Genre 6- Graphic Novel: Rapunzel's Revenge

Bibliographic Information
Hale, Shannon and Dale Hale. RAPUNZEL'S REVENGE. New York, NY: Bloomsbury USA Children's Books. ISBN: 978-1599900704

Plot and Critical Analysis
This is not the typical telling of the story of Rapunzel, the princess locked away by the evil witch, alone in the tower, waiting for a prince to rescue her. This is the story of a girl who went out into the world and conquered it after learning that her mother, the evil Gothel, took her as payment after a poor farmer stole greens from her garden. Instead of a tower, Rupunzel lives in a villa behind a great wall (resembling a dam, more than a wall in height), until she scales the walls one day and meets the poor mine workers, her birth mother included. Her tower is not made of stone, but a very tall tree (given Gothel's growth magic)with a hollowed out room. There Repunzel spent years, with the growth hormone affecting her hair and nail growth before escaping. Before she can return to Gothel's villa or to her mother, she travels with a boy Jack (as in "Jack and the Beanstock") and she uses her long briads as lassos to fight theivs and protect them as they wander back to the mines to free her mother.

The graphic novel is divided into parts, each part a different portion of Repunzel's journey to both her mother and to teach Gothel a lesson. It takes on a more adult tale including flirting as a plan, egocentric characters, theives and kidnapping,and oppression. Repunzel and Jack travel through the badlands, a swamp, and the dessert that all surround Gothel's villa - the source that dried up the land and left the famers indebted to pay taxes to Gothel so she'd give them part of her growth magic.

In each part of the tale, Jack and Rapunzel not only visit different parts of the town, but readers will notice each part is inhabited by different ethnicities, cultures, and lifestyles, providing quite the diversity of people treated poorly by the powerful Gothel. It hits upon the topics of oppression and slavery, but then throws in compassion or humor and of course all ends well in the world, with Jack's Beanstock helping to save the day and Rapunzel reunited with her mother. The text is both comical in Rapunzel's narration as well as plot driven in dialog.

Hale, of no relation to the authors, provides illustrations both colorful and expressive. The reader can see someone's hesitation, joy, anger, and fear, but also is given the excitement of
graphic novels when illustrations shows Rapunzel using her hair as lassos to fight the bad guys. Flashbacks occur in a faded/yellowing illustration, but even those are clear to the feeling they are meant to cause.

Awards and Reviews
ALA Notable Children's Books - Middle Readers Category: 2009
Amelia Bloomer Lists - Middle Graders Fiction: 2010
YALSA Great Graphic Novels for Teens: 2009
YALSA Popular Paperbacks for Young Adults: Twists on the Tale (2010)

School Library Journal
Starred Review. Grade 5 Up–This is the tale as you've never seen it before. After using her hair to free herself from her prison tower, this Rapunzel ignores the pompous prince and teams up with Jack (of Beanstalk fame) in an attempt to free her birth mother and an entire kingdom from the evil witch who once moonlighted as her mother. Dogged by both the witch's henchman and Jack's outlaw past, the heroes travel across the map as they right wrongs, help the oppressed, and generally try to stay alive. Rapunzel is no damsel in distress–she wields her long braids as both rope and weapon–but she happily accepts Jack's teamwork and friendship. While the witch's castle is straight out of a fairy tale, the nearby mining camps and rugged surrounding countryside are a throwback to the Wild West and make sense in the world that the authors and illustrator have crafted. The dialogue is witty, the story is an enticing departure from the original, and the illustrations are magically fun and expressive. Knowing that there are more graphic novels to come from this writing team brings readers their own happily-ever-after.–Cara von Wrangel Kinsey, New York Public Library
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Booklist
This graphic novel retelling of the fairy-tale classic, set in a swashbuckling Wild West, puts action first and features some serious girl power in its spunky and strong heroine. Young Rapunzel lives a lonely life, never knowing what lies beyond the high garden walls of her mother’s royal villa until one day she climbs the wall to see what’s on the other side. When she finds that the world outside is a dark place oppressed by her mother’s greed for power and uncovers the real secret of her own birth, she is imprisoned in a magic tree tower. In her years of captivity, she learns a lot about self-reliance and care for her exceptionally long hair, and eventually she is able to escape, vowing to bring down her mother’s cruel empire. Hale’s art matches the story well, yielding expressive characters and lending a wonderful sense of place to the fantasy landscape. Rich with humor and excitement, this is an alternate version of a classic that will become a fast favorite of young readers. Grades 5-8. --Tina Coleman

Connections
With the growing trend of graphic novels, it is a great way to combine different elements into this popular style. For instance, both a twist on a classic fairy tale as well as an empowering story of a female heroine, the Hales provide a creative and entertaining read. This is a nice connection from a recognizable children's fairy tale to something a teen would pick up for familiarity only to be faced with more adult themes and innuendos.

Similar Readings
Ella Enchanted (Gail Carson Levine): While it is not a graphic novel, it is the modern take on an enchantment and encourages girls to be true to themselves. Also a Newberry Honor.
Igraine The Brave (Cornelia Funke): A girl who wants to be a knight gets to prove her bravery when her parent's magical books are stolen.

Genre 6 - Contemporary Realistic Fiction: Looking for Alaska

Bibliographic Information
Green, John LOOKING FOR ALASKA. New York, NY: Dutton. ISBN: 978-0525475064.

Plot and Critical Analysis
Miles leaves his friendless, boring life behind in Florida to attend a prep school in Alabama at the age of 16. There he comes across eccentric, but intelligent, group of friends, difficult teachers who he is all but too happy to please, and life changing events. He finds his place in a school that even with its typical high school cliques and struggles, is focused on education and knowledge. As a skinny, tall, awkward boy who has a memory full of famous people's last words, he is eager to finally have a group of friends. Within this group he learns of loyalty, crushes, and friendship. Along the way there are experiences faced by all teens - fights, pranks, school stresses, peer pressure - and a few experienced by most teens - drunkenness, talk of sex, death, the unknown. Each character has their demons and their quirks, which is representative of all teenagers who will read this. The dialogue from hanging out, fighting, and discussing difficulties of their past is clear and age appropriate with sarcasm, cuss words, and use of trendy phrases.

It develops into a more serious story than pranks and crushes, when a main character dies. The loss and shock of both death and the characters sense of responsibility is felt heavily by the reader. Events occur throughout that are very realistic for teen behavior, but it is with this unexpected tragedy that the portrayal of these teenagers is highly accurate. The other character's thoughts and feelings are very accurate to not only how people of all ages would grieve, but it is more so focused on teens trying to make sense of this situation and loss.

The reader can tell by the structure of the novel, that something huge in Mile's life is pending. Passages are separated into two parts. Part One of the novel is a count down of days "before" and the second part is a count of "days after". As anyone would feel this same divide in life - a divide caused by immense tragedy - it is a very clear way for the author to portray the significance of this event in Miles' life and provide forshadowing for the reader.

Awards and Reviews
Booklist Editors' Choice - Books for Youth - Older Readers Category: 2005
Kentucky Bluegrass Award: Grades 9-12
Michael L. Printz Award
School Library Journal Best Books: 2005
School Library Journal Best Books: 2005
YALSA Best Books for Young Adults: 2006
YALSA Outstanding Books for the College Bound - Literature and Language Arts: 2009
YALSA Popular Paperbacks for Young Adults: Death and Dying (2009)
YALSA Quick Picks for Reluctant Young Adult Readers: 2006

School Library Journal
From the very first page, tension fills John Green's Michael L. Printz Award-winning novel (Dutton, 2005). Miles Halter, 16, is afraid that nobody will show up at his party because he doesn't have many friends. He loves to read biographies and discover the last words attributed to famous people. He's particularly intrigued with the dying words of poet Francois Rabelais: "I go to seek a great perhaps." Miles is leaving his loving Florida home for the "great perhaps" of the same Alabama boarding school attended by his father. Ominous chapter headings (40 days before, 10 days after) reveal that something tragic may happen. At school, Miles is accepted by a brainy group of pranksters led by his roommate and Alaska Young, a smart and sexy feminist. The teen becomes captivated by his new friends who spend as much energy on sex, smoking, drinking, and cutting-up as they do on reading, learning, and searching for life's meaning. As the school year progresses, Miles's crush on Alaska intensifies, even after it becomes evident that her troubled past sometimes causes her to be self-destructive. This novel is about real kids dealing with the pressures of growing up and feeling indestructible. Listeners will be riveted as the friends band together to deal with the catastrophic events that plague their junior year, and rejoice at their triumphs. Jeff Woodman clearly delineates the voices for each character in an age-appropriate, smart-alecky manner, injecting great emotion while managing not to be overly sentimental. This story belongs in all collections for older young adults, especially those who like Chris Crutcher, David Klass, and Terry Trueman.—JoAnn Carhart, East Islip Public Library, NY --JoAnn Carhart (Reviewed February 1, 2007) (School Library Journal, vol 53, issue 2, p63)

Publishers Weekly
This ambitious first novel introduces 16-year-old Miles Halter, whose hobby is memorizing famous people's last words. When he chucks his boring existence in Florida to begin this chronicle of his first year at an Alabama boarding school, he recalls the poet Rabelais on his deathbed who said, "I go to seek a Great Perhaps." Miles's roommate, the "Colonel," has an interest in drinking and elaborate pranks—pursuits shared by his best friend, Alaska, a bookworm who is also "the hottest girl in all of human history." Alaska has a boyfriend at Vanderbilt, but Miles falls in love with her anyway. Other than her occasional hollow, feminist diatribes, Alaska is mostly male fantasy—a curvy babe who loves sex and can drink guys under the table. Readers may pick up on clues that she is also doomed. Green replaces conventional chapter headings with a foreboding countdown—"ninety-eight days before," "fifty days before"—and Alaska foreshadows her own death twice ("I may die young," she says, "but at least I'll die smart"). After Alaska drives drunk and plows into a police car, Miles and the Colonel puzzle over whether or not she killed herself. Theological questions from their religion class add some introspective gloss. But the novel's chief appeal lies in Miles's well-articulated lust and his initial excitement about being on his own for the first time. Readers will only hope that this is not the last word from this promising new author. Ages 14-up. (Mar.) --Staff (Reviewed February 7, 2005) (Publishers Weekly, vol 252, issue 6, p58)

Connections
Any teenager who has experienced what it is like to be the awkward kid or move to a new school, will be drawn to Miles. He is a good kid just trying to find friends and find an environment where he can enjoy school, as well as meet some girls. Clearly, the big connection here is of belonging, love, and death. All very heavy experiences as we come of age. These issues are delicately handled by Green, but the writing in emotional and at times, heart wrenching to read. As characters face loss and feelings of guilt, the stages of grief are addressed, which actually would be beneficial to readers to understand the normalcy in grief and acceptance of it as a part of life, even if not understanding death.

A positive element to this story, and perhaps more significant than the death, is this group of friends. There are both males and females in this group seen as equal valuable members in comrodary, leaders, and best friends. They are from different backgrounds, of different ethnicities, and from different socioeconomic backgrouds, yet they come together to create their own family at the school. This group of friends is a positive role modle not because of their friends death, but becuase it shows how these friends stay together and support one another through a difficult time. A positive example for any teen reader, even though I imagine the alcohol use and mention of sexual experiences has some parents hesitant about this book.

Similar Readings:
This will go down on your permanent record: a novel (Susannah Felts): A story of a new kid in town befriended by an eccentric, artistic neighbor and their misguided adventures.
Vandal (Michael Simmons): Focuses on the struggle in the brother relationship and how abuse at the hands of one brother impacts their relationship until a tragedy changes the family.

Genre 6 - Fantasy: The Graveyard Book

Bibliographic Information
Gaiman, Neil. THE GRAVEYARD BOOK. Ill. by Dave McKean.New York, NY: Harper Collins Publisher. ISBN: 978-0060530945.

Plot and Critical Analysis
Bod (short for Nobody Owens) is a boy living in a graveyard since he was a toddler and he escaped the man who killed his family. The toddler crawled into the graveyard and was protected by the ghosts within where he had parents who cared fro him, a man neither living nor dead bring him food and clothes from the human world, and had the magic of the graveyard protecting him. I assume, this is why no one heard a baby crying in a graveyard. Clearly, it takes on some fantasy with the ghosts (good guys) and the ghouls (bad guys), but the overall theme of trying to learn of one's true identity, friendships, and self determination are all present.

The main elements of other genres are present in this novel through character development, plot, and theme. Bod is believable in thought process and as he ages, he gets more clever and more comfortable standing up to others. At a young age, he finds exploring the graveyard enough to delight his days, but as he gets older and more knowledgeable, he begins to wonder what is outside the walls of the graveyard. As any early adolescent, he wonders about the world and the people in it and how he fits in with this world. Towards the end Bod even has the beginning of an interest in girls when he and Scarlett are reunited. The plot attention grabber from the beginning, builds perfectly to the climax of “The Jacks” arrival and actions. Bod must face what he has been hiding from his entire life in the safety of the graveyard. While the reader knows that Jack and Bod will eventually come across each other again, the climax sneaks up on the reader. While the introduction of a new character later in the book is an obvious sign to adults, younger readers will not be expecting the kind Mr. Frost to be Jack’s killer. In fact, this brings up a valuable lesson for the reader about not being tricked by strangers.

Gaiman’s tone is appropriate and often gothic throughout, which is fitting to the setting. His descriptions of the cool – from the breeze to Silas’s hand – and Bod’s feelings or revelations at different times keep the tone haunting and cool. There are the occasional sketches by McKean which provide a haunting visual for Silas (the neither living nor dead character that is Bod's protector), The Sleer (the evil, ghostlike protector of the unknown), and The Lady in Grey (Angel of Death)


Awards and Reviews
ALA Notable Children's Books - Middle Readers Category: 2009
Booklist Editors' Choice - Books for Youth - Older Readers Category: 2008
Hugo Awards: Best Novel
Kentucky Bluegrass Award: Grades 6-8
Locus Young Adult Book Award
Newbery Medal
Oprah's Kids' Reading Lists - New Releases: 10-to-12 Years
USBBY Outstanding International Books - Grades 6-8: 2009
Wisconsin Library Association Children's Book Awards: Elizabeth Burr/Worzalla Award
YALSA Best Books for Young Adults: 2009

School Library Journal
Somewhere in contemporary Britain, "the man Jack" uses his razor-sharp knife to murder a family, but the youngest, a toddler, slips away. The boy ends up in a graveyard, where the ghostly inhabitants adopt him to keep him safe. Nobody Owens, so named because he "looks like nobody but himself," grows up among a multigenerational cast of characters from different historical periods that includes matronly Mistress Owens; ancient Roman Caius Pompeius; an opinionated young witch; a melodramatic hack poet; and Bod's beloved mentor and guardian, Silas, who is neither living nor dead and has secrets of his own. As he grows up, Bod has a series of adventures, both in and out of the graveyard, and the threat of the man Jack who continues to hunt for him is ever present. Bod's love for his graveyard family and vice versa provide the emotional center, amid suspense, spot-on humor, and delightful scene-setting. The child Bod's behavior is occasionally too precocious to be believed, and a series of puns on the name Jack render the villain a bit less frightening than he should be, though only momentarily. Aside from these small flaws, however, Gaiman has created a rich, surprising, and sometimes disturbing tale of dreams, ghouls, murderers, trickery, and family.—Megan Honig, New York Public Library --Megan Honig (Reviewed October 1, 2008) (School Library Journal, vol 54, issue 10, p144)

Publishers Weekly Review
Starred Review. A lavish middle-grade novel, Gaiman's first since Coraline , this gothic fantasy almost lives up to its extravagant advance billing. The opening is enthralling: “There was a hand in the darkness, and it held a knife.” Evading the murderer who kills the rest of his family, a child roughly 18 months old climbs out of his crib, bumps his bottom down a steep stairway, walks out the open door and crosses the street into the cemetery opposite, where ghosts take him in. What mystery/horror/suspense reader could stop here, especially with Gaiman's talent for storytelling? The author riffs on the Jungle Book , folklore, nursery rhymes and history; he tosses in werewolves and hints at vampires—and he makes these figures seem like metaphors for transitions in childhood and youth. As the boy, called Nobody or Bod, grows up, the killer still stalking him, there are slack moments and some repetition—not enough to spoil a reader's pleasure, but noticeable all the same. When the chilling moments do come, they are as genuinely frightening as only Gaiman can make them, and redeem any shortcomings. Ages 10–up. (Oct.) --Staff (Reviewed September 29, 2008) (Publishers Weekly, vol 255, issue 39, p82)

Connections
It will not take a child who has been orphaned and is growing up in a graveyard to identify with Bod and what he goes through. True, being able to "fade" and see the ghosts of the graveyard is not included with similar experiences, but the feelings of wanting friends, trying to figure out the world, and other age experiences are similar. Readers will find both honesty and playfulness in Bod as well as thoughtfulness well beyond his years. Other characters will be similar to people children come across in their own lives: parents, mysterious adults, peers, and a significant teacher. The subtheme of the honorable Guard verses The Jacks' fraternity of power hungry criminals and murderers ends with good conquering evil, but with a cost. This will echo the trials of life similarly as other fantasy titles.


Similar Readings:
Orphans of Chaos (John C. Wright): Another supernatural contemporary fiction novel about boys who possess powers and after learning they have been kidnapped from their parents and are not aging at the same rate of others, they plan their own escape.
Green Witch (Alice Hoffman): The story of a girl who is turned to for help and, in turn, goes to women like her who are believed to be witches to help the townspeople. There is also a love story which is one of the mentioned themes of this genre.