#ComicsWednesday: Steven Universe: Too Cool for School by Ian Jones-Quartey, Jeremy Sorese, Asia Kendrick-Horton, & Rachel Dukes

Steven Universe is one of the many cartoons for kids that has won over teens and adults as well as little ones. This graphic novelization explores the friendship between Steven and Connie, and answers the question "Why doesn't Steven go to school?" If you're a fan of the show, I'm sure you have already figured out why.

I won't bother trying to explain Steven Universe to the uninitiated. Like a lot of modern cartoons, it manages to be both simple and complex. Let's focus, instead, on this graphic novel. Steven Universe: Too Cool for School was delightful. I already love Steven Universe so I am a tiny bit biased. However, Ian Jones-Quartey and Jeremy Sorese did a great job with the story. Asia Kendrick-Horton and Rachel Dukes captured the artistic style of the show perfectly.

Steven is bored one morning, and decides to tag along to school with his best human friend Connie. At first, things are going pretty well, but when Steven's home life follows him to school, only Steven, Connie, and the Crystal Gems can set things mostly right. The plot is simple, but the characters and story are engaging and fun.

You don't have to be a fan of the show to enjoy this graphic novel. I would recommend it to anyone who enjoys Adventure Time, Bee & Puppycat, or Bravest Warriors. This book includes enough ridiculousness and silly jokes that it could be enjoyed by anyone. But you should really watch the show. (Seriously, do it.)

- Libby, Youth Services

Staff Review: The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas

The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas has been one of the most highly anticipated debut novels of 2017, and it's a YA novel at that. Don't let that deter you from reading it, though, because it has a powerful message that everyone should hear. This novel has been billed as "inspired by the Black Lives Matter movement" and comes out of the We Need Diverse Books and #OwnVoices campaigns. It's timely and relatable; in turns funny and sad.

16 year old Starr Carter lives a double life. Half of her time is spent in her mostly white, rich, suburban private school, and the other half is spent in the poor, black neighborhood she grew up in. Her friends from school (especially her white boyfriend, Chris) will never truly understand her family or the people from her neighborhood, so she keeps them separate. Starr thinks she has found balance between these two lives, until she witnesses her childhood friend Khalil being fatally shot by a police officer. Everyone wants to know what really happened that night, and Starr is the only person who can tell that story.

As the case becomes a national headline, the pressure is on Starr. She has to decide between doing what's right by Khalil, and keeping herself and her family safe. Her feelings about her neighborhood, the police force, and her friends at school, are all challenged.

I loved this book. It didn't feel like a lecture about compassion, but the message came across just the same. Personally, this was the best YA book I've read so far this year, and I don't think anything is going to top it. As a reader, you relate to Starr no matter what your skin color is, or where you grew up. Starr is real; she is someone you want to be friends with. Even the side characters like Starr's boyfriend Chris, her police detective Uncle Carlos, her friend Kenya, and Starr's parents are all fully realized characters. Thomas's writing is masterful.

John Green had this to say about The Hate U Give: “Angie Thomas has written a stunning, brilliant, gut-wrenching novel that will be remembered as a classic of our time.”

I couldn't agree more.

-Libby, Youth Services

If you like The Hate U Give, check out:

All American Boys by Jason Reynolds
How It Went Down by Kekla Magoon
Black and White by Paul Volponi
Monster by Walter Dean Myers
Rest in Power by Sybrina Fulton and Tracy Martin

Follow Angie Thomas on twitter!

#ComicsWednesday: Mooncop by Tom Gauld

Someone probably already said this, but Mooncop by Tom Gauld is The Little Prince of our times.

Like The Little Prince, this new, tiny book is elegant and beautiful. It expresses in a few short pages what it means to be human, not only in an imagined future where we fly through space and colonize the moon, but in the present, at this very moment.

Mooncop is sad and lovely. Don't let it slip by!

~Mike, Adult Services

Staff Review: Sweetbitter by Stephanie Danler

Sweetbitter by Stephanie Danler is not the sort of book I normally read, but my daughter works in the restaurant business, so we decided to read it together. She read a paper copy and I listened to audio. This novel earned its young debut-author a six-figure advance but it's meeting with mixed reviews; critics are swooning but readers aren't so smitten: on Goodreads, they're more inclined to three stars.

Sweetbitter tells the story of Tess, a 22-year-old Midwesterner who, in 2006, leaves home to move, solo, to New York City, where she quickly lands a back-waiter position at one of New York's most prestigious restaurants (a loosely disguised Union Square Café).

What follows is the narrative of her exhilarating, heartbreaking, exhausting, energizing new life. There's a great deal of food and wine talk, lots and lots of drugs, and a generous helping of sex. Foodies will enjoy the book for the truffles, figs, and oysters alone. It's the alcohol- and drug-fueled decadence that seems to turn some readers off, but my daughter confirms that the lifestyle Danler depicts is spot-on for many in the industry.

Sweetbitter looks, and occasionally reads, like a nice bit of fluff, but the novel is more than a beach book. It's got some meat on its bones. For one thing, Danler can write and she has a wonderful eye for the telling detail, whether it's the look, smell, and feel of a rapidly altering New York City or the devastating after-effects of an over-the-top binge. The rigors of restaurant work are nicely drawn too, and we get a genuine feel for staff camaraderie, liaisons, and clashes, the flawless nights of almost-choreographed service and the nights that are slapstick fiascos.

I found the book's ending to be something of a disappointment. That aside, what impressed me most about the book is the author's psychological acuity. She describes her character's loneliness in the vast, churning city, or her sudden recognition of the shallowness of her staff friendships, and the reader feels these things too. For all her callow youth, Tess's observations are often wise beyond her years and it's a testament to the author that they so often ring true.

Audio Notes: the audiobook narrator takes a little getting used to --  her voice is husky, characterized by what reviewers call "vocal fry," but once I adjusted, I enjoyed her nuanced reading. She's great with accents too and has some fun with southern, Bronx, and heavy Russian ones. 

~Ann, Adult Services

#ComicsWednesday: The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl Vol. 1 by Ryan North, Erica Henderson, & Rico Renzi

I love everything about Squirrel Girl. Just getting it out of the way, this is definitely not an unbiased review. She is my favorite superhero, hands down. I want to be her best friend.

All that aside, this hardcover collection of the first eight issues of The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl is absolutely delightful. Ryan North (Dinosaur Comics, Romeo and/or Juliet) has created a funny, strong, smart hero in Doreen Green, a.k.a. the Unbeatable Squirrel Girl. A human girl with the proportional strength and speed of a squirrel, and also a large squirrel tail that she stuffs into her pants to be less conspicuous. Armed with her wits, her kick-butt abilities, her best friend the squirrel Tippy Toe, her awesome friend and roommate Nancy, and Deadpool's Guide to Super Villain cards, Squirrel Girl can beat anyone. She's unbeatable. In addition, North adds some informational running commentary at the bottom of each page.

Erica Henderson and Rico Renzi (Spider-Gwen, Howard the Duck) give us amazing art and coloring, a fresh take on the traditional comic style. The characters look realistic, and Squirrel Girl's outfit is practical - function over fashion. There are digressions into Squirrel Girl's "past" that are presented as classic comics. These comics are illustrated in that recognizable comic style of yesteryear. They are ridiculous (in a good way), and feature Squirrel Girl meeting Iron Man for the first time, and teaming up with Captain America.


Read this if you like Lumberjanes, Bee and Puppycat, Deadpool, or any number of other irreverent and weird comics. This is a great starter for new comic readers, young and old alike.

Squirrel Girl is an awesome role model for younger readers. She's going to college for computer science, she's body-positive, she's funny and confident. She has her own theme song (which is sung to the tune of the Spider-man theme). She talks to squirrels. She's here to eat nuts and kick butts, and she's all out of nuts.

- Libby, Youth Services

Staff Review: Tiny Hats on Cats by Adam Ellis

Last summer I put together a blog post highlighting some of our quirkier books for cat lovers. I should've recognized it as a warning sign because in October, I adopted a cat. I am now an official cat-owning librarian cliché. But look at this sweet face!

How could I say no?

Dexter (yes, he is named after the fictional serial killer) is a wonderful cat, but you might've noticed the Cone of Shame in his picture. No one has been happy with the (temporary) necessity of the Cone of Shame. It's both annoying and unfashionable, but it did remind me of that cat lover book list and one particular title on the list: Tiny Hats on Cats by Adam Ellis

Yes! This book will guide you in the crafting of tiny paper hats for your feline friends. Obviously, Dexter and I had to get in on this. So we gathered our supplies and got to work!

We decided to start with a simple top hat design. A real classic. The book provides patterns and directions for several basic shapes that can be combined in different ways to make different styles of hats. There are even tips on sizing the tiny hats to better perch on your cat's head. In this, my first attempt, I made a hat slightly too large for Dexter's dainty noggin.

I recommend crafting your hat in a room without your cat. Both to maintain the surprise and joy your cat will feel when presented with your finished hat, and because cats are naturally curious about what it is you are doing, yet completely unable to understand phrases like "Please don't step on that! The glue is wet!"

In the end we crafted a hat and Dexter was willing to wear it long enough to pose for a picture in exchange for two extra kibbles and extra play time with his favorite catnip mouse.

Do I recommend this book to others? Um, yes. The world needs more pictures of cats (and dogs?) in hats.

~Sarah, Adult Services