Welcome to the Central East High School Library Book Blog!
This blog reviews a variety titles that we carry here in our library. We try to include the book's cover, summary, and video for you to learn more about the books we carry. Enjoy and read on!
“Ram V brings another rich layer of humanity to the story—and in the process further humanizes the divine…This is not just a story about life and death. It, like life itself, is an experience.” —ComicBook.com
Humanity is on the verge of discovering immortality.
As a result, the avatar of Death is cast down to Earth to live a mortal life in Mumbai as twenty-something Laila Starr. Struggling with her newfound mortality, Laila has found a way to be placed in the time and place where the creator of immortality will be born. Will Laila take her chance to stop mankind from permanently altering the cycle of life, or will death really become a thing of the past?
A powerful new graphic novel from award-winning writer Ram V (These Savage Shores, Swamp Thing) and lauded illustrator Filipe Andrade (Captain Marvel) that explores the fine line between living and dying through the lens of magical realism.
Teen Titans: Raven by Kami Garcia & Gabriel Picolo
When a tragic accident takes the life of 17-year-old Raven Roth's foster mom--and Raven's memory--she moves to New Orleans to recover and finish her senior year of high school.
Starting over isn't easy. Raven remembers everyday stuff like how to solve math equations and make pasta, but she can't remember her favorite song or who she was before the accident. And when impossible things start happening, Raven begins to think it might even be better not to know who she was before.
But as she grows closer to her new friends, her foster sister, Max, and Tommy Torres, a guy who accepts her for who she is now, Raven has to decide if she's ready to face what's buried in the past...and the darkness building inside her.
From #1 New York Times bestselling author Kami Garcia and first-time graphic novel artist Gabriel Picolo comes this riveting tale of finding the strength to face who you are and learning to trust others--and yourself.
"Kami Garcia shows off her stellar storytelling skills in this fantastic first installment of Teen Titans. Once you start reading Teen Titans: Raven, you won’t want to stop.” —Stephanie Garber, #1 New York Times bestselling author of the Caraval series
“I continue to be inspired by Kami Garcia’s authenticity and keen ability to create raw and empowering stories full of strength, truth, and love.” — Jennifer Niven, New York Times bestselling author of All the Bright Places and Holding Up the Universe
Ghost Boys: The Graphic Novel by Jewell Parker Rhodes, Illustrated by Setor Fiadzigbey
Experience Jewell Parker Rhodes's award-winning storytelling in this tender yet visceral graphic novel adaptation of her New York Times bestselling novel, with poignant illustrations by Setor Fiadzigbey.
Twelve-year-old Jerome is shot by a police officer who mistakes his toy gun for a real threat. As a ghost, he observes the devastation that is unleashed on his family and community in the wake of this unjust and brutal killing.
Soon Jerome meets another ghost: Emmett Till, a boy from a very different time but similar circumstances. Emmett helps Jerome process what has happened, on a journey toward recognizing how historical racism may have led to the events that ended his life. Jerome also meets Sarah, the daughter of the police officer who shot him, as she grapples with her father's actions.
Now gorgeously a graphic novel with gripping artwork from Black Panther illustrator Setor Fiadzigbey, Ghost Boys once again deftly explores the historical and sociopolitical layers involved in how children and families face the complexities of today’s world—and how one boy, in particular, comes to understand American Blackness in the aftermath of his own death.
Eleven-year-old Tony Weaver, Jr. loves comic books, anime, and video games, and idolizes the heroic, larger-than-life characters he finds there. But his new classmates all think he’s a weirdo. Bullied by his peers, Tony struggles with the hurt of not being accepted and tries to conform to other people's expectations. After a traumatic event shakes him to his core, he embarks on a journey of self love that will require him to become the hero of his own story.
From the creator of Yes, I'm Hot In This, this cheeky, hilarious, and honest graphic novel asks the question everyone has to figure out for themselves: Who are you?
Huda and her family just moved to Dearborn, Michigan, a small town with a big Muslim population. In her old town, Huda knew exactly who she was: She was the hijabi girl. But in Dearborn, everyone is the hijabi girl.
Huda is lost in a sea of hijabis, and she can't rely on her hijab to define her anymore. She has to define herself. So she tries on a bunch of cliques, but she isn't a hijabi fashionista or a hijabi athlete or a hijabi gamer. She's not the one who knows everything about her religion or the one all the guys like. She's miscellaneous, which makes her feel like no one at all. Until she realizes that it'll take finding out who she isn't to figure out who she is.
Note from Norma:
These graphic novels have been pretty popular since we've got them in and I'm glad they're in our collection. The Huda series is hilarious and thoughtful, and I love recommending it and seeing it get the circulation it deserves.
Boy meets boy. Boys become friends. Boys fall in love. A sweet and charming coming-of-age story that explores friendship, love, and coming out. This edition features beautiful two-color artwork.
Now streaming on Netflix!
Shy and softhearted Charlie Spring sits next to rugby player Nick Nelson in class one morning. A warm and intimate friendship follows, and that soon develops into something more for Charlie, who doesn't think he has a chance.
But Nick is struggling with feelings of his own, and as the two grow closer and take on the ups and downs of high school, they come to understand the surprising and delightful ways in which love works.
Click HERE for Alice Oseman's Heartstopper Character Profiles
Reviews
Praise for the Heartstopper series:
New York Times Bestseller
USA Today Bestseller
National Indie Bestseller
American Booksellers Association Indie Next Pick
YALSA Great Graphic Novels Selection
YALSA Quick Pick for Young Adult Readers
"You'll smile watching Charlie and Nick open up to one another, and sigh as they tiptoe into romance… falling in love doesn’t get more charming than this." -- Ngozi Ukazu, New York Times bestselling author of Check, Please!
"Realistic yet uplifting, this tale of self-discovery will make readers' hearts skip a beat." -- School Library Journal
"With all the blushing and awkward glances, it's difficult not to be charmed… The romance and realistic fiction will draw readers in to this sweet story." -- Booklist
Two sleepless teenagers find kinship as they escape to their school’s astronomy observatory.
Unable to sleep at night, Ganta Nakami is cranky in class and unpopular with his classmates. He discovers that the school observatory, once used by the now-defunct astronomy club, may be the perfect place for a nap—but he’s not alone. Fellow insomniac Isaki Magari is willing to share the observatory with Nakami, and a friendship between the two begins as they bond over the most unlikely of things.
Dark rumors about what befell the members of the astronomy club keep people away from the school observatory, and that’s what makes it the perfect sanctuary for Nakami and Magari to get some much-needed rest. Unfortunately, the school faculty can’t allow its unsanctioned use. But if there were a new astronomy club, maybe these two insomniacs could have a place to call home!
We currently only have the first two volumes in our library, but we are looking ahead into expanding on our graphic novel and manga collection, with Insomniacs After School being our first manga series in the CEHS library!
The Daughters of Ys by M.T. Anderson, Illustrated by Jo Rioux
An Atlantis-like city from Celtic legend is the setting of The Daughters of Ys, a mythical graphic novel fantasy from National Book Award winner M. T. Anderson and artist Jo Rioux.
Ys, city of wealth and wonder, has a history of dark secrets. Queen Malgven used magic to raise the great walls that keep Ys safe from the tumultuous sea. But after the queen's inexplicable death, her daughters drift apart. Rozenn, the heir to the throne, spends her time on the moors communing with wild animals, while Dahut, the youngest, enjoys the splendors of royal life and is eager to take part in palace intrigue.
When Rozenn and Dahut's bond is irrevocably changed, the fate of Ys is sealed, exposing the monsters that lurk in plain view. M. T. Anderson and Jo Rioux reimagine this classic Breton folktale of love, loss, and rebirth, revealing the secrets that lie beneath the surface.
Reviews
"Like [M. T. Anderson's] National Book Award-winning The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing, this graphic novel is both accessible to a wide age range and rich with ideas that will intrigue adults... Jo Rioux’s character designs―which reference fifth century Anglo-Saxon art―aren’t just beautiful, they allow her to test the evocative possibilities of minimalist cartooning." ―NPR, from "NPR's Favorite Books Of 2020"
"Anderson’s [lyrical] version of the original lore...draws the reader into the eerie mystical world of Ys. Rioux’s enchanting classical artwork employs rustic pencils in a romantic style that recalls Emily Carroll, and autumnal colors which harken back to Breton culture. Readers keen on Celtic mythology will appreciate this whimsical tale with a dark turn, with crossover for Anderson’s teen fans likely."―Publisher's Weekly
Norma's Personal Review
The first thing that caught my eye was the lovely art by Rioux! The colors and style remind me so much of The Secret of Kells from Studio Cartoon Saloon but in a slightly more grown up style to fit the tone of this story. A retelling of a Celtic story, it gives more complex characterizations and motivations to the two female leads and is just overall such a fantastic read. As someone who loves graphic novels, I would recommend it for the art alone but the story written by Anderson is equally as addicting.
Come into the library and check it out if you're interested!
From the bestselling, award-winning creator of Almost American Girl comes an epic new graphic novel fantasy—a queer, feminist reimagining of the Fox Maiden legend from Korean mythology. Perfect for fans of Nimona, Squire, and The Prince and the Dressmaker.
Kai Song dreams of being a warrior. She wants to follow in the footsteps of her beloved father, the commander of the Royal Legion. But while her father believes in Kai and trains her in martial arts, their society isn’t ready for a girl warrior.
Still, Kai is determined. But she is plagued by rumors that she is the granddaughter of Gumiho, the infamous nine-tailed fox demon who was killed by her father years before.
Everything comes crashing down the day Kai learns the deadly secret about her mother’s past. Now she must come to terms with the truth about her identity and take her destiny into her own hands. As Kai desperately searches for a way to escape her fate, she comes to find compassion, and even love, in the most unexpected places.
Set in sixteenth-century Korea and richly infused with Korean folklore, The Fox Maidens is a timeless and powerful story about fighting for your place in the world, even when it seems impossible.
Reviews
“Ha successfully brings to life the wide range of emotions that both tell the story and provide evidence that the comic medium has been a healing force for her and perhaps could be for readers who have walked similar paths.” — Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books
“Ha effectively uses the comic book format to recall her own memories of dislocation, explore a testy mother-daughter relationship and ultimately chronicle a poignant search for identity.” — San Francisco Chronicle
The Book of Denial by Ricardo Chávez Castañeda, Illustrated by Alejandro Magallanes
Summary
From award-winning Mexican author Ricardo Chávez Castañeda and the visionary Mexican designer Alejandro Magallanes comes a horror story and ghost story that is both daringly and beautifully told in word and image.
There are stories so terrible that we tremble to hear even a whisper of them. Even more terrible, some of them are true.This is one such story, a story of our deepest inhumanity--one that confronts the history of violence against children, and through its young narrator attempts to find a way out. A horror story and ghost story told as much through art as through text, The Book of Denial is an antidote to our collective silence. By uplifting storytelling as a means of understanding the past and shaping the future, it is also--improbably--a beacon of hope.
Written by genre-defying Mexican author Ricardo Chávez Castañeda, The Book of Denial is a dark and powerful story within a story, illustrated with a striking graphic sensibility by Alejandro Magallanes and translated by Lawrence Schimel.This is the third book to appear under Unruly, an imprint of picture books for older readers, and will include a short note to readers about how it continues to build this experimental framework of visually complex, sophisticated picture books for teens and adults.
Reviews
Wednesday, April 13, 2016
A Silent Voice 1 by Yoshitoki Oima
Cover Design by Phil Balsman
Copyright 2013, English Translation Copyright 2015
ALA Top 10 Graphic Novels Sets
ISBN 978-1-63236-056-4
Ages 13 and above
Book Trailer by Mrs. Flores
Good Reads Review:
Shoya is a bully. When Shoko, a girl who can’t hear, enters his elementary school class, she becomes their favorite target, and Shoya and his friends goad each other into devising new tortures for her. But the children’s cruelty goes too far. Shoko is forced to leave the school, and Shoya ends up shouldering all the blame. Six years later, the two meet again. Can Shoya make up for his past mistakes, or is it too late?
