Jordie Bellaire – Mom Read It

Graphic Novels, Teen, Tween Reads, Young Adult/New Adult

Two more DC original YA graphic novels to put on your TBR: The Oracle Code and Batman: Overdrive

Posted on January 24, 2020January 23, 2020 by Rosemary Kiladitis

DC Ink is knocking it out of the park with their original graphic novels for the YA audience! The next two coming up star Oracle and The Bat himself.

The Oracle Code, by Marieke Nijkamp/Illustrated by Manuel Preitano, (March 2020, DC Ink), $16.99, ISBN: 9781401290665

Ages 12+

Marieke Nijkamp, whose book, This Is Where It Ends is still one of the most intense books I’ve ever read, brings her intensity to a creepy mystery in the Bat-Family universe. The Oracle Code centers on Barbara Gordon, (later known as Batgirl), hacker and daredevil daughter of Gotham’s own James Gordon. Deftly creating her own entry in the DC Otherworlds universe by having Barbara’s gunshot paralysis occur while witnessing a police chase a suspect – as opposed to being shot, point blank, by the Joker, as was established in the 1988 graphic novel, Batman: The Killing Joke – we get a younger, Barbara whose personality is still in adolescent flux, and will be formed by the events she experiences in The Oracle Code. Barbara enters the Arkham Center for Independence, delivered by her father, to learn how to navigate her new normal and undergo physical, mental, and emotional rehabilitation. Barbara is slow to come around, and we feel her anger and her despondence as powerfully as we feel her sense of loss. When she meets a fellow patient who insists her brother is also at Arkham, Barbara thinks, at first, that the girl is dealing with her own loss: until her gut tells her otherwise. Barbara opens up her own investigation, which could put her at even greater risk.

I loved The Oracle Code. Big shoutout to one of my favorite colorists, Jordie Bellaire, for creating a somber, almost sinister mood with Manuel Preitano’s fantastic artwork. The story builds as we wonder who’s reliable and who isn’t, and Barbara doesn’t escape judgement here, either. Seeing Barbara reclaim her agency is an incredible thing; readers will appreciate her frustration as she is blown off and questioned time and again. Another home run for DC Ink and for Marieke Nijkamp.

Batman: Overdrive, by Shea Fontana/Illustrated by Marcelo Di Chiara, (Feb. 2020, DC Ink), $9.99, ISBN: 9781401283568

Ages 10+

DC Superhero Girls writer and illustrator Shea Fontana and Marcelo Di Chiara turn their powers to a pre-Batman Bruce Wayne in Batman: Overdrive! Bruce Wayne, angry and struggling to come to terms with his parents’ deaths, turns his skills to detective work and automotive work: he decides to rebuild his dad’s first car. There’s an interesting new spin on his origin with Catwoman as the teen Bruce makes two new friends; Selina Kyle and Mateo Diaz, and we see young Bruce laying the foundation for the man who will become Batman.

Overdrive gives us a Bruce Wayne fraught with conflict. Alfred isn’t in his confidence yet; he pushes back and argues with him at every turn. He’s working through his anger and learning to trust here, and framed within the story of his father’s car, Batman: Overdrive is a solid Batman origin story. This skews toward a slightly younger audience in both writing and artwork; middle schoolers will enjoy this as much as a teen audience. Frustration with parents and a strong desire for freedom will resonate with all readers.

Fantasy, Fiction, Graphic Novels, Middle Grade, Tween Reads

The Nameless City saga comes to a close with The Divided Earth

Posted on September 10, 2018 by Rosemary Kiladitis

The Nameless City: The Divided Earth (The Nameless City #3), by Faith Erin Hicks (Sept. 2018, First Second), $14.99, ISBN: 9781626721609

Ages 8-13

Faith Erin Hicks’ epic graphic novel trilogy, The Nameless City, comes to a phenomenal close with The Divided Earth. Dao prince Erzi now has control of The Nameless City, but the city is under siege by Dao and Yisun forces who want the war for the Nameless City to come to an end. The Named – the people of the city – are caught in between. Rat and Kaidu (Kai), the two main characters, plan to sneak into Erzi’s palace and steal back the ancient text containing the formula for napatha, an ancient weapon that Erzi plans to unleash on the city.

The Nameless City saga has incredible worldbuilding and storytelling. Faith Erin Hicks has given readers strong characters with complex backgrounds and relationships, and a grand-scale story about a clash between cultures and societies who are tired of war. Rat and Kai have both had their heroes’ journeys and are smarter, stronger, wiser characters than they were at the outset. It’s been said that the best villains are the ones who believe they’re truly the heroes, and that certainly holds true for Erzi, who believes he is doing what’s best for The Nameless City, and who believes that rule of the Named is his birthright, having been born there. It certainly makes for a more tragic villain. Faith Erin Hicks is gifted at writing and rendering emotion, and colorist Jordie Bellaire makes thoughtful choices that bring out the terrible emotional cost of battle as beautifully as she does the gentle moments of love between parent and child, or between two friends who would die for one another.

If you have fantasy readers who haven’t yet discovered The Nameless City, please get the books into their hands. They’ll be happy you took the time to booktalk it.I hope I see this series on Summer Reading lists next year: it’s wonderfully diverse and examines the fallout that happens when one culture attempts to dominate all others.

Graphic Novels, Middle Grade, Teen, Tween Reads

HowToons shows how makerspaces will save the world – A WhatchaReading Review!

Posted on February 25, 2015February 25, 2015 by Rosemary Kiladitis

Everyone’s talking about STEM these days – or STEAM, depending on which library or classroom you’re hanging out in. What’s STEM? It’s the new thing for education – Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (with an “A” for Art, if you’re talking STEAM). It’s going beyond the three “Rs” to get kids ready for this crazy future we’re heading toward. It’s LEGO Robotics, it’s NASA mentors for kids, it’s teaching kids to code in languages like HTML, Python, and Ruby on Rails.

Beyond that, it’s starting with what’s around you. I had a duct tape crafting workshop at my library that the kids went berserk for. We made wallets, change pouches, even little mustaches on popsicle sticks. If you don’t have funky, leopard-spotted duct tape, you can still make stuff – show me one home that doesn’t have a roll of duct tape laying around, right? With that base, you can create.

And that is the idea that HowToons works with. HowToons is more than a comic, it’s a movement. It’s taking comics one step further and bringing kids into the adventure, by creating a story that shows kids how to create – using things around them – to save their own world.

Read the rest of my review over at WhatchaReading!