Book Review: Saga, Volumes 1-9 by Brian K. Vaughn and Fiona Staples

Saga, Volumes 1-9
by Brian K. Vaughn, with illustrator Fiona Staples (741.5 Vau)

 

The title Saga says it all. This comic series, full of interplanetary beings, love and war is action-packed and vibrantly illustrated. Full of social commentary and deep themes that explore equality and otherness, these volumes explore the story of a interracial family trying to make it in a universe gone mad. The beautiful, emotional art is not for the faint of heart. Expect some vulgarity and mind-bending mature content mixed in with your romance and action.

 

(If you enjoy this, you may also wish to try Monstress by Marjorie Liu or The Interdependency series by John Scalzi.)

 

( publisher’s official Saga web site ) | ( Wikipedia entry for Brian K. Vaughn ) | ( official Fiona Staples Instagram page )

 

Recommended by Meagan M.
Walt Branch Library

 

Have you read or listened to this one? What did you think? Did you find this review helpful?

New reviews appear every month on the Staff Recommendations page of the BookGuide website. You can visit that page to see them all, or watch them appear here in the BookGuide Blog individually over the course of the entire month. Click the tag for the reviewer's name to see more of this reviewer’s recommendations!

New Staff Reviewer Profile: Meagan M at the Walt Branch Library

The BookGuide reviewer of the month for November 2022 is Meagan M., who works at the Bess Dodson Walt Branch Library in the southwest part of Lincoln.

Meagan has been with the Lincoln City Libraries for 8 years, and in that time has contributed several reviews to the Staff Recommendations page(s) on the libraries' BookGuide reader resources pages, as well as providing booklists from book talks she's given through the library system.

Please check out Meagan's Reviewer Profile page below, where you'll find links to all her past book reviews and booktalk booklists!

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Reviewer Profile: Meagan M. at the Walt Branch Library

Book Review: A Children's Bible by Lydia Millet

A Children’s Bible
by Lydia Millet (Millett)

The teenage narrator of the novel, Evie, is navigating a multi-family vacation gone awry. Between a lack of supervision and a supercharged storm a group of children experience a whirlwind of events. This story is a snarky, at times silly, social commentary that focuses on the climate situation and the ways in which people handle new realities.

 

It is a timely, entertaining and unique read.

(If you enjoy this, you may also wish to try The 2084 Report: A Novel of the Great Warming by James Lawrence Powell, Lord of the Files by William Golding or the movie Moonrise Kingdom directed by Wes Anderson.)

( official Lydia Millett web site (also official website for the book) )

 

Recommended by Meagan M.
Walt Branch Library

 

Have you read or listened to this one? What did you think? Did you find this review helpful?

New reviews appear every month on the Staff Recommendations page of the BookGuide website. You can visit that page to see them all, or watch them appear here in the BookGuide Blog individually over the course of the entire month. Click the tag for the reviewer's name to see more of this reviewer’s recommendations!

Book Review: Race Against Time by Sandra Neil Wallace

Race Against Time: The Untold Story of Scipio Jones and the Battle to Save Twelve Innocent Men

by Sandra Neil Wallace (j 305.8 AfrYw)

 

This gripping youth non-fiction work focuses on righting an injustice: the fact that many do not know the story of Scipio Jones, a formerly enslaved and self-taught lawyer, or how he came to champion the cause of a dozen men unfairly arrested and condemned to die. This enlightening work delves into part of American history leading up to, and surrounding, the Elaine, Arkansas massacre of 1919, as well as a man who refused to give up in the face of adversity and racism at great personal cost and peril.

[If you enjoy this, you may also wish to try Claudette Colvin: Twice Toward Justice by Phillip Hoose or I Am a Man: Chief Standing Bear’s Journey for Justice by Joe Starita.]

[ official Race Against Time page on the official Sandra Neil Wallace web site ]

 

Recommended by Meagan M.
Walt Branch Library

 

Have you read or listened to this one? What did you think? Did you find this review helpful?

New reviews appear every month on the Staff Recommendations page of the BookGuide website. You can visit that page to see them all, or watch them appear here in the BookGuide Blog individually over the course of the entire month. Click the tag for the reviewer's name to see more of this reviewer’s recommendations!

Book Review: Claudette Colvin: Twice Toward Freedom by Phillip Hoose

Claudette Colvin: Twice Toward Freedom
by Phillip Hoose (j Biography Colvin)

Are you on the search for a new historical heroine or hero? Countless people have been inspired by Rosa Parks and her act of civil disobedience that helped to spark the Montgomery Bus Boycott, but who inspired Ms. Parks? “Claudette Colvin: twice towards justice” helps bring better to light the story of one of the Civil Rights Movement’s founding mothers. Often overlooked due to a “bum rap,” Claudette Colvin was only fifteen years old when she refused to give up her seat on a Montgomery bus. She demanded her “constitutional right” a full nine months before Rosa Parks made a similar act of civil disobedience, so why is her story not better known? Although she was pushed aside by the adults of the movement, Colvin never stopped fighting for what she believed in: herself and her rights. Despite her poor treatment Colvin agreed to take part in the landmark case of Browder vs. Gayle. The resulting ruling against the city of Montgomery brought about the end of the bus boycott and desegregated the system, making Colvin twice the pioneer in the Civil Rights Movement.

[If you enjoy this, you may also wish to try Uprooted: The Japanese American Experience During World War II by Albert Marrin or A Few Red Drops: The Chicago Race Riot of 1919 by Claire Harfield. Both of these works also focus on race relations and facets of U.S. history which are not always commonly known or discussed. These titles are great resources for in-depth look into these American experiences.]

[ official Claudette Colvin: Twice Toward Freedom page on the official Phillip Hoose web site ]

Recommended by Meagan M.
Walt Branch Library

Have you read or listened to this one? What did you think? Did you find this review helpful?

New reviews appear every month on the Staff Recommendations page of the BookGuide website. You can visit that page to see them all, or watch them appear here in the BookGuide Blog individually over the course of the entire month. Click the tag for the reviewer's name to see more of this reviewer’s recommendations!