Review: Leap by Simina Popescu

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Leap by Simina Popescu

Leap
Simina Popescu
Roaring Brook Press
Published November 12, 2024

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About Leap

A coming-of-age graphic novel following two dancers at a conservative performing arts school―exploring friendship, first love, and what it means to fall out of step with your own dreams.

Ana has been studying contemporary dance since she was little, but her heart isn’t in it anymore. Instead her focus is on Carina―a beautiful, ambitious ballerina whose fear of being outed keeps Ana in the closet and their fragile relationship from seeing the light of day. Risking her own career, Ana gives up more and more in order to fit … Continue reading →

Review: Visitations by Corey Egbert

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Visitations by Corey Egbert

Visitations
Corey Egbert
Farrar, Straus, and Giroux
Published December 17, 2024

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About Visitations

Inspired by true events, this haunting yet hopeful young adult graphic novel weaves together family dynamics, mental illness, and religion―perfect for fans of Hey, Kiddo.

Corey’s mom has always made him feel safe. Especially after his parents’ divorce, and the dreaded visitations with his dad begin. But as Corey grows older, he can’t ignore his mother’s increasingly wild accusations. Her insistence that God has appointed Corey as his sister’s protector. Her declaration that Corey’s father is the devil.

Soon, she whisks Corey and his sister away from their … Continue reading →

Review: Rise of the Shadowfire by Jaimal Yogis and Vivian Truong

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Rise of the Shadowfire (City of Dragons 2) by Jaimal Yogis and Vivian Truong

Rise of the Shadowfire (City of Dragons #2)
Jaimal Yogis
Illustrated by Vivian Truong
Graphix
Published October 17, 2023

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About Rise of the Shadowfire (City of Dragons #2)

Grace and friends return for a new adventure in this second installment of the bestselling City of Dragons series!

Ever since the battle in Hong Kong, Grace and her friends have been trying to find a way to get to Paris. When Nate suddenly appears and whisks Grace away to the Dragon King’s lair, she learns that Daijiang and … Continue reading →

Banned Book Review: The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison

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The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison

The Bluest Eye
Toni Morrison
Vintage
Published June 24, 2007 (Orig. 1970)

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About The Bluest Eye

Nobel Prize winner Toni Morrison powerfully examines our obsession with beauty and conformity—and asks questions about race, class, and gender with her characteristic subtly and grace.
 
In Morrison’s bestselling first novel, Pecola Breedlove—an 11-year-old Black girl in an America whose love for its blond, blue-eyed children can devastate all others—prays for her eyes to turn blue: so that she will be beautiful, so that people will look at her, so that her world will be different. This is the story of the nightmare … Continue reading →

Review: We Called Them Giants by Kieron Gillen

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We Called Them Giants by Kieron Gillen

We Called Them Giants
Kieron Gillen
Image Comics
Published November 12, 2024

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About We Called Them Giants

“What an astonishing piece of work. Beautiful and moving.” —Neil Gaiman

We Called Them Giants is a story of communication across a chasm at the end of the world.

Lori wakes to find the streets empty. Everyone has gone. Or at least, nearly everyone. She’s thrown into a world where she has to scrape by in the ruins of civilization, nearly starving, hiding from gangs when …

They arrive.

The award-winning team behind dark fantasy smash DIE release their first stand alone original graphic novel.

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Review: Wrong Answers Only by Tobias Madden

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Wrong Answers Only by Tobias Madden

Wrong Answers Only
Tobias Madden
Page Street YA
Published October 8, 2024

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About Wrong Answers Only

Marco’s always done the right thing. But now it’s time for wrong answers only.

Marco should be at university, studying biomedicine. Instead, he’s been sent to live on a cruise ship in the Mediterranean with his estranged uncle, all because of a ‘blip’ everyone else is convinced was a panic attack. (Which it most definitely was not.)

And even though Marco’s trip is supposed to provide answers – about himself, about his family – all he finds on board the Ocean Melody are more and more … Continue reading →