Miscellayneous

I'm so excited to welcome book reviews to my blog. Books are something I have been passionate about ever since I was young and my grandma would take me to the library to galavant and pick out chapter books while she read in her chair. I learned how to read at an early age and my passion for reading goes hand in hand with my passion for writing. As you might have seen on my sidebar, I've entered the Goodreads Reading Challenge this year with the goal to read 100 books, so I thought while I am reading them, I would come chat about them with you!

These next posts that you'll see categorized are catching up with the books already finished by their genre. One genre I have really been loving this year is Young Adult Graphic Novels. I only recently got into graphic novels with the Paper Girls series, which will be talked about in another post. 

Kicking off YA Graphic Novels we have

The Babysitter's Club by Raina Telgemeier and Gale Galligan, based on the novels by Ann M. Martin

Following the same characters and the same stories as the original series, these are stories about a group of girls who start a babysitting club. Each book is centered around one of the girls in the group. These novels discuss important topics for their demographic such as friendship, responsibility, divorce, and relationships with siblings. Telgemeier does the first four while Galligan does number 5 & 6. As we speak, I have only read the first four, but the characters are engaging and they each have such a beautiful story. Combined with their chemistry, it's a must read for young adults.

Roller Girl and All's Faire in Middle School by Victoria Jamieson

Jamieson creates memorable characters and puts them in situations that I haven't seen in books before, and she does it with such grace. These are two separate books, one follows a girl who joins a roller derby team and the other whose family works at the renaissance faire. Like many other books in this genre, Jamieson covers important topics for young audiences including family issues, handling drama, and finding where you fit in.

 Drama, Ghosts, Sisters, and Smile by Raina Telgemeier

I have a lot of love and admiration for Telgemeier's storytelling.

Sisters and Smile are biographic about Telegmeier.
 In Sisters, Raina can't wait to be a big sister and then her sister is born and they need to figure out how to get along with each other.
In Smile, Raina trips outside of Girl Scouts and it tells the story of her on again/off again relationship and battle with braces.
Ghosts is about a family who moves due to the younger of two sisters cystic fibrosis. It grows into a story about moving, sibling relationships, and conquering fears.
In Drama, we follow a girl who does tech for her school's drama club while she balances crushes, friendship, and embracing your own creativity.

Awkward, Brave, and Crush  by Svetlana Chmakova

All of these stories take place at Berrybook School, which causes characters to crossover into each other's stories and minor characters to take the spotlight in their own book.

In Awkward, Peppi pushes Jamie, the nerdiest boy in school, after people call her his girlfriend. When the art club and the science club have to work together, Peppi is pressed to learn to apologize and be the bigger person.
In Brave, Jensen is an overweight daydreamer who deals with bullying, several social groups, and learning to become the hero of his own story.
In Crush, Jorge is a person that other kids don't mess with, but he's feeling the pressure while gender dynamics change in middle school, being the better person in situations, and having his first crush.

Chmakova's characters leap off of the page. They are vivid and unique, but grounded and very real. She handles issues that every tween faces in middle school and these are useful is teaching kids how to handle these issues in an engaging way.

Lupin Leaps In by Georgia Dunn

If you want a fun, whimsical, laugh-out-loud read, this is the graphic novel for you. This story follows two cats who pretend to be news reporters and report on their owner through his day to day tasks. It's the second book involving these cats, and I haven't read the first one. But, they're a wonderful light read that people of any age can enjoy.

All Summer Long by Hope Larson

This is the graphic novel that brought me into the graphic novel universe. The art style in this is beautiful and so much is done with a limited color scheme. The story follows Bina, who's best guy friend is going to soccer camp for the summer, sparking a journey of self discovery and growing up. This holds a special place in my heart because I think opposite gender BFF relationships are not discussed enough in YA literature, and Larson does a great job with it.

That's all I've got for YA Graphic Novels today. My next round up post is going to be focused on Teen lit, which is focused for ages 13+ where YA is 12 and under. I've also got graphic novels, fiction, and books about the craft of writing. After these round up posts are done, we'll be going in title by title as I plug through my 2019 Goodreads Challenge.

Are there any books you've been reading lately? What are your favorite genres? Let's get the conversation about literature started in the comments below.