A Trio of Cybils Nominees

Joey Fly Private Eye in Creepy Crawly Crime by Aaron Reynolds. illustrated by Neil Numberman. 2009. Age 8+. - This is a wonderful crime noire in graphic novel format. Taking place in the Bug City all the characters are various insects and arachnids. Joey Fly is a Private Eye (da da daaaa) and Sammy Stingtail (a scorpion) is his sidekick. Written in classic thirties private eye style, "It was a muggy summer day when he walked through my door. Right away, I thought he looked like trouble. I was right.", the book is a pure joy to read. The crime is a fun one to keep kids guessing and following the clues and there is plenty of humour. Most of the art is done in dark blue & white to give that old noire feeling but other colour palettes show up as well to add variety. A lot of fun and definitely a winner! Loved it! 5/5


The Incredible Rockhead by Scott Nickel. illustrated by C.S. Jennings. 2009. Age 8+ - I'm a big fan of Stone Arch Press books but have to say I finally found one that I didn't like. Chip, as geeky as a geek can get, is turned into Rockhead, a supposed superhero. Basically his head turns into a rock and he has a hard time standing up, give him a push and he can smash into things. Anyway, he saves the kids at the zoo from escaped dangerous animals by smashing into them?! I'm as far away from a tree hugger as you can get but even to me piles of dazed animals who have been smashed into isn't my idea of fun or a superhero. Don't bother. 1/5




The Emperor's New Clothes by Stephanie True Peters. illustrated by Jeffrey Stewart Timmins. 2009. Age 7+ - I'm a big fan of this fairy tale series by Stone Arch Press. I've already reviewed both Rapunzel and Three Little Pigs and hope to read the rest of them with my son. The story remains quite true to the original excepting that the emperor is in his underwear instead of being naked and there's a fun twist with the ending. The artwork is bright and bold with wonderful eccentric figures. The artist appears to have done the foreground figures on watercolour paper with the backgrounds done in some other method. Not my favourite in this series but still a great fun book. 3.5/5

Nicola

The Color of Earth by Kim Dong Hwa

The Color of Earth by Kim Dong Hwa, translated by Lauren Na
The Story of Life on the Golden Fields Vol. 1

Pages: 319 pgs.
Ages: 16+
First Published: (Apr. 2009 Eng. trans) (2003 orig. Korean)
Rating: 4.5/5

First sentence:

"Golly! Them beetles are matin'."

Reason for Reading: Cybils nominee.

Summary: This is the story of two women, one a little and the other her young widowed mother. The story focuses on the little girl and her awakening identity as a woman, and also as a side story is her mother who finds love again for the first time since her husband's death. As the back of my book says "first love and second chances."

Comments: This first book in a trilogy follows the little girl from the age of about six to fourteen. It takes place in a small Korean village in a time period unknown, with the only clue to placing it somewhere in the 20th century being a steam or coal engine train. Now, I'll start off by saying this is not the type of book I would normally read *at all*. I am much too conservative to even want to read a book that has the words "s*xual awakening" on the front flap but doing my job as a Cybils panelist I reluctantly set down to give the book a chance.

I can't quite know how to say just how beautiful a story this was. A little girl's curiosity about her body, the difference between boys and girls, grown-up things she over hears and how she goes straight to her mother with her questions and confusion is a tender love story in itself. The mother/daughter relationship presented here is truly touching and really the backbone of this volume. For those wanting a plot there really isn't any. We are touched by the maternal relationship and watch as each of them separately experiences womanhood. The little girl's experiences of finding our about her body, how it's different than a boys, her first period and her first crush on a boy, who is studying to be a monk, are all respectfully portrayed. The mother, who is young and beautiful, suddenly finds that love for a man can touch her heart again when she falls in love with a traveling artist who keeps returning to visit her. There are a couple of incidents in the book that I could have done without but for the most part the material is presented in a decent way, making for a truly touching story.

I also really enjoyed the artwork. The is the first time I've read Korean manga which is called manhwa. I'm not a huge fan of manga artwork as I hate the horrible fake over expressive faces and how all the men look like girls. But this book was not drawn that way at all, aside from the occasional great big mouth to show extreme emotions all the artwork is very realistic and the detailed background scenery in many frames is lovely. The men aslo look like men. I wonder if this is typical of Korean manhwa or just this particular artist's style.

I've fallen for Ewha, the little girl, and I'll be reading the next book for sure. Though I won't commit any further as I'll have to see if the story remains within my boundaries as she gets older. This book, The Color of Earth, is not going to be for everyone but if the topic interests you and you are comfortable with the subject matter then I hope you find the story as touching as I did. I'll end with a lovely little quote the girl says to herself near the end of the book:

Because I asked something I shouldn't have asked. I heard what I shouldn't have heard. And because I went where I shouldn't have gone, I saw what I shouldn't have seen. How will my young heart cope with all that I've heard and seen?

Nicola