Darth Vader and Son

Today I will be reviewing a book that I'm sure you've all heard of. It's Darth Vader and Son by Jeffrey Brown. I read this book before it was cool. It's basically a compilation of really good one panel comic strips. Each one is usually Darth Vader reprimanding a 4 year old Luke Skywalker for doing something that little kids do like drawing on the wall or something. Sometimes it's just Luke asking Darth Vader a question he can't answer (like where do babies come from). I personally love the way that Darth Vader is turned into a responsible father and Luke is turned into a little 4 year old child.

There aren't any scenes in this book. But a panel I like takes place in the scene on Endor where a bunch of storm troopers are outside of the metal station thing and Luke talks to them through the window, except this time Luke is telling them that his dad tells him not to talk to strangers. I love this panel because it made me laugh so hard the first time I read it. I think it's the funniest panel in the entire book.

The drawing style in this book is the same as all of Jeffery Brown's other work. Very pencily. I loved this style in his other books and I love it now. I'm pretty sure that it was drawn with colored pencil. But I have a signed copy with a hand drawn picture and he used a marker to draw it so he could have used a marker to draw the book.

Darth Vader and Son Is completely appropriate for all ages. I'm sure that anyone with a good sense of humor can enjoy it. If you haven't seen the Star Wars movies there will be some references you won't understand, but I'm sure that won't be an issue. I also forgot to mention that there is a sequel to Darth Vader and Son called Vader's Little Princess, which is the same as Darth Vader and Son, but with a teenage Princess Leia. I think that Darth Vader and Son is the best adaptation of Star Wars to date and I would give it 91/2 toddler Luke Skywalkers out of 10.

Mercury

Today I will be telling you about a great book, Mercury, by Hope Larson. The plot of Mercury is extremely complicated. It's about a 15-year-old girl named Tara whose house burned down so she goes to live with her aunt, uncle and cousin. She meets a boy she likes and joins a cross-country running team. Something that kept me interested in the story is how every now and then, the setting will change to the house that burned down, but in 1859. When this happens, the main focus is on an ancestor of Tara's named Josephine who is also 15 at the time. Toward the middle of the book, Tara finds out that there is gold on her family's land that was left by Josephine.

This book had a lot of really good gripping scenes. One of them is a scene where Tara finds the gold. She and her friends are digging for the treasure when they find a small tunnel filled with snakes. She goes down into the tunnel using her phone as a flashlight to find a skeleton with a bag of gold in its ribcage. I really like this scene because it turns the plain, small town story into an epic treasure hunting story.

The drawing style in this book is very soft. It uses very thick wavy lines and I'm pretty sure that it was drawn with a paintbrush or a marker or something like that. The way the eyes are drawn is very pretty. They're big and shiny. I also like how Tara looks like a short-haired version of Josephine. It makes their bloodline connection seem even stronger.

I think that Mercury is appropriate for all ages, but I also think that less mature audiences might not enjoy it because the storyline is a little complicated. If you can take a complex story, you will love Mercury. I would give mercury 8 bags of gold out of 10.  

Andre The Giant

 I'm sure you've all heard of the famous pro wrestler Andre The Giant, he was a pro wrestler back in the 80's with giantism for those of you who don't. But did you know that there's a new graphic novel called Andre The Giant by Box Brown? It's a complete biography of Andre The Giant's life from age 12 to age dead. It even incorporates the time he spent working as a cast member on The Princess Bride.

One of the best scenes in the book is when Andre is twelve and a friend of his father's is driving him to school. The friend obviously thinks Andre is a lot older than he is. Since the friend doesn't realize that Andre is only twelve, he asks Andre if he wants a cigarette. This is the first time I've ever read about a twelve year old being mistaken for an adult. I really understood the comedic direction the book was going after this scene.

I don't think that the Andre The Giant in the book looks like the real Andre The Giant, but it's ok because I think he's supposed to look cartoonish. I really like the cartoony style. It's simple yet pleasing to the eye. When he's holding bottles that are dwarfed in comparison to his hand it shows you what everyday life is like for him. The simple art helps you concentrate on the main focus of the picture, unlike a picture that shows every detail of a setting. 

I think this book is appropriate for all ages, but I think only ages 12 and above would enjoy or

understand what's going on. I enjoyed reading this book immensely. I think it was fun, interesting and educational ;). I would give Andre The Giant 7 pro wrestlers out of 1

War Brothers

Today I'm going to be reviewing a very sad book about the child soldiers in Uganda. The name of this book is War Brothers by Sharon E. McKay and Daniel Lafrance. It's about a Ugandan boy named Jacob who is abducted by the LRA, aka the Lord's Resistance Army, and forced to become a child soldier. The rest of the book is about the horrors that he sees and how he escapes. There are very depressing parts as well as very touching parts. It's one of those books that makes you feel really grateful that you live where you live.

The art in this book looks something like the art style in The Walking Dead but with color. Whenever Jacob is at home, the pages around the panels are white. Whenever Jacob is in the LRA camp, the pages around the panels are black. This really helps to convey the level of danger the characters are in. When they're at home they're relatively safe, but when they're with the LRA they have so many dangers to face. I also really like how well the art conveys emotion. When characters are scared, they're really scared, when characters are happy, they're really happy, and when they're guilty, you can feel their regret.

A scene I really like is a scene where Jacob is at his home talking to his friend, Tony, about how their boarding school is getting a lot more guards because the school board had heard that the LRA had been abducting children and turning them into soldiers. It's clear that Jacob and Tony don't know the full story, but also that they know more than the adults tell them. It really explains how dire the situation is and how much fear it brings them. What really makes this scene work is how the previous scene takes place with the LRA attacking a truck full of schoolchildren.

This book is most certainly not appropriate for all ages. It is extremely violent. It has scenes of soldiers killing children and parents. The violence is more implied than explicit but it is is still very much there. If it was a movie it would definitely get a PG-13  rating, maybe even an R. I would suggest this book for ages 13 and up. Even though it is very violent, it's also very good and I enjoyed it thoroughly. I would give War Brothers 8 stars out of 10. 

Monster on The Hill

Today I'm going to review a book called Monster on the Hill by Rob Harrell. It takes place in a world where all the towns have monsters that attack regularly. Instead of the monsters being a bad thing, they're more like tourist attractions, but in one town the monster hasn't attacked in seven years. So the town sends a professor named Dr. Wilkie to "fix" the monster. It turns out that the monster, Rayburn, is severely depressed and unconfident. Rayburn says that he used to know a monster named Tentaculor who might be able to help him with his self esteem. They travel to the town that Tentaculor has terrorized for years. Rayburn tells him how long it's been since he attacked. Tentacular explains to them that there is a monster called The Murk who destroys towns without a monster, and since Rayburn hasn't terrorized his town, The Murk will think the town has no monster. So the race is on to get Rayburn's confidence back so that he can save the town.

I really like a scene where Dr. Wilkie first finds Rayburn. You're expecting

a horrible monster to come out of the cave and attack the professor, but what does come out is this puny, skinny, sleepy, pathetic excuse for a monster. I really like how this scene really establishes the main character in such a simple way. You know what they say, one picture tells a thousand words.

The art in this book is phenomenal. It looks like a modern adaptation of Dr. Seuss. It's very colorful and inventive. I love how Tentaculor looks. Half the time I don't even know if his eyes are eyes. Sometimes I think they're his nostrils. I don't know if this was deliberate or not, but I love it. The humans really look like Dr. Seuss characters, with big eyes and no lips.

Monster on the Hill feels like a children's book to me. Monster on the Hill is perfectly appropriate for all audiences. There are no really controversial scenes in it and I think it can be enjoyed by all. If you feel too mature to read a little kiddie's book every once in a while, then this one's not for you. But if you're actually mature and you know a good book when you see one, then this is definitely for you. I would give Monster on the Hill four and a half monster souvenirs out of five.