U.S., in New York City, to ensure her safety. Marisol has a hard time adjusting to the new environment, language, and culture, but eventually her new family are able to help Marisol make her new space feel like home. (Goodreads)

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My thoughts

This was a good read. I have a soft spot for wordless picture books and comics because readers have to rely on the art to understand the story, as well as the nonverbal ways in which we communicate and express ourselves. There are some words in Isla to Island, seen in written materials such as letters, but we do not get any verbal dialogue in the story.

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“The Golden Compass” by Philip Pullman

This was a delightful read. The Golden Compass is a book I’ve wanted to read for over 10 years now, but I kept putting it off. I’d attempted it shortly after graduating college, but didn’t feel drawn to the story and had difficulty with the concept of daemons, so I gave up on the book but vowed to return to it when I felt more receptive to the story. I’m glad I did that. Reading it in 2023 was the best time to pick it up.

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GENRE

YA Fantasy

SERIES

His Dark Materials, book 1

Pubbed

1995

Quick summary

The Golden Compass is the first novel in a young-adult fantasy series. In this book, the story is set in a world that mirrors our own and is centered on Lyra Belacqua, a brave golden-haired girl who’s supposedly an orphan, which is why she’s raised among the Scholars of Jordan College (which I thought of as the equivalent of Oxford) — the only girl there as women are not often Scholars.

“The Lost Hero” by Rick Riordan

This was another book that helped with my reading slump, and that’s because it was a reread of a favorite. Reading it again reminded me why I enjoyed it so much my first time through. It’s a quick read, it’s funny, and it’s about Greek and Roman mythologies. What’s not to like?

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Genre

MG Fantasy

Series

Heroes of Olympus, book 1

Pubbed

2010

Quick synopsis

The Lost Hero kicks off a new batch of books by Rick Riordan, the Heroes of Olympus series. This series immediately follows the Percy Jackson series, middle grade fantasy about the demigod children of Greek gods, but focuses on a new cast of characters and is told from various points of view.

“Charmed Life” by Diana Wynne Jones

I have a feeling that I may have read these books as a kid, but I really cannot remember having done so.

This is the kind of story I’d have loved as a kid: Those fantasy stories where the characters sit around eating marmalade (whatever that is) and drinking cocoa and having picnics on lawns and there’s a beautiful garden somewhere that they can visit and portals to other worlds as well. Yep, such stories were catnip for me as a kid, and it seems that’s still the case because I loved Charmed Life.

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Genre

MG Fantasy

Series

Chrestomanci, book 1

Pubbed

1977

Quick summary

Charmed Life is about Cat, who’s apparently a normal boy. He lives on Coven Street among many witches with his beautiful, talented sister, Gwendolen, under the care of Mrs. Sharp because his parents had died in a boating accident. Through some contrivance of Gwendolen, they move to Chrestomanci Castle, where Gwendolen grows increasingly frustrated since folks there do not acknowledge her amazingness and fawn over her. Cat, on the other hand, seems overlooked and always does what his sister says. But there’s more to Cat and something odd about Gwendolen’s powers. (Goodreads)

Last Couple Books Read in 2021

It’s been a while since I’ve done a review, and whenever this happens, I feel as if I’ve forgotten how to write them. That’s how I feel now. It’s partly due to not having written one in a while and also having forgotten some details about the books I read. But, since my plan with this blog is to chat about every book I read, I’d like to post something about the books I read during the last months of 2021.

Those last months were a very busy, very stressful time for me, which is why I’ve delayed chatting about the books until now. Things got so overwhelming that I didn’t blog as much as I usually did and had a bout of reading slumpiness that lasted until… a few weeks ago. It was probably my longest reading slump. But now that I really feel back to my old self, I’d like to catch up on the MANY blogging and reading things I wanted to do since the slump hit — starting with these reviews.

I read all of these back in September last year, so I’ve forgotten much.

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Keeper of the Lost Cities by Shannon Messenger

Genre

MG Fantasy

Series

Keeper of the Lost Cities, book 1

Pubbed

2012

Quick summary

In this middle grade fantasy, we meet Sophie Foster, a 12-year-old, telepathic girl who is often treated as an outcast — even by her own family. However, one day she sees a boy with very interesting blue eyes at the museum and he helps her to realize that she does not belong in the human world. He tells her that she’s an elf and must leave her family to protect them.

“Brightstorm” by Vashti Hardy, illus. by George Ermos

Thanks to the publisher, W.W. Norton, I was granted access to an ARC copy of this book on Netgalley. However, this does not affect my review of it.

I requested to review the book because I like the cover and the synopsis sounds like something I might like. I was right.

Genre:

MG Fantasy

Series:

Brightstorm, book 1

Pubbed:

March 17, 2020

Goodreads summary:

Critically acclaimed in the UK, Brightstorm is a fast-paced fantasy adventure novel that will set imaginations soaring.

Arthur and Maudie Brightstorm receive devastating news: their famous explorer father has died in a failed attempt to reach South Polaris. To make matters worse, the Lontown Geographical Society finds Ernest Brightstorm guilty of sabotaging the expedition of his competitor, Eudora Vane. But a mysterious clue leads the twins to question the story they’ve been told—and to uncover the truth, they must undertake the journey of a lifetime. Joining the ragtag crew of a homemade sky-ship captained by the intrepid Harriet Culpepper, Arthur and Maudie race to South Polaris to salvage their family’s reputation and find out what really happened on their father’s doomed expedition.

“To Night Owl from Dogfish” by Holly Goldberg Sloan & Meg Wolitzer

This was a sweet story and a fun read. I heard of it from Book Riot’s All the Books podcast and decided to try it because Liberty said it’s like The Parent Trap and I loved that movie (both the original with Hayley Mills and the remake with Lindsey Lohan).

Genre:

Middle-grade contemporary

Pubbed:

February 2019

Quick summary:

When Bett Devlin learns that her dad is conspiring with his new boyfriend to send her and his boyfriend’s daughter to summer camp, she reaches out to the boyfriend’s daughter, Avery Bloom, so that they can devise a plan to thwart their fathers’ intention.

The fathers are single gay dads who met at a conference and started to date. They’d like their daughters to get along, so they conspire to send them to the same summer camp; but Bett and Avery have other plans and instead vow NOT to be friends and definitely not let their dads date each other. But nothing goes as planned.

Comics Roundup #23: “The Dam Keeper”

The Dam Keeper by Robert Kondo (illus.) and Daisuke “Dice” Tsutsumi (illus.)

Genre:

Fantasy

Pubbed:

September 2017; but it was first an animated short film, which aired in 2014

Goodreads summary:

Life in Sunrise Valley is tranquil, but beyond its borders lies certain death. A dangerous black fog looms outside the village, but its inhabitants are kept safe by an ingenious machine known as the dam. Pig’s father built the dam and taught him how to maintain it. And then this brilliant inventor did the unthinkable: he walked into the fog and was never seen again.

Now Pig is the dam keeper. Except for his best friend, Fox, and the town bully, Hippo, few are aware of his tireless efforts. But a new threat is on the horizon—a tidal wave of black fog is descending on Sunrise Valley. Now Pig, Fox, and Hippo must face the greatest danger imaginable: the world on the other side of the dam.

Comics Roundup #21: “Pashmina”

I’ve had this book on my Goodreads TBR since last year November when I saw it advertised in one of the many bookish newsletters I’m subscribed to. The title caught my attention because I love pashminas and own several. It made me wonder what the story would say about the scarves.

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Pashmina by Nidhi Chanani

Genre: Fantasy

Goodreads summary:

Priyanka Das has so many unanswered questions: Why did her mother abandon her home in India years ago? What was it like there? And most importantly, who is her father, and why did her mom leave him behind? But Pri’s mom avoids these questions–the topic of India is permanently closed.

Comics Roundup #20: “Nightlights”

That’s it. I’m now a fan of Lorena Alvarez’s work.

The cover of Nightlights called to me when I last visited the library. I’d told myself that it’s been too long since I’d visited so I should go there and get myself a book. I left with 7 books, one of which I ended up purchasing at the Barnes & Noble because I needed my own copy of it. Now I want to purchase a copy of Nightlights too.