Ghosts by Raina Telgemeier

Kamis, 06 Oktober 2016

Scholastic Inc., | September 2016 | 256 pgs

Source: Purchased 

This graphic novel by Raina Telgemeier tells a story about the dead and the Mexican culture of honouring the day of the dead. But that is not all, it also tells a story about sisterly love, friendship and conquering your fears. 

Catrina and her family are leaving their home in Northern California to a laid back old town in Bahia de la Luna (this place was inspired by the foggy coastal Northern California where the artist grew up.) The reason for the move is that Cat's younger sister, Maya, is suffering from cystic fibrosis (a genetic disease that causes thick, sticky mucus to build up in the lungs, making breathing difficult and leading to frequent infections. There's no cure for this and at times patients need breathing tube to administer more oxygen and that extra nutrition have to be delivered through a port in their bellies while they sleep) and that they think Maya will benefit from the cool, salty air blows in from the sea. 

Cat isn't pleased about the move at first; after all she misses her friends, the convenience and the familiarity of her home town but she tells herself she will get used to it for the sake of Maya. They got to know their neighbour and their son, Carlos, who seems to know a lot of things about ghosts and finding the places of seeing them. While Maya is thrilled and is determined to meet one, Cat wants nothing to do with them. As Dia de los Muertos (Day of the Dead) comes where the ghosts reunite with their loved ones, Cat tells herself she will go, for everything as well as for Maya since her condition doesn't allow her to. 

What turns out eventually is not only Cat conquers her fear but also getting to know more about the deceased who roam about in Bahia de la Luna (they aren't scary at all and are such friendly and enthusiastic ghouls). Raina Telgemeier wonderfully captures the (windy and foggy) atmospheric setting and Cat's emotions and her reminiscences of her late grandmother. And finally I have to share this note from Raina: "Making peace with your ghosts is as profound as the idea of life itself. And at the end of the day, love transcends life and death."

� 2016 Melody's Reading Corner (https://mel-reading-corner.blogspot.sg/), All Rights Reserved. If you are reading this post from other site(s), please take note that this post has been stolen and is used without permission.

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Sunny Side Up by Jennifer L. Holm & Matthew Holm

Jumat, 23 September 2016

Scholastic Inc | August 2015 | 224 pgs

Source: Purchased

The year is 1976, Pennsylvania. 10-year-old Sunny Lewin is supposed to spend her summer vacation with her family at a beach house, but there's some issue at home and she ended up flying down to Florida herself to live with her grandfather for the summer. She is disappointed at first, but thought Florida might be a fun place to visit, after all she could visit Disney World. But her grandfather's place is no fun for a 10-year-old girl; it is a place called "Pine Palms" and is a retirement community for people over 55. Fortunately for her, she met a boy her age there. Buzz's father works as a groundskeeper at Pine Palms and Buzz knows all the fun things to do there (facing off against alligators when they go golf balls picking, rescuing runaway cats and reading all the superheroes comic books they could find).

Sunny Side Up is very much of a reminiscent kind of story and about the simplicity of life living in the late 70s. What I liked about the story:

• the simple introductions of a few superheroes and their qualities 
• Grandpa's witty remarks and his positivity outlook on life
• Pine Palms is very much of a low-end resort with golf course and pools (but no swimming as there are alligators. Hmph!) 
• the tight-knit community where everybody knows everybody and looking out for one another

Finally, the message behind this story over the issue involving substance abuse (drug or alcohol abuse problem), in which Sunny's elder brother is facing and that young readers who are facing these same problems today should reach out to family members and teachers/school counsellors and seek help should they find themselves or anyone having this issue instead of feeling ashamed and scared; and most of all thinking that it is something that has to be kept as secrets. Overall it is a heartwarming story and is suitable to middle grade children without the heavy undertone of the issue mentioned.

� 2016 Melody's Reading Corner (https://mel-reading-corner.blogspot.sg/), All Rights Reserved. If you are reading this post from other site(s), please take note that this post has been stolen and is used without permission.

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Smile by Raina Telgemeier

Rabu, 13 April 2016

ISBN-13: 9780545870986
Publisher: Scholastic, Inc.
Publication Date: August 2015
Format: Paperback, 214 pgs
Source: Purchased

My eldest daughter, who is twelve, got me into reading this graphic memoir by Raina Telgemeier. She told me it has a great storyline and that it would make me smile towards the end, just like the title. And she is right. 

Raina is your normal sixth grader girl who enjoys being with her friends and having some teenage insecurities the way many teenagers have at this age. But one night has changed her perspective in life when she fell and lost her two front teeth. What follows thereafter is a series of frustrating trips to the dentist, the orthodontist, the periodontist... (as Raina mentioned, I didn't know there are this many kinds of "dontists") until she feels like a freak. And that is not all, she and her family have survived an earthquake; she has a crush on a boy who didn't take notice of her and then there are some of her friends who don't feel like her friends at times. 

Through the artwork, Raina shares with her readers her pains and her frustrations visiting the dental clinics, her journey from middle school to high school, and finally how she discovers her artistic voice and what true friendship really means. 

An inspiring coming-of-age story, I found myself being transported back to my teenage years reading Raina's story (well, minus her dental woes, though) and some of the things she had gone through. Her dental experiences made me think back of my fear of being called to the school dental clinic and how small and helpless I felt lying on that patient chair (and even now at adulthood). Despite all the unhappy experiences Raina had had, I was happy to note that they have made her a stronger person and that they had inspired her to tell her tales through writing/drawing Smile. 

Thank you, Raina, for making me smile reading this book. 

Note: Smile won a Will Eisner Award for Best Publication for Teens, received a Boston Globe-Horn Book Honor, and has appeared on many state reading lists. Raina Telgemeier is the recipient of a Stonewall Book Award Honor, and one of YALSA's Top Ten Great Graphic Novels for Teens. 

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