From the front flap: Poignant, funny, and utterly original, Ethel & Ernest is Raymond Briggs's loving depiction of his parents' lives from their chance first encounter in the 1920s until their deaths in the 1970s. Ethel and Ernest were solid members of the English working class, part of the generation that lived through the most tumultuous years of the twentieth century. … [Read more...] about Ethel & Ernest by Raymond Briggs: B
Graphic Novel
X-Men: Misfits 1 by Raina Telgemeier, Dave Roman, and Anzu: C-
Having fortified myself with some small exposure to Marvel-style Kitty Pryde, I felt equipped to tackle the first volume of Del Rey's X-Men: Misfits for Manga Recon. Whether you're an X-Men fan or a shojo manga fan, you're bound to be disappointed (if not dismayed) by this hybrid. In this shojo-style X-Men “remix,” Kitty Pryde is a fifteen-year-old girl who is an outcast … [Read more...] about X-Men: Misfits 1 by Raina Telgemeier, Dave Roman, and Anzu: C-
Nightschool: The Weirn Books 2 by Svetlana Chmakova: B
Home-schooled weirn (witch) Alex Treveney had no interest in attending the nightschool that caters to her kind until her older sister went missing while on the job there. Several thwarted attempts to gain unauthorized entry leave Alex with no alternative but to enroll, and she spends her orientation tour scoping out the place and her first class proving just how ahead of the … [Read more...] about Nightschool: The Weirn Books 2 by Svetlana Chmakova: B
Nightschool: The Weirn Books 1 by Svetlana Chmakova: B+
From the back cover: Schools may lock up for the night, but class is in session for an entirely different set of students. In the nightschool, vampires, werewolves, and weirns (a particular breed of witches) learn the fundamentals of everything from calculus to spell casting. Alex is a young weirn whose education has always been handled through homeschooling, but circumstances … [Read more...] about Nightschool: The Weirn Books 1 by Svetlana Chmakova: B+
CSI: Intern at Your Own Risk by Sekou Hamilton and Steven Cummings: C
As part of the Las Vegas Police Department’s Outreach Program for high school students, five teenagers earn the right to serve as interns to the CSI unit. Among them is Kiyomi Hudson, who is intrigued by the murder of a classmate, Gretchen Yates. While she and her fellow interns—a creepy guy, a nerdy guy, a jock, and a rather jerky normal guy—perform their normal internly … [Read more...] about CSI: Intern at Your Own Risk by Sekou Hamilton and Steven Cummings: C