A gentle reminder of music’s might.
In this graphic novel inspired by actual events, a love of music blossoms unexpectedly in a small Paraguayan village surrounded by garbage.
What do the children do when their parents go to work? The village of Cateura has no school, so young people find other ways to fill their time. Frustrated at seeing some of the kids doing drugs, Mr. Diego, a local musician, decides to offer music lessons. The other adults are skeptical: “Music is for rich people!” Nevertheless, Mr. Diego posts flyers around town, welcoming anyone interested in learning. And many children appear, including siblings Daniel and Ada. As the class grows, Mr. Diego faces another issue: no money to buy instruments for all the students. Enter his carpenter friend Nicolas, who builds instruments out of pieces of scraps he finds at the dump (sometimes with help from the kids). Even the other adults begin to have hope in the music class. Soon, the mayor of the nearby capital of Asunción invites Mr. Diego’s budding orchestra for a performance. Translated from French, this spare, slightly fictionalized account of the story of Favio Chávez and La Orquesta de Instrumentos Reciclados de Cateura is infused with optimism. The muted, sober artwork foregrounds the subtle environmental message, with small bursts of color appearing during a crucial scene. All in all, it’s a story retold with evident admiration.
A gentle reminder of music’s might. (Graphic fiction. 8-12)Pub Date: April 4, 2023
ISBN: 9781728478234
Page Count: 128
Publisher: Graphic Universe
Review Posted Online: Feb. 24, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2023
Readers can still rely on this series to bring laughs.
The Heffley family’s house undergoes a disastrous attempt at home improvement.
When Great Aunt Reba dies, she leaves some money to the family. Greg’s mom calls a family meeting to determine what to do with their share, proposing home improvements and then overruling the family’s cartoonish wish lists and instead pushing for an addition to the kitchen. Before bringing in the construction crew, the Heffleys attempt to do minor maintenance and repairs themselves—during which Greg fails at the work in various slapstick scenes. Once the professionals are brought in, the problems keep getting worse: angry neighbors, terrifying problems in walls, and—most serious—civil permitting issues that put the kibosh on what work’s been done. Left with only enough inheritance to patch and repair the exterior of the house—and with the school’s dismal standardized test scores as a final straw—Greg’s mom steers the family toward moving, opening up house-hunting and house-selling storylines (and devastating loyal Rowley, who doesn’t want to lose his best friend). While Greg’s positive about the move, he’s not completely uncaring about Rowley’s action. (And of course, Greg himself is not as unaffected as he wishes.) The gags include effectively placed callbacks to seemingly incidental events (the “stress lizard” brought in on testing day is particularly funny) and a lampoon of after-school-special–style problem books. Just when it seems that the Heffleys really will move, a new sequence of chaotic trouble and property destruction heralds a return to the status quo. Whew.
Readers can still rely on this series to bring laughs. (Graphic/fiction hybrid. 8-12)Pub Date: Nov. 5, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-4197-3903-3
Page Count: 224
Publisher: Amulet/Abrams
Review Posted Online: Nov. 18, 2019
SEEN & HEARD
An emotional, much-needed historical graphic novel.
Sandy and his family, Japanese Canadians, experience hatred and incarceration during World War II.
Sandy Saito loves baseball, and the Vancouver Asahi ballplayers are his heroes. But when they lose in the 1941 semifinals, Sandy’s dad calls it a bad omen. Sure enough, in December 1941, Japan bombs Pearl Harbor in the U.S. The Canadian government begins to ban Japanese people from certain areas, moving them to “dormitories” and setting a curfew. Sandy wants to spend time with his father, but as a doctor, his dad is busy, often sneaking out past curfew to work. One night Papa is taken to “where he [is] needed most,” and the family is forced into an internment camp. Life at the camp isn’t easy, and even with some of the Asahi players playing ball there, it just isn’t the same. Trying to understand and find joy again, Sandy struggles with his new reality and relationship with his father. Based on the true experiences of Japanese Canadians and the Vancouver Asahi team, this graphic novel is a glimpse of how their lives were affected by WWII. The end is a bit abrupt, but it’s still an inspiring and sweet look at how baseball helped them through hardship. The illustrations are all in a sepia tone, giving it an antique look and conveying the emotions and struggles. None of the illustrations of their experiences are overly graphic, making it a good introduction to this upsetting topic for middle-grade readers.
An emotional, much-needed historical graphic novel. (afterword, further resources) (Graphic historical fiction. 9-12)Pub Date: Oct. 5, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-5253-0334-0
Page Count: 112
Publisher: Kids Can
Review Posted Online: June 28, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2021
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