This one fits a little oddly. It seems like the plot and writing are a little young for the length. I'm wondering if it'd be good for reluctant readers. All the underwear jokes do make it seem like a good choice for captain underpants fans or the younger end of Hilo fans!

Just finished the Seashells more than a Home book. I kind of wish she defined mollusk at the beginning of the book since she uses the word throughout, but it's a beautiful book. It gives solid and easy to understand examples, the main font is clearly differentiated from the notes, but both are large and legible. It's also always fun to get to learn new things from a picture book. I have an abalone shell, but never knew what the holes were for! Or why cockle shells are so fragile looking. And there's a partial bibliography both for the author and the illustrator, huzzah!

It's wonderfully illustrated, but not much of a biography. I'm not keen on biographies that make statements about the subject's interior life, or on books about artists that never show examples of the artists work. (Or in general, on books that compare women to animals, even though I get it's meant to be a positive bridge.)

Good read, short but lots of information. A nice mix of more and less well known ladies. I like their summaries of other women they wanted to include in the back, and that they do have a research and resources page, though I really wish it had a bibliography. (And better art, I really don't like the art style.)

Based on a Sufi folktale, a silly version of the don't be scared of something just because it's unfamiliar. Messagey, but silly and colorful, and that's always a good message to emphasize.

Really good, it flips quickly between funny and heartbreaking. Took me awhile to get used to the art, but then moved at an amazing pace. A glimpse at a history and point of view I know embarrassingly little about. (read for the graphic memoir component)

Vivid imagery of a fantastical time and place with colorful characters. A magical circus at turn of the century Europe / Northeastern US. Conjures the feeling of "The Prestige" and Tim Burton films, with two main characters caught in the crosshairs of an epic Game. I enjoyed living in the circus, with all its wondrous tents and entertainers, but fell out of love once the danger and death started to kick in. Couldn't feel strongly about the two main characters falling in love and what happened to them, but I greatly enjoyed the setting and imagery of the book.

3.5 rounding up. It was awfully cute, I liked that everything about the diversity was casual-even when the grandmothers messed up pronoun usage it was just part of the flow and immediately fixed (though I would have adored more than a reference to a sukkah, I'm so desperate to see some non Holocaust Jewish representation...) and I generally liked the art style. It just felt a little like catching the second movie of a trilogy, or starting a new series a few episodes in. Media res works sometimes, but here it felt a little too far in and made the relationship feel like a wham insta-love kind of deal. I would have really loved more about the demon-how did it become one since it wasn't one to start? (All I could think of was princess mononoke with the spirits becoming demons.) And the stepdad-mom thing. And the ghost parents. It's like there wasn't quite enough world to hold up all the story.

Not amazing, but a solid simple biography. I appreciate that he does minimal imagining of thoughts and feelings and has excellent examples of her work.

This book has you on the edge of your seat and waiting to figure out what the big reveal is going to be. Back and forth through the chapters the reader questions whether the main character, Beth, is hallucinating seeing her best friend and children. The problem is that the children haven’t aged; they are still three and five years old like they were before Beth and Flora had a falling out 12 years ago. This book was really enticing and a very easy read that keeps you involved and motivated to solve the mystery that consumes the characters. A story that comments on how terrible the urge for perfection can be and the importance or not giving up on the truth, “Perfect Little Children” shows that friendship can prevail even after many years.