Whistle is the latest YA Graphic novel from DC, and like other books in this run it emphasizes social justice and inclusion. In this book, a Jewish high school student takes care of her mom (who has cancer), works at an animal shelter, attends school, flirts with a cute boy, and participates in protests to try to keep gentrification from erasing her neighborhood of Down River in Gotham City. Her life changes when she meets … Continue reading Whistle: A New Gotham City Hero by E. Lockhart →
On the first read, I very much enjoyed Faith, a YA about a plus-size superhero who loves animals, her two best friends, her grandma, and fictional TV show The Grove, not necessarily in that order. Unfortunately, as soon as I tried applying thought to the book, it failed to make any sense. There’s a f/f romance, but this book is the first in a planned duology, so expect an inconclusive ending, and expect minimal superheroics … Continue reading Faith: Taking Flight by Julie Murphy →
The Infinite Noise is a YA love story and also a superhero origin story. It’s also a story in which nothing much happens. If you like m/m romance with angsty teens, this is fine, but because of the superpower angle I expected more plot and none is forthcoming. The entire book reads like a very slow prequel that never pays off. Caleb and Adam are both sixteen. Caleb wears sports gear/Adam wears Emo shirts/Caleb plays football/Adam’s … Continue reading The Infinite Noise by Lauren Shippen →
Hello there, Wednesday! Not sure if it’s because there’s a holiday tomorrow, but my sense of days has been really off. In the States, tomorrow is the Fourth of July. If you’re like me, you’re going to want to stay inside, blast some A/C, and watch the new season of Stranger Things. However, if you’re more like my boyfriend, you already have a tank top and shorts on, and you’re guarding the grill. … The RWA … Continue reading Links: Alanis Morissette, Debut Novels, & More →
The Spectacular Sisterhood of Superwomen: Awesome Female Characters From Comic Book History is a fun, informative, and inspiring encyclopedia of female characters from the comic books of 1930s to the 2010s. Each character description includes an illustration, the name of their creator, information about their first appearance, and where to find their comics now. Each decade from the 1930s on is represented, and the women featured include many heroines of color as well as LGBTQ … Continue reading The Spectacular Sisterhood of Superwomen by Hope Nicholson →
Not Your Villain is the second book in the Sidekick Squad series by C.B. Lee. This YA series is set in a semi-post-apocalyptic future (much has been destroyed, but many areas are still doing fine). In this world, some people have super powers. In order to follow Not Your Villain, you need to have read Not Your Sidekick. In the first book, Not Your Sidekick, Jessica Tran struggled with jealousy when she didn’t manifest powers … Continue reading Not Your Villain by C.B. Lee →
Wonder Woman has been my favorite film so far this year, and it’s clearly resonated with a lot of romance readers (and women in general). For this edition of Stuff You Should Be Stitching, I’m focusing on Wonder Woman-themed awesomeness. Now, you might have noticed that this column title changed from Stuff You Should Be Knitting. That’s because I’m going to try and focus more on cross stitch, needlepoint, sewing, and crochet as well. I’ll … Continue reading Stuff You Should Be Stitching: Wonder Woman →
Happy Hump Day! It’s April and I’m personally dreading the oncoming allergy season. The RT Booklover’s Convention is a month away and I’m counting the days until I can be in warmer weather. … Cosmopolitan has a really interesting interview with artist/illustrator Anna Kmet and author Lorraine Heath on how a romance novel cover takes shape. Thanks to Reader Janice G. for the link: Lorraine: Romance readers do base a lot on the covers. That’s the … Continue reading Links: Cover Art, Superheroes, & Events →
Dreadnought is my catnip in concept and yet the book bugged me a little. This story about a transgender teen superhero is a coming-out story wrapped in a cape. It has fun elements but suffers from characters who are under-developed. The story opens with Danny, who is fifteen and assigned-male-at-birth, sneaking into an alley to apply toenail polish. This small act helps Danny, who is a transgender girl but deeply closeted, feel sane. Suddenly a … Continue reading Dreadnought by April Daniels →
