THE HUMAN BODY: AN ALIEN'S GUIDE: A Graphic Novel Review by Guest Blogger Brooke Leela-Ann White

The human body… more like the heroic body!

The Human Body: An Alien’s Guide, written by Ruth Redford and illustrated by Leandro Cunha, is a graphic novel about human biology. This book features two aliens, Zag and Zog, who go on an adventurous mission to learn about the human body. 

I read it to my 5-year-old brother, Noah-Austin.

 REVIEW

I recommend this book for kids in grades 3-4 since it is interesting, fun, and an easy read. Zag and Zog break down the human body into percentages:

“The alien has three big eyes and the other guy looks like an oval!”- Noah-Austin White

The aliens fly through seven systems of the body on their spaceship.

In the skeletal system, the curious aliens learn about the bones of the body, cartilage, how bones can heal themselves, and the joints' functions. 

I taught Noah-Austin about his funny bone.

In the muscular system, Zag and Zog learn about the different types of muscles and their location.

 

“Why is an alien in the body? They should be on the moon right now!”

- Noah-Austin White

 

Zog talks like an alien: "That’s it? Do they ever just feel zorpy?” he says when the two learn how many muscles the face uses.

The two aliens discover the nervous system and learn about electric signals sent to the brain notifying the brain what action it needs to perform. They also discuss how nerves are needed in different places for different movements.

In the circulatory system, these cool little monsters learn about blood, blood cells, germs, blood vessels, arteries, the heart, and blood clots.

 

The cells mistake them for enemies and start to attack them! Luckily, the extraterrestrials escape. 

In the immune system, they learn about oxygen, carbon dioxide, lungs, mucus, viruses, and, infected cells. But real trouble awaits in the digestive system. 

“The stomach mush looks like poop.”-Noah-Austin White

In the digestive system, the one-eyed and three-eyed aliens are educated about the process of how the body digests food, the small intestine, the large intestines, feces, heartburn, stomach ache, urination, infections, and lots more! Then, the aliens start to get trapped by the stomach acid made when the human experiences heartburn, but they find a way out (phew!) without any chaos, or digestion drama in the mix.

      ”Why does he have so many arms?” Noah-Austin asked.

Lastly, in the endocrine system, the spacelings learn about puberty, hormones, the pituitary gland, the pineal gland, the parathyroid, the thymus gland, the pancreas, the adrenal glands, and the thyroid glands. I had no idea these were such things--I can’t even pronounce them! The octopus-like aliens also discover how emotions affect hormones.

I find this story fascinating because the facts are formatted in a way that’s easy to understand. This story differs from other biology books because it is a graphic novel and kid-friendly. I also enjoyed how in each system the aliens don’t only learn about the parts of the body, but they also have an adventure/exploration!

I recommend THE HUMAN BODY: An Alien's Guide to any kid who wants to learn about human biology. I love this book because it helped me learn a lot of important information quickly. The illustrations helped me better understand what the parts of the body look like, and the cartoony art style gave it a fun feel. 

Brooke Leela-Ann White is an 11-year-old 5th grader who lives in Charlotte, North Carolina. She has written two books, “ Cupcake the Lying Unicorn” and “Cookie Cat and the Tagalongs”. When Brooke isn’t reading or writing you’ll probably spot her sewing, scootering, swimming, or studying. This is Brooke’s fourth book review, She has been dreaming about becoming a book reviewer ever since she could read!

GIVEAWAY

If you are interested in adding this book to your home or school library, leave me a comment by March 19. If you are new to my blog, make sure you leave your email address. If you are a new subscriber to my blog or an educator or librarian, I'll put your name in twice. 

Don't forget to check out Greg Pattridge's great MMGM blog every Monday!  

THE WALL: Growing Up Behind The Iron Curtain: A Graphic Novel Review

I found THE WALL (Farrar, Straus, and Giroux, 2007) by Peter Sís in my library under graphic novels and since it was historical, I thought I'd check it out. It's the size of a picture book (9 x 12) with about the same number of pages you'd find in a picture book. But, don't be mistaken. This book is NOT for little kids. It should be compulsory reading for middle- and high-school students; adults can learn from it too. 

Sís used maps, cartoon caricatures of Russian leaders, timelines, photographs of himself and his drawings, black and white panels with sprinkles of red, journal entries from his diary growing up, and a cartoon style to tell the story of his life behind the Iron Curtain. 

https://i0.wp.com/thispicturebooklife.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/Screen-Shot-2014-02-26-at-11.39.24-AM.png

Each page tells a different part of his story in a different way. Sís saved full color for the joyous, exciting part of his life in 1968:

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But besides all of the amazing ways that Sís found to tell and illustrate this story, there's the story itself. Written in the third person, Sís shows what it was like growing up an artist (and teenage free thinker and music lover) in Prague under communist control. 

He writes of himself as a teenager, "He was painting dreams...and then nightmares. The dreams could be kept to himself, but the drawings could be used against him. He stopped drawing and was left with only his dreams. But he had to draw. Sharing the dreams gave him hope."

Not only is this thin book an amazing pictorial tutorial about life during the Cold War and how the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989 led to the collapse of the Communist system, but it shows the pernicious effects of brainwashing--something I plan to tackle in NIGHTMARE IN NUREMBERG.

By the way, the wall came down only a little over thirty years ago. Hard to believe, isn't it?

For more great middle-grade book reviews, make sure you stop by Greg Pattridge's ALWAYS IN THE MIDDLE blog.

What's Next?

 Six weeks ago, I shared my excitement that HALF-TRUTHS was finally on submission. At that point, the answer to the question, "What's Next?" was to query agents and editors. For those of you who are writers, you know that process can take a long time. Agents and editors are backed up and although I've sent the full manuscript in response to a few requests, it can still be months before I hear back from anyone.

Meanwhile, the best antidote to obsessively checking my email is to get busy with a new project. Without further ado, I want to introduce you to my next WIP (Work in Progress) a middle-grade graphic novel that I've tentatively titled ESCAPE FROM NURENBERG. The story is based loosely on my father's and grandfather's experiences in Germany from 1935 to 1938.

When my parents died, I became the keeper of their papers. These included an assortment of documents and photographs. There were several versions of my father's autobiography, personal letters, my grandfather's report cards from medical school in the early part of the 20th century (that a friend translated), and a speech he gave to doctors in Ohio after he immigrated to the United States. 

My father, Henry Federlin, is on the left. He is standing with
 his mother Elsie and his father Sigmund.
Circa 1945

As I looked through these precious documents and pictures I wondered if there was a story that I could write. I usually answered that question with "no" because there are already so many Holocaust stories for kids. But there was one unique event in my grandfather's life that occurred before he left Germany. It wasn't a story by itself. But maybe it was the ending. And when I thought about my father's account of how he was bullied in the public school I thought--that could be the beginning. 

All I needed was the middle.

I made a note to myself in my phone:

• Learn how to use Scrivener for writing a script.
• Learn how to write a graphic novel.
• Learn what was happening in Germany during this time period.
• Come up with a story arc. 

In the last six weeks, I've done all four.

SCRIVENER

Based on what I read online, Scrivener's scriptwriting program was ideal for writing a graphic novel. The only problem was that I had no idea how to write a script! Fortunately, I found a ton of images and tutorials online and within the Scrivener software itself. Since I learn better by trying my hand at something rather than reading about it, I jumped in and created a project. Like all software there's a learning curve, but I'm getting there. I love keeping track of my research, the story, and images all in one project--with the ability to simultaneously work in two documents:

WHY A GRAPHIC NOVEL?

I spent 16 years writing HALF-TRUTHS and I wanted a break from that form of storytelling. I also asked the KidLit 411 Facebook group how to tell if an idea was better suited for a "regular" novel or for a graphic novel. I tagged Kirsten W. Larson and she responded, "I would think about the visual possibilities for your story. Like picture books, graphic novels are visually driven. You have to ask yourself the same questions about whether you have scenes that are visually interesting and distinct from each other." Since I was already picturing the action in many of the scenes, I thought I was on the right track. 

This blog post describes the process that I stumbled into. A graphic novelist imagines each panel as the reader will encounter it.  Kirsten Larson told me that the process of "paneling" takes time. I believe it. Imagining what will be shown on a page of panels can easily take hours of research. 

I'm also studying graphic novels and seeing how the author employs transitions, and shows dialogue, captions, and narrative information. As I did with HALF-TRUTHS, I'll be reviewing some of these books here. 

LEARN ABOUT GERMANY

I'm a hands-on learner. Whereas some novelists may choose to research and then write, I prefer to jump in, learn, save new information, and incorporate it into my WIP.

Although my parents were both born in Germany and had family who died in the Holocaust, by the time my brother and sister were born in 1950, my parents were ready to put those events in the past. I came along three years later and my parents rarely talked to any of us about their childhood growing up in Germany. My best friend's mother had a tattoo on her arm from being in a concentration camp--but we never talked about it. I knew the names of the cities where my parents grew up, but it wasn't until I was an adult, that my father started sharing some of his experiences before leaving Nuremberg. 

Fortunately for my siblings and I, my father composed several short, type-written autobiographies. My mother's memory wasn't as good as my father's, but I interviewed her a few times and have some glimpses of her life as a child in Speyer.

I'm embarrassed to admit it, but I knew only a thimbleful of information about the Holocaust. I am rapidly rectifying that situation through books and amazing websites like the United States Holocaust Museum with information such as this about children. When I enter various museum websites it's like diving into a deep hole. I go from link to link and come back to Scrivener having forgotten what I was looking for. 

When my dad told me he grew up in Nuremberg, I didn't realize how Hitler used that centrally-located city as his propaganda launching pad. Not only did it have a huge park that Hitler transformed into his political Rally grounds, his antisemitic follower Julius Streicher, published the virulent Der Stürmer newspaper there. 

This is what my father had to say about Striecher:

"My public elementary school was right across the street from an anti-Semitic weekly newspaper, Der Stürmer published by one of Hitler's favorite cronies, Julius Streicher, Nazi boss of Franconia, a noted pervert and one of the most unsavory characters in the Third Reich."

As I pictured my father attending school across the street from a widely-read tool of Nazi propaganda--my story became more real. 

A group of young German boys view Der Stürmer, Die Woche, and other propaganda posters that are posted on a fence in Berlin. ——US Holocaust Memorial Museum, courtesy of Julien Bryan Archive

THE STORY

I had story nuggets for the beginning and the end but I didn't know what was going to happen from Point A to Point Z.  My unofficial "research assistant," my sister Barbara Federlin, and I brainstormed possibilities.  The more I read, researched, and imagined what my father's and grandparents' lives were in Nuremberg, the more a story began to take shape.

Fifteen years ago I toured Nuremberg with
my oldest daughter, Lisa, and my husband.
We visited the medieval city and saw the street
where my father grew up. These images help construct my story too.

WHAT'S NEXT?

Kirsten W. Larson is mentoring me as I plunge into the graphic novel world. I took a webinar with her last year which convinced me that the Kidlit publishing world is wide open to this genre. She encouraged me to create a synopsis using this template. You can use it at any step of your writing process. Filling it out even if your WIP is not a graphic novel and even if it might change, will help you imagine your entire story arc.

Thanks for joining me on my next writing journey. I'll be sure to let you know what happens next. 

                                                ****

GIVEAWAY NEWS

Congratulations to Becky Scharnhorst who won THREE CANADIAN PIGS and to Marci Whitehurst who won GOOD MORNING, SUNSHINE. Thanks to everyone who entered. Stay tuned for more contests--I have a stack of books to review and give away!

GIRL ON FIRE: A Graphic Novel Review by Guest Blogger, Elliott Kurta

Written by a Grammy-winning musician, Girl on Fire is Alicia Keys’ latest project. Aimed at mature middle-schoolers, this graphic novel is a good book for easing students into heavier reading with more complex themes. The book is illustrated by Brittney Williams. 

            Girl on Fire stars Lolo Wright, a Black girl who lives in the Monroe Housing Projects. Lolo thinks she’s normal, albeit smarter than all her classmates, until a police officer assaults her brother. Before even Lolo knows what she’s doing, the police officer is floating above the ground. Lolo discovers she has the ability to lift and manipulate objects, including people. Soon, she’s bombarded with visions of a classmate and former friend, Michael Warner. As Lolo and her family come to terms with her new powers, a powerful drug dealer, Skin, tries to enlist Lolo so that he can use her abilities. Michael has already started working for Skin, and he’s put in charge of bullying Lolo’s family so that Lolo will fall in line with Skin’s orders. With so many variables, Lolo knows that it’s up to her to make sure that her family and friends are protected. Will she succeed in keeping her family safe, or will the pressure be too much for her?

            Although there are some redeeming qualities to this book, for the most part, it reads like a bad publicity stunt. Each chapter, and even the title of the book, all share names with an Alicia Keys song. The book even ends with a verse from the song Girl on Fire. Aside from the branding involved in her book, Alicia Keys also creates a plot that both overwhelms and leaves something to be desired. Lolo Wright is a normal girl who’s trying to make a better life for herself. While battling drug dealers. And handling her new superpowers. And dealing with the sudden reappearance of her mother. In between standing up for herself to the school bullies and realizing it’s okay to be smart and confident in yourself. Plus, she has a love interest, as does her brother. Even with all of these concurrent plot lines, the ending is a bit of a Deus Ex Machina, and Lolo doesn’t progress much as a character. Various themes are introduced, then dropped, leaving many questions to be answered. For example, Lolo’s connection with Michael is never fully explained. There are also various disposable characters that serve no real purpose other than to add “depth” to the story.

            Even though this novel is written for middle schoolers, this graphic novel is an awfully graphic novel. There are drug dealers, murders, various explosions, and four near-death experiences. Lolo Wright and her family, especially her brother and father, go through a lot of bad experiences over the course of the book. High schoolers might be better suited to this book, or at least rising high schoolers.

            Plot holes aside, Girl on Fire ultimately tells a story of perseverance. Lolo Wright stands her ground and sticks to her morals and earns the ending she deserves. The theme of this book is to push through and do things the right way, even if that takes more time and effort. Even with the darker and less appropriate elements found in this story, the message behind it all is moving and empowering. And although readers may be consistently left a bit confused, they’ll certainly be able to relate to the characters in the story. Lolo and her friends and family all have realistic dialogue that stays appropriate for the ages of their characters. Lolo’s self-consciousness, her father’s values, and her friend Nia’s peppy attitude all shine through their words and actions.

            In conclusion, Girl on Fire has its share of flaws, but behind it all is a moving story. The novel is ridden with drug dealers and violence, but part of what makes this novel so graphic is the realistic characters and what befalls them. For mature Alicia Keys fans, Girl on Fire is a good introduction to darker themes for rising high schoolers. The illustrations in this book will draw readers in, but the realistic topics and characters will be what hook them.

Elliott is a prolific reader of various genres 
who is more than happy to share his opinions on books.
 In his free time, he enjoys writing, reading, and running. 
He is a 9th-grade student in Charlotte, NC. 

Don't forget to check out Greg Partridge's Always in the Middle blog on Monday with lots more MG books!

Congratulations to Connie Saunders who won MY HANDS TELL A STORY. 

Mr. Puffball: Stunt Cat Across America- A Review and TWO Giveaways!

Some of you may remember when I featured NC author, Constance Lombardo, and her debut graphic novel, Mr Puffball: Stunt Cat to the Stars. I'm happy to report that the sequel, Mr. Puffball: Stunt Cat Across America is being released on September 27 by Harper Collins. So, for all you Constance Lombardo fans, here's the scoop on Mr. P's next adventure!

Mr. Puffball has a problem. He's tired of suffering burns, bruises, frost-bite, and all manner of stunt-cat injuries to his pride and person.  He is itching to do more. So when his friend and mega-movie star El Gato wants Mr. P. to co-star in a buddy movie with him--he can't refuse. 

Figuring that their movie will be his ticket to stardom, he is ready to start filming when El Gato informs him that they don't have the cash they need for a director, costumes, extras...well, just about everything. Turned down by the head honchos of Purramuont Studios in favor of Jude Claw and Benedict Cumbercat, Mr. P. decides to take the bull by the horns (or maybe the tiger by its tail?). He and El Gato will make a demo reel that outshines Cumbercat's and show Purramount who they should hire to star in Mac and Cheesy's Excellent Adventure.

Cue Mr. Puffball.

Mr. P. and El Gato, along with their friend Rosie as the director, set off across America on their Cross-Country Road Trip Demo Reel Adventure.

Even though Mr. P. wants to shed his stunt-cat identity, young readers will applaud his courage as he outwits hobos in Las Vegas,  jumps through fire at the Cirque de Soleil, and rescues Pickles, the adorable kitten who has joined them, from drowning in the Colorado River. In typical Mr. Puffball fashion, he doesn't always understand how courageous he's been until Rosie gets her footage and they're on the road to their next destination. 

Pickles makes his debut!

Constance brings all the characters to life through her animated drawings as well as through the voice of the characters. Besides Mr. P. himself, one of my favorites is Bruiser, the Russian stunt cat who trained Mr. P. Early in the story he flies into the hobo camp from a passing train exclaiming, "Looking out Below!" When he lands on his paws after a perfect flip he says, "Mr. Puffyball! How you here?" From that moment on, his voice is heard as he travels across America--often saving Mr. P. from disaster. 

I don't want to spoil the story, so you'll have to get your own copy to read about all the crazy adventures the crew has on their way across America.

Constance and I are giving you two chances to win her latest Mr. Puffball creation. I have my autographed ARC to give away and she will send an autographed book to another winner. Leave me a comment by September 16 and I'll enter your name in this double giveaway.  Share on your social media of choice and/or become a new follower of my blog and I'll give you an extra chance to win; just make sure you leave me your email address and tell me what you did. This book will definitely entertain the 3-7th grade reader in your life.

PLUS: If you live near Asheville, NC, Constance's book launch is at Malaprop's Bookstore on October 8.

In case you're new to Mr. Puffball's adventures, here is how it all began:


And yes, there will be a third Mr. Puffball book in early 2018! Hooray!

Mr. Puffball: Stunt Cat to the Stars -- A Review and ARC GIveaway

Hands (or I should say paws) down, Constance Lombardo’s love for all things feline shine through her fun illustrations and text in Mr. Puffball: Stunt Cat to the Stars, an entertaining graphic novel for readers from grades 3-7. Constance admits that Mr. Puffball is a mix of all the cats she’s ever loved.  “Cats have funny, pensive faces, come in so many different colors, stripes, patches, etc. I can't look at a cat without imagining a speech bubble. They've got lots of personality and like to do their own thing and most of them do want to be movie stars!” 

Mr. Puffball’s egotistic-yet-adorable voice is communicated in the opening lines. “My name is Mr. Puffball, and this is my story. It all started in a little town called New Jersey, home to such famous American landmarks as my house.”

His life is changed forever when he sees the movie, Cow-Cats & Aliens starring El Gato. From that moment on, this precocious kitten decides he must become a movie star. Despite nay-sayers among his siblings, his mother fuels his dream by telling him about his great-grandmother Zelda, a star in Cleocatra meets The Mummy.

That’s all the inspiration Mr. Puffball needs. With his tiny replica of Mr. Gato tucked into a cloth waistband and a newspaper ad for a movie audition for The Great Catsby, Mr. Puffball leaves for Hollywood and sends postcards home to his mother. 

Having just experienced a recent close run-in with Kansas tornadoes, I appreciated this illustration:

Unfortunately, fame and fortune don’t come as easily as expected. Metro-Olden Meower studios is closed and Mr. Puffball is twenty years late for the audition. His audition at Purramount Studios falls flat. But when Chester Grumpus (the producer of such great movies as The Sound of Meowsic and Attack of the 50 Foot She-Cat) takes him under his wing (err…his paw), Mr. Puffball meets three friends who help get his career off the ground.

Despite his excellent audition in Nine Lives to Live, Mr. Puffball only receives a part as an extra. Nine Lives is “a classic western with handsome heroes, sinister villains, and old-fashioned rattlesnakes… [the hero] El Gato is after Billy the Kitten, who square-danced with El Gato’s one true love, Veronica, even though she prefers ballroom...They steal Billy the Kitten’s ten-gallon hat, which turns out to only hold five gallons. Laughing about their misadventure, El Gato and Veronica ride into the sunset where they hope to open a hotel with a water slide.” (p. 96)

Determined to make El Gato notice him, Mr. Puffball lands himself a job as his stunt cat and becomes Bruiser’s prodigy: “Ride bad-temper horse now! Going backward! Faster! Don’t fall or you be trampled. See what I tell you?” (Hmm… Wonder whose dialogue Constance mimicked here?)

Hilarious scenes ensue that both children and adults will enjoy. Mr. Puffball rides in El Gato’s limousine equipped not only with cup holders and a mini fridge, but also a climbing wall and catnip. At a night out at the Brown Tabby, he eats fish tacos, plays with Wacky String, and meets Rosie, a (cute!) fellow Kung Fu Kitty.

Although the illustrations will draw readers in, the "a-hero-isn’t-always-who-he-appear-to-be" plot is clever and inspirational. Mr. Puffball’s adventure culminates at the opening night of Nine Lives.

Constance finishes the story with a flourish, a flash-mob, and a glossary that made me laugh out loud. I can't wait for the sequel--fortunately, she is already working on it. Constance writes, “In the next two books, Mr. Puffball will continue pursuing his biggest dream: to be a movie star! Wherever he may travel, whatever television, modeling, stunt or corporate work he takes on, he always keeps his eyes on the Oscar!” 

I don’t want to spoil this book for you. Let me suggest you catapult this book onto your “to be read list” and discover a catacophony of puns and a memorable story about a remarkable tabby cat. One way to support debut authors is by pre-ordering their books. I’m pre-ordering two copies of Mr. Puffball, one for each set of my grandkids. I bet you also know a girl or boy who would cheer Mr. Puffball on his journey to fame and fortune.

To enter to win an autographed copy of my well-loved ARC, please leave me a comment along with your email address if you’re new to my blog. Tag me on Twitter (cbaldwinCarol) or Facebook (Carol Federlin Baldwin) or become a new follower, and I’ll enter your name for each one. Random.org will pick a winner on May 7.