This is one of those books that I just did not get. I don't understand what is so funny and why this is so beloved. Perhaps having the entire comic all at once rather than waiting every day or week for a new page ruins the experience? Anyway, this book is completely written by 5-year-old Malachi Nicolle, and as such many of the characters are twisted and some of the plots are nonsensical. The illustrations are all done by Malachai's older brother Ethan, and they are all well done. This book includes the six original Axe Cop stories, sixty-two additional episodes (split into two stories), and a series of "Ask Axe Cop" which are short comics based on reader-questions. I found these questions the most interesting (only interesting?) part, because Ethan wrote a little note alongside each question giving back story or providing additional information. I also want to note how odd it is that this is written by a 5-year-old, but considered a YA graphic novel.

Meanwhile is a graphic novel that you will probably either love or hate. It's a choose-your-own adventure book, and instead of saying "to chose x turn to page 2, to chose y turn to page 3" it uses a series of "pipes" you must follow along the numerous tabs that stick out on the right side of the book. The pipes must be followed on the individual pages as well, because they doesn't follow the traditional left to right, top to bottom pattern. This can seem cool if you're loving the story, but can definitely grow frustrating. Some of the pipes even travel in a twisted knot, requiring you to follow the pipe exactly or get very confused when you turn to the wrong page. The plot is sort of silly, starting with a choice between chocolate and vanilla ice cream, but quickly turning to a mad scientist forcing you to pick between using three if his inventions. Overall, I think it is a wonderfully innovative idea, but the execution lacks.

This graphic novel is about a 14-year-old girl who is starting high school after being homeschooled. She has three older brothers who are already in high school, but that does not make her transition any less awkward, mostly because they all have their own problems that they are dealing with. These problems may or may not be related to their mom running out on the family, apparently needing a break after spending so much time home with her kids. The title comes from the fact that Maggie has never had any girl friends, apart from the ghost of a widowed lady who periodically haunts her.

Overall this is a fun read! The author does a good job of integrating text with the graphics but still using character expressions and body language to illustrate their feelings. She also mixes up the size and layout of the panels to show movement and better highlight certain areas (it also makes the pages more visually interesting, which is a plus).

Kampung Boy is an autobiographical graphic novel about a boy named Lat growing up in rural Malaysia on a kampung. The story starts when he is a baby and follows him through leaving the kampung for boarding school. There really isn't much of a plot besides Lat growing older. For example, as time passes, Lat's family grows with two younger siblings, but they just show up in a frame saying "now I have a younger brother" and that is it. The drawings are very funny, with characters wearing funny pants and having big teeth. I think this would be a good way to introduce kids to another culture. The story is fun and kids should be able to find some similarities between their life and Lat's life, but also will see the differences. The story does stop at an odd point, as an industrial company is interested in buying up the kampung, but Lat goes off to school without finding out what happens. There are sequels though, so I am sure the story picks up there.

The graphic part of this graphic novel was beautiful: beautiful colors and pictures that are the perfect combination of realistic and cartoon. However, the story moved way too quickly, with Siena moving from flat-footed child in ballet class to dancing at a prestigious New York ballet academy. Because it is so short, there is not a lot of discussion of Siena's feelings or conflicts, only the events that occurred in her progression. Still, it is nice to see a graphic novel autobiography and one that is more geared to girls. And I have to say, the ending is quite cute, showing the author leaping across the beach with her young daughter, mirroring the opening beach scene where the author states "big, empty spaces always make me want to dance".

In this graphic novel, aging superhero Captain Amazing seeks out a new sidekick. He keeps getting shown up by a brand new superhero, and misses spending time with his pets. These pets, dog, hamster, and chameleon, all want to join him, but he does not want pet sidekicks after his last sidekick (his cat, Manny) ran away from home.

This is a cute graphic novel, with the pet hamster, Fluffy, being especially adorable. He is small and fearful, but with guidance from Manny, he embraces his smarts and discovers his super power. The drawings are well done, and the pages shift from white to black when it gets dark outside, which is a nice touch. Some of the plots do not fit together particularly well, and I was disappointed that there are no females in the story (Captain Amazing, the villain, and all the pets are males).

Short-haired, androgynous Haruhi Fujioka is a scholarship student at Ouran High School (one of Japan's most exclusive private schools) who is just looking for a quiet place to study when she stumbles upon a small, disused music room. Imagine her surprise when she finds it immaculately decorated with fancy furniture, flowers, and expensive antiques... it's home to the school's host club. A group of six male students entertain their female classmates with conversation and coffee every day. Woe betide Haruhi when she breaks an $80,000 vase owned by the club and has to work off her debt! None of the boys in the host club realize she's a girl at first, and Haruhi is eager to keep it a secret, worried that they won't let her work off her debt anymore once they realize she is not a boy.

I feel like my rating of 3 stars is more or less arbitrary, because there was so much of it that I didn't understand until I looked up the series on Wikipedia. This was only my second foray into manga and the first that I took voluntarily (my reading of the first volume of <i>Naruto</i> was for Sandra's YA lit class). So I didn't really understand that all of the characters were supposed to be sendups of popular tropes in manga, and my lack of familiarity with Japanese comic convention definitely didn't help. Watching the first episode of the TV show was much more useful in understanding who the characters were and what their personalities were supposed to be. By that time, I had also read the Wikipedia article and understood that they were all supposed to be caricatures, and for someone not familiar with Japanese convention, the show makes all of that much more obvious.

Still, the funny ways the class differences manifested themselves came through even for someone like me who wasn't very well versed in the medium. I can definitely see why this is so popular among the teens I work with; the screwball comedy format and the riffs on stock characters that people who read a lot of manga will easily recognize is probably a winning combination. I just feel wholly unqualified to judge whether this is A Quality Manga Series or not.

This graphic novel alternates between three stories. In the first, which is based on an old Chinese proverb, a monkey deity studies kung fu and learns all about being immortal. In the second, a boy, Jin Wang, deals with typical growing up problems (mostly wanting a girl and fitting in) and also being one of the few Asian kids in his school. Finally, a caricature of a Chinese boy, Chin-Kee, comes to stay with his white cousin Danny, and disrupts his life. All three of these stories converge at the end to form one story.

It won the Printz and was a National Book Award finalist, but I just did not get this book at all! I was really only engaged by Jin Wang’s story, so I read through the other two quickly to get back to Jin Wang. When the stories all came together, I was even more confused by whom everyone was supposed to be. I don’t think that I am really the target audience for this book, so hopefully those that are like it better.

This graphic novel tells the true story of author Raina Telgemeier’s dental dilemma. She is set to get braces in the sixth grade, then accidentally trips while chasing after her friends and knocks out her two front teeth. Trips to the dentist are interspersed with scenes from school and conversations with her parents and siblings. Most of the dentist scenes are played for laughs, but Raina does learn some lessons along the way, about appearances, confidence, and who her real friends are.

I enjoyed this very much! I like that it’s a graphic novel about a girl, but isn’t “girly”. The colors are bright and fun, and the images are a good mix between realistic and cartoonish. My favorite parts were some of the nostalgic mentions (like Joey McIntyre, Ecto Cooler, and Babysitters Club books!), though young adults will obviously not feel the same way.