Review: LIES MY TEACHER TOLD ME (+Friday56 LinkUp)

Title: Lies My Teacher Told  Me: Everything Your American History Textbooks Got Wrong: A Graphic Adaptation by James W. Loewen and Nate Powell

Summary: In the 1990s James W. Loewen, an American History Professor, published Lies My Teacher Told Me. It was highly regarded, winning both praise and awards. Now in this edition, published in 2024, Loewen has partnered with graphic artist Nate Powell to bring the original back to life with updated information and fantastic illustrations.

Using several American History textbooks currently in use as his examples, Loewen points out why American students are so bored by the subject and find nothing within these textbooks to inform their current situations. Dividing the book into twelve themed chapters he makes a case for truth and honesty about our past and giving students the tools to examine our past to inform our futures.

With the help of one illustration per chapter I shall attempt to summarize the book. Obviously this is just a tiny piece of the book and I encourage you to read it for yourself.

The introduction is very uncomplimentary to the teaching of US history. "History is the only field in which the more courses students take the stupider they become." Ouch. Yet, of all subjects it is the most dependent on textbooks.

 

Ch. 1, American Heroes -- Loewen starts off with a bang. He talks about how we make people into heroes (Betsy Ross, Rosa Parks, Helen Keller) without teaching anything about these individuals and what they actually did to deserve our attention. I proved his point when I had a conversation with an adult not long ago and ask why was Helen Keller an American Hero. The person replied "because she was deaf and blind yet she learned to read and write." That is all we know about her. Not that she was a remarkable person concerned about inequality and how impoverished persons did not have access to health care and other services she had at her avail. She spoke out publicly and wrote about these types of issues. 

Ch. 2, The True Importance of Christopher Columbus -- Up until recently we have made Columbus a hero by saying he discovered America. This idea completely discounts Indigenous people that lived here. It also makes him into a hero even though he was very ruthless in his approach to these people. When we removed Columbus Day or renamed it to Indigenous People's Day many celebrated, but some insist of that Columbus is a hero and think his holiday should be restored.

Ch. 3, The First Thanksgiving. We like to think that colonists and Indigenous folks held hands and enjoyed peace right from the start. Unfortunately this is far from the truth.

Ch. 4, Read Eyes -- Deciding who is civilized and who is not based on a Euro-Centric notion. "What we have done to the peoples who were living in North America is our ORIGNIAL SIN." -Sol Tax, anthropologist.

Ch 5, The Invisibility of Racism in textbooks -- This amounts to early forms of anti-woke publishing. Because something is bad, will make people feel uncomfortable, or controversial, leave it out. Ch 6, John Brown and Abraham Lincoln -- John Brown, a white man who was killed for trying to save slaves has gone through a revisionist history. He is portrayed a mentally ill in the textbooks rather than a man who was very concerned about the way slavery considered Black people as subhuman. Don't like something a person does or says? They must be crazy.

Ch. 7, the Land of Opportunity for some -- Though we tell each other we are a classless society that is not true. "We want one class of persons to have a liberal education and we want another class of persons -- a very much larger class of necessity in every society -- to forego the privilege of liberal education and fit themselves to perform specific manual tasks." Woodrow Wilson. Oh boy, are we ever living through this today with Trump politics.

Ch. 8, What the Federal Government is doing and has done -- We hold ourselves up as good paragons of justice in the world, yet reading the above examples, one has to wonder. "As long as you are convinced you have never done anything, you can never do anything." - Malcolm X. Think about the way we recently bombed Iran. For what?

Ch. 9, The Vietnam War -- Most textbooks spend about as much coverage of the Vietnam War as they do covering the War of 1812. Why? Because we didn't win this war so we can't tell ourselves we were heroes?

Ch. 10, Ignoring the recent past -- What can be learned by studying the Civil Rights Movement, 9-11, the War in Iraq, climate change, pandemics, or the impact of A.I? A ton!

Ch. 11, History and the future -- Shouldn't we study the past to help inform our future? That isn't what most should textbooks do?

Ch. 12, Does this way of teaching work? Imagine being a student today and getting ahold of this book in your school library. You read it as your teacher is following the curriculum as set by the textbook. Wouldn't you be angry as you notice the book skips climate change, says next-to nothing about the Black Lives Matter movement, glorifies Betsy Ross who really didn't make the American flag, downplays George Washing and Thomas Jefferson's owning of slave, etc.?

Afterward: Honestly, don't we want a citizenry that knows how to learn and to think for themselves. Shouldn't that be the goal of education?

Review: "Every teacher, every student of history, every citizen should red this book." - Howard Zinn. I feel the same way. Unfortunately, the book is also quite overwhelming. Most of the points I was aware of, but not all. I had a really terrible experience in high school and didn't even take an American history class, somehow escaping it in the experimental 1970s. So I didn't realize to what extent information was altered or left out of textbooks. I knew Christopher Columbus wasn't a hero, yet I hadn't realized what a tyrant he was, for example. As I read each chapter I found myself angry and angrier so I had to read slowly and take breaks. I even had to skim some of the chapters just to save my sanity. I've been working on this book almost all summer. But I finished and I still want everyone to read it. My rating of 4 stars reflects the value of the book and how difficult I found it digest.

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-Anne

YA Review: SONG OF A BLACKBIRD

Title: Song of a Blackbird by Maria van Lieshout

Book Beginnings photo of illustrations:

Friday56 photo of illustrations:

Summary: The story starts in Amsterdam in 2011 when Annick is worried about her grandmother who was recently diagnosed with lymphoma. The only cure is a stem cell transplant but when Oma's siblings check to see if they are a match they discover they are not even biological siblings. It is quite a shock. Annick wants to help her Oma figure out her history before it is too late. The only clue she has for a starting spot are the five prints hanging on the wall, all signed by Emma B., one with a note "For Joanna. May these prints keep your story alive."

The story then jumps back in time to April 1943 in Amsterdam where Emma, an art student, lives. As the Nazis ramp up their occupation of The Netherlands, Emma finds herself drawn into resistance work using her art skills to create forged documents. One day she is asked to smuggle two Jewish children, Hanna and Soli, to safety. Their parents were already removed to a concentration camp. The woman, one of their mother's friends, takes the little girl but not the boy. She said he looked too Jewish. Emma has to seek out another situation for the boy and eventually finds him shelter in the Catholic Church with Father Theo. But only if Emma will provide ration cards for Soli and the other boys hiding there.

The story jumps back and forth from 2011 to 1943 as Annick finally finds some clues which may lead Oma to her family of origin. And where we learn of all the work that Emma does in the Dutch Resistance.

Review: Though Song of a Blackbird is a fictional story it is based on real people (or composites of people.) The lives of the real Dutch heroes were highlighted at the end of the book. There really were artists who worked on forging documents, including papers for the biggest bank heist in Dutch history. Women would carry these documents around in fake pregnancy bellies or in strollers because women and children were not under the same scrutiny as men for suspicious activities. Children were smuggled and relocated with Dutch families but usually only the girls, as boys would have to tell-tale circumcision as a sign they were of Jewish heritage. Many of these children were never told of their heritage or knew anything at all about the Jewish culture, robbed first of their parents and secondly their personal history.

I found the book to be very enlightening since I knew very little about the Dutch Resistance during WWII. But I also enjoyed the medium of the book. Artist Maria van Lieshoul used old photographs taken by Resistance photographers in the 1940s for a project called the Underground Camera. The very act of taking a photograph was considered an act of resistance under the Nazis. Using mixed media, Lieshoul would overlay these photos with her illustrations. In the example, below, you see the black and white photo inside a cathedral with her illustrations above. I found this technique very unusual yet it helped give the whole project a sense of authenticity.

Note the illustration of the characters sitting up in the balcony talking.

As a retired teen librarian I still like to read YA books, especially YA nonfiction, every once in a while. I find it very refreshing to read factual, or information based on facts, written in a format for teen readers. All the lengthy boring bits are removed and what is left is just a fascinating story. That is doubly true for graphic novels.

My rating: 4.5 stars

Challenges: 20+ Books of Summer 

-Anne

Review: WATCHMEN

Several months ago I ran into the TIME Magazine list of the 100 best books since the beginning of TIME. (Get it? Since TIME Magazine began as a publication in 1923.)  Then I ran into a video made by Benjamin McEvoy reacting to the top 50 books from the list of 100. "Hmm," I thought, "I didn't know the list was ranked." The titles weren't ranked until Goodreads decided to do so. So the top 50 are the most read and highest regarded books according to Goodreads's algorithm. Among the books on the list, in the 17th spot, is WATCHMEN by Alan Moore.

When I expressed interest in this book several years ago a high school teacher friend warned me Watchmen was full of violence and death. That was enough to squash my interest at the time but when I saw it again on this list -- the best 100 books of the past 100 years! -- I knew time was up, I had to read it.

I've read a ton of graphic novels during my years as a high school librarian and find I quite like the form, so I thought reading Watchmen, the physical reading of the book, would be no problem. I was wrong. Reading comic books and reading graphic novels are different experiences. I figured this out right away. But what is the difference? 

Graphic novels usually consist of one or two volumes and are really just books with lots of illustrations. Comics, on the other hand, tend to be shorter and serialized, published over a period of time. For example, Watchmen was initially published as twelve separate comics by DC comics between Sept. 1986 and Oct. 1987. Information from one comic is worked into the plot of subsequent volumes assuming the reader has read the past material so he/she doesn't need to be brought up to speed. Graphic novels are books and are bound that way. Comics are periodicals and are usually constructed on large pages, folded in half and held together by staples. In the case of Watchmen, most pages were filled with nine frames and each frame often had lots of people, buildings, furniture, etc. to fill the tiny space in addition to the character or characters who were speaking. My brain went into overload quickly. There was so much to take in and just as much to screen out. Yikes.

Watchmen, which is considered a ground-breaking work of genius, examines a group of American Superheroes and their role in altering the history of the country and the world -- for example, America won the Vietnam war, Nixon is still the President, and the Cold War rages on. But this group of superheroes all are plagued by their all-too-human frailties and failings. The book opens with the murder of one superhero which brings on the sinking knowledge that the others in the group may not be safe either.

That sounds pretty straightforward but I was soon lost in the various backstories of each of the heroes, often leaving me to wonder what was happening and who were all these new "people" I hadn't met yet. Then to make matters even more confusing, there's a comic within the comic. I never did figure out how this story within the story factored into the plot. Oh, one more thing: between each of the 12 comics or chapters, several pages of letters or text (not in comic form) break into the narrative. Single spaced, usually, so one more toughie on the old eyes. I'd like to say these "intermissions" helped elucidate things for me, but most of the time I got no more clarity from them than I did from the illustrations. Sigh.

Before I abandoned the book due to frustration I did a little research first and found a few gems which helped me appreciate Watchmen as an art form and as the genre-bender it was (is?). These commentaries made me more determined than ever to finish it. Let me share a few tidbits with you:

David Boyd, writing a review of the book on his blog said,

For me, that is the genius of this book; just how relevant it is to the real world, both at the time it was written and today. The idea of the elite doing what they have to for what they believe is best for humanity, but having no one to question or monitor them. The famous quote, ‘Who watches the Watchmen?’ could be applied to multiple leaders on either side of the political debate. (Boyd)

Egads! Watchmen, created in the mid 1980s could be talking about today in 2025, who is watching the richest of the rich taking away services from the poorest of the poor. That is a very timely theme.

Boyd also said Watchmen is not a good entry comic. No, duh. Wish I'd read this comment before I started the book but I'm not sure it would have deterred me since I don't read comic books in my daily life and yet I wanted to read Watchmen.

On a Reddit post about the greatness of Watchmen, fans had this to say:

Not only did it deal with the concept of superheroes in a refreshingly realistic/subversive way, it's also a savage satire of American 20thC politics and culture. It's also highly scientifically literate, and dense with allusions not only to comic books, but the literary canon in general. (Jeremy-O)

I missed the literary allusions, but I'll take his word for it.

I think it holds this sort of place in the history of comics in the same way that Citizen Kane holds its place in the history of movies. It was one of the first to intentionally use the medium itself as part of the story. Honestly, this is even reflected in the plot. It's a comic book about comic books, featuring a comic book in the story. (wfaulk)

The reference to "Citizen Kane" helps me understand the place Watchmen holds in the comic world. I didn't particularly like that movie either, but that is beside the point. And clearly I hadn't thought of the use of a comic book inside a comic book as groundbreaking, but there you are.

The next commenter says Watchmen isn't just the greatest comic book of all times, it is the greatest piece of literature. And then goes on to say:

The thing about making superheroes realistic, anti-heroes, and gritty is so surface level. What it really does is use this genre as a lens to inspect political discourse that has become timeless, philosophical ideas are tackled from nihilism, to determinism, to humanism, to the degradation and bastardization of Nietzsche's philosophy as well as the American dream, all the way to how quantum physics alters our perception of reality and miracles. (Adayum)

Clearly this book has a great deal of merit both in and out of its orbit. I don't agree it is the greatest piece of literature, but fans are fans. Besides what do I know, a newbie to the whole comic book world?

And then there is Shmoop, my go-to for literary analysis. (I love all the snarky asides.) Let's see what they have to say. First to their version of humor:

Holy guacamole, Watchmen! Without you, superheroes would still talk like that, and even worse, they’d have nothing important to say.

Hey, I loved Batman when I was a kid but I see their point. They go on:

Watchmen is more than guys and gals somersaulting around in costume for good and evil. It’s also about psychology—both individual and collective—and in it Moore plumbs the depths of human relationships. When your main character goes by Rorschach, and has inkblot tests for a face, you know the writer is more interested in brains than brawn.

Good point. All the heroes in Watchmen are smart and worried about the state of the whole world. They take their super-hero-ing very seriously. But who watches the Watchmen?

Who watches the watchmen? That question is both Alan Moore’s epigraph for Watchmen and the very last line of the book, so it must be majorly important.

I'm feeling a creepy sense of foreboding these days. Who is watching our politicians and their minions doing all their dirty work? Here we are again thinking of today when this book was written in the 1980s. What's that old definition of a classic? A book that never finishes saying what it has to say. Hmm. Watchmen is here, speaking to new generations of readers (or older generations, in my case.)

We know at some level no superheroes are coming to bail us out of all our messes. But what if? That is a fun idea to think about. Moore takes it to the next level:

And if superheroes were real, wouldn't they have flaws just like us? Wouldn't they live in a world full of greed, fear, homophobia, and more? Yes, yes, they would. If superheroes were real, some of them would grow up in broken homes, and others would be bullied by their peers. Some would be orphans, others children of immigrants. Sure, they might end up wearing masks and tights to cover up their pain.

The folks at Shmoop give one last piece of advice: "If you are going to read one graphic novel that isn't Maus, read this one."

And I've done it. I've read them both. And thanks to all the snooping around on the Internet, I actually appreciate Watchmen more than when I first closed the back cover. Thanks everyone for the assist!

Watchmen is a tome, weighing in at over 400 pages, so that qualifies as my first Big Book of Summer 2025. It's almost as long as this review. Ha!

Shmoop Editorial Team. "Watchmen Introduction | Shmoop." Shmoop. Shmoop University, Inc., 11 Nov. 2008. Web. 7 Jun. 2025.

-Anne

Graphic Novel Review: SUNSHINE

Title: Sunshine: A Graphic Novel by Jarrett Krosoczka

Book Beginnings page:

First bubble: "I was sixteen when I first worked at a camp for kids with life-threatening illnesses. It forever changed the trajectory of my life."
Second bubble: "Just about everyone who asks about the experience seems to have the same knee-jerk reaction: It must have been so sad."

Page 58:

First bubble (Camp director): "Okay, everyone, I hope that everybody is ready for a fantastic day at camp. I'm going to ask counselors to head to their stations."
Second bubble (Camp director): "Parents, after you've dropped of your kids at their designated spot, we're all going to meet up by the lake for some team-building activities."
Third bubble (Jarrett): "I watched as my friends all joined their groups. I have to be honest. I had been looking forward to working with littler kids, so being assigned to a teen was at first a little disappointing."

Summary: Jarrett Krosoczka, a graphic artist I met in his first memoir, Hey Kiddo, which is about being raised by his grandparents since his mother abandoned him to drugs and he never knew his father, continues his story about his experiences at Camp Sunshine. He is assigned to be a one-on-one counselor to a teenager with a brain tumor who doesn't want to be at camp. But along the way Jarrett and that boy become friends and have fun doing some really surprising activities. Jarrett also bonds with other campers and his fellow counselors who all admit that the experience was life-changing. 

Review: I have some friends, who are my age, that volunteer at Sister Pat's Cancer/Kid's Camp every year in New Jersey. C., a cancer survivor,  and her husband, K., wanted to give something back to the cancer-care community the first year, and now go back every year because they are hooked. I bet they'd agree with Jarrett that the camp experience has changed the trajectory of their lives.

When Jarrett Krosoczka was selected as a counselor for Camp Sunshine he was fairly judgmental of the other student counselors in his group. But as the week went by, these teens also bonded through their shared experiences, creating lifelong friendships. Near the end of the week together one of their teacher advisors talks about how the math of it all doesn't add up:

First bubble (female advisor, note the cigarette): "Oh can it, Mr. Granier, once you experience this kind of work, you never look at life the same way again. There isn't a place more beautiful than these grounds. And the feeling you get by helping these families."
Second bubble (continuation): "The funny thing about being in service to others is that the math of it all doesn't add up. No matter how much work and energy you put into these weeks, you get back way more than you ever put in."

I know that feeling. Sometimes one thinks they are helping others when really they are helping you. 

I really loved this book but I think you should read Hey, Kiddo first. You will meet Jarrett in that book and understand what a hard life he has lived, making this book all the sweeter.

Rating: 5 stars.

-Anne

Review (of sorts): RED SCARE

Want to read a graphic novel that will surprise and delight you? Try Red Scare by Liam Francis Walsh, it has everything a good graphic novel should have: sympathetic characters, really bad 'bad guys', a bit of the truth mixed in.

In the aftermath of the Korean War, Peggy's small hometown is rife with anti-Communist hysteria. But Peggy has bigger problems: She's struggling to recover from polio. Taunted by her classmates, Peggy just wants to be left alone, but then she stumbles across a mysterious object that gives her the power to fly. Unscrupulous operatives from the American and Soviet governments seek the object to overturn the tense political stalemate, and Peggy finds herself smack in the middle of the Cold War arms race (Publisher).

The plot did not stay on the track I thought it would when I first picked it up, leading to my delight. Set in the 1950s in the height of the the red scare , I expected a bit of history lesson on that time period and there was a bit of that. But the mysterious object led us down uncharted roads where Peggy, her family, and friends could finally find acceptance and a new resolve to move forward in a positive direction. Loved it.

The book is targeted at middle grade readers but I know it would also delight older teens and most adults.

-Anne

Review: SUPERMAN SMASHES THE KLAN

Superman Smashes the Klan by Gene Luen Yang and Gurihiru is an award-winning graphic novel about our favorite super hero. But this story is based on a real Superman genesis story.

Back in 1946, when Superman was just a few years into his worldwide introduction, there was a wildly popular 16-part radio series called, "The Adventures of Superman." In the series Superman took down a gang of robed, hooded, white supremacists. The story begins with a Chinese-American family moving into Metropolis when the Clan of the Fiery Cross (a fictional stand-in for the Ku Klux Klan) burns a wooden cross on the family's lawn. Superman comes to the rescue.

Gene Luen Yang, the author and graphic artist himself, is Taiwanese-American and was very excited when he learned about this early Superman radio program and the story's plot. Everyone has heard of the ways that the Ku Klux Klan terrorized African-Americans but few people are aware that a branch of the Klan started up in California in 1865 to thwart Chinese immigration and to terrorize Chinese already living in the state. In 1882 the Chinese Exclusion Act was passed, effectively ending all legal Chinese immigration. Finally in 1941 when Japan attacked Pearl Harbor did US citizens recognize that the Chinese were our allies against Japan. 

Superman was introduced to the world in 1939. During WWII he often faced off against Nazi villains like Der Teufel, and the Scarlet Widow. After the war, he continued his fight against hatred and bigotry, especially that directed at immigrants. This graphic novel, and the radio show it was fashioned after, shows us why. Superman is an immigrant himself, after all.

Why did I call this novel one of Superman's genesis stories? Well, here he is learning about his powers, often denying that he even has powers. He is also finally ready to learn about his past and where he came from. Since I am not a big DC comic person, I found this aspect of the book very genuine and touching: Superman didn't start off wearing a tight spandex suit, flying here and there, He started off walking fast and leaping up on telephone wires to get places fast. He got his idea for a costume from the strong man at the circus and the letter S on his chest didn't stand for "superman" but was a symbol of strength from his own planet.

In 2020, Superman Smashes the Klan won the Harvey Award for outstanding achievement in the comic book industry. In 2021 it won the 2021 YA Graphic Novel Cybils Award.

Even if you don't consider yourself a comic book or a super hero type of person, I still recommend that you take a look at Superman Smashes the Klan. It is a very NOW story with Nazism making a resurgence in 2022. Read it then spread the word so others will, too.

-Anne

The Faithful Spy: A True Story: Dietrich Bonhoeffer and the Plot to Kill Hitler

Some of you may not be aware that my father is a Methodist minister. I am not only a Christian, but one of those dreaded "preacher's kids" you've heard so much about. I tell you this as a sort of confession because I thought I knew about Dietrich Bonhoeffer because of my upbringing but I really had no idea what he did until I read this book, The Faithful Spy: A True Story: Dietrich Bonhoeffer and the Plot to Kill Hitler by John Hendrix. As I was growing up I would hear about Bonhoeffer in sentences similar to those I'd hear about Martin Luther, or John Wesley, or Calvin Knox. I just figured he was just another theologian who had insightful things to say about a life in Christ. Later I came to understand that he also was a published author and that his books were very deep and theological. I attempted to read his The Cost of Discipleship once but gave up quite quickly. I thought it was his theology that got him in trouble with the Nazis. I had no idea he was killed by them, just weeks before the end of the war, because he was a spy conspiring with others to assassinate Hitler!

So The Faithful Spy: A True Story: Dietrich Bonhoeffer and the Plot to Kill Hitler cleared up my misconceptions of the famous German theologian and it delivered the information in a remarkable way---through a graphic (illustrated) biography written and illustrated by John Hendrix. however, unlike most graphic novels, this book is quite heavy in its text to illustration quotient. The illustrations were usually to make a point about what the text said, not to replace the text. And most speech wasn't delivered in text bubbles. I say this because it was decided that this book should be judged for a potential Cybils award in the JH/SH nonfiction category, not the graphic novel category.

This page is more illustrated than most. Before Bonhoeffer became involved as a double agent spy, he tried to sway the German people to beware of Hitler and his special brand of hatred. His broadcast was cut off mid-program, probably by the Nazis. The bottom right corner shows Hitler delivering his hate-filled speeches, getting people all fired up with anger through his rhetoric and delivery method.

On this page, more typical for the book, one big illustration makes two points about Hitler (He is an Omnipresent dictator and he liked to think of himself as a wolf, even encouraging others to call him Herr Wolf.)

On this page we find Dietrich and other conspirators waiting for news that the plane Hitler was on blew up from the bomb they placed on it. It didn't. Plot #1 was a dud.

So what is new about this book compared to others about Dietrich Bonhoeffer except that it was illustrated? Well, for one thing it is marketed to children and teens, not adults. As I read it I kept thinking that older teens or adults would get more out of it (or actually read it) compared to younger teens or children since it is so text-rich and full of complex issues. Elizabeth Bird, reviewing the book for School Library Journal, has this to say about that argument:

No doubt you will hear people argue about its age range. They will say that the book should never have been marketed to children and that due to the complexity of the ideas inside, to say nothing of the presence of Hitler himself, this should be purchased only for young adult collections. But to say that denies that children and middle-schoolers are capable of reading, comprehending, and processing moral complexity. Let’s put it another way. Few historical works for children will proffer the idea that all German Christians during WWII weren’t dyed-in-the-wool Nazis. In an era when nationalism is on the rise in countries across the globe, it is a great good to teach kids about a time when blind and displaced loyalty to a country led to unspeakable evil. Hendrix doesn’t have to spell out the parallels to the times in which we live. Have faith in the kids. They’re going to be able to get there on their own. The author is just laying the facts out before them. He trusts their intelligence. We, the adults, would be wise to do the same.

 We should trust kids to "get it": to read and enjoy the book on one level, and to understand the meaning for today's children on another level. In the author's notes, Hendix said he wanted to do this book because he is afraid we have not all been permanently vaccinated against tyrants. He wonders, "how a majestic nation can willingly become a puppet for evil... and how quickly a good and noble people can become infatuated with hated." This is not just an issue for Germany of the past. Hendrix, a Christian himself, challenges his readers, no matter how young, to consider that sometimes our faith forces us to stand up in the face of this evil and speak out, or maybe even act out in opposition. Dietrich Bonhoeffer did this and it cost him his life. What is his legacy? It is an "unswerving belief in sacrificing for the good of  'the other', which is exactly the opposite of the Nazi ideology" (169). 

I highly recommend this book even though Hendrix admits that he is an artist, not a historical researcher. It was a joy to read.

I read a print copy of The Faithful Spy from my public library.

Friday Quotes (and a review) for The Prince and the Dressmaker

Book Beginnings on Friday is hosted by Rose City Reader. Share the opening quote from the book.
The Friday 56 is hosted at Freda's Voice.  Find a quote from page 56.

Check out the links for the rules and for the posts of the participants each week. Participants don't select their favorite, coolest, or most intellectual books, they just use the one they are currently reading. This is the book I'm reading right now---

Title: The Prince and the Dressmaker a graphic novel by Jen Wang

Book Beginnings:

Prince Sebastian is turning 16 and there will be a royal ball in his favor.

Friday 56:

The Prince likes to wear women's clothing. He asks the dress maker to make him something spectacle to wear to the Marmalade Contest. while there he decides to enter the contest. On this page the dressmaker is looking at all the wonderful gowns entered in the contest. When the prince appears he is disguised as Lady Crystallia (not shown here.)

Summary: Prince Sebastian is miserable. Why? Because he has a secret---he likes to dress in women's clothing. When he is clad in beautiful gowns, he feels like a different person. But he must keep this a secret from everyone, especially his father, the King. When he meets a dressmaker who doesn't judge him for his choices, they embark on creating and wearing her creations out in public as Lady Cystallia. As you can imagine, this doesn't last long before the Prince is found out. But before he is, the gowns Lady Crystallia wears in public become the fashion craze of the day. The dressmaker is frustrated that she can't be recognized for her creations without giving the prince's secret identity away.

Review: This is darling, darling tale about being true to yourself and about friendship and loyalty. The illustrations are so colorful and fun. Everything about this book is charming. It is being marketed to young adults, but I think it would be appropriate for middle grade students as well as adults, anyone who cheers for people who want to live their authentic lives. If you have a child who is a budding artist, I recommend this book as an inspiration. Jen Wang talks about her craft at the end of the book---the tools she uses, how she creates her storyboard, and time-saving techniques she uses. Everything about this book is wonderful. I highly recommend it.

Comment: I know a lot of adults don't read graphic novels, but I encourage you to give them a try. The story is told is such a colorful way, often the diagrams themselves tell the story without using any words. If you feel daunted by reading graphic novels but want to give one a try, this would be a wonderful book to choose for a starting point. It is a charming story with wonderful illustrations.

Wang, Jen. The Prince and the Dressmaker. First Second, 2018.

Nimona by Noelle Stevenson is a wonderful surprise

Published by HarperTeen, 2015

According to Wikipedia (the font of all knowledge) Nimona is a fantasy comic started by the writer/artist Noelle Stevenson when she was in school at the Maryland Institute College of Art. It began as a webcomic and has evolved into a book here. Take a look at her website Gingerhaze to read the first three chapters of Nimona. Stevenson's Nimona started out as a two-page project, evolved into a biweekly webcomic which was published for two years. In 2013 it won Slate's Web Comic of the Year prize and had a fiercely loyal following. Since her beginnings with Nimona, Stevenson's career has taken off. Tasha Robinson writes in an NPR review,

But much of the credit for her flowering career can be laid at Nimona's feet. It's a perfect storm of a series: Much like Jeff Smith's Bone, it starts in a goofy, accessible place before deepening into a morally and emotionally complicated fantasy. It goes in thrillingly unpredictable directions not hinted at in the early pages. And by the end, it's become a gripping horror story, threatening the relationships and lives of characters whose prickly distance from each other just makes their relationships seem more appealing (Robinson).

To begin the book Nimona shows up at the home of Ballister Blackheart, the supervillain, and offers her services as a side-kick. After much persuading he agrees to take her on, but she must follow his orders. Nimona basically never does. After their first mission out together he discovers a "small" detail she had neglected to tell him, she is a shapeshifter. Because of her supernatural abilities she keeps doing things to get Blackheart in trouble with Institution and with his nemesis Sir Goldenloin. Hilarity often ensues.

Nimona reveals she is a shapeshifter

As the story unfolds one is never quite sure who are the good guys and the bad. The Institution appears to be doing bad things and then tries to pin them on Blackheart. He is the supervillain, afterall. Sir Goldenloin is charged with killing Nimona but doesn't want to do it because she is a kid. But then Nimona keeps doing terrible things when she is in the form of a dragon, or lion, or dinosaur. It is obvious that the lines of good and bad are blurred. Blackheart seems to be the most steady of all characters and the most conflicted. Nimona often acts like an implusive, stubborn child, with moments of heroics thrown in.

I was completely surprised by Nimona. I expected a silly story of superheros and villains and their zany side-kick. What I got was a lot more complicated than that. In a lot of ways it was way more intense than expected, leaving me with very mixed feelings. I supposed that is a nice set up for a sequel. Perhaps we are being prepared for another transformation of Nimona.

“If you’re going to read one graphic novel this year, make it this one.” (Kirkus Reviews -starred review)

In Nimona I was served up a lot more than I expected and loved what I got. Rating 4.5 out of 5 stars.

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