Cannabis: The Illegalization of Weed in America

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Box Brown turns over another piece of history to reveal its seedy underbelly. I think I'd read pretty much anything Box Brown wrote. I loved Andre the Giant and got sucked in to Tetris. I wasn't sure that I'd like or appreciate Cannabis, but I was wrong. Brown's simple line drawing and matter-of-fact writing style make clear muddled history. I think this is a timely book, not just because there are recreational cannabis laws popping up on ballots across the country, but also because we're continually being faced with dissembling politicians trotting out "scientific facts" and "polls" to support whatever legislation they're being paid to support. For people who like graphic novels, history (including Steve Sheinkin), and political scandals.

Manfried the Man by Caitlin Majors

In Major and Bastow's world, cats are large intelligent creatures and men are....cats. Though they still retain their odd human hairlessness, their ability to walk upright, and other humanish traits. Manfried the Man is really the story of Steve Catson. Stuck in a dead-end job that he hates and not motivated enough to get his art going and out there, Steve exists and makes bad decision after bad decision. When he's at his lowest, Manfried, his man, goes missing sparking Steve to finally do something.

Manfried the Man was interesting - I liked the little quirks of owning a man versus a cat. Men say "Hey" not meow, eating food that is shaped like tiny people food. While Steve's misadventures are frequently cringe-worthy, they're real, and the whole thing is topped off with a believable and happy ending. The art is perfect for this kind of a story, round and often cute, without being too twee. This definitely isn't for everyone, but I think it will resonate with cat-lovers.

Thanks to Edelweiss and Quirk for the egalley!

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Ms. Marvel: Volume 1: No Normal

Kamala Khan has the usual problems teenagers have: overly protective parents, changing friends, and homework. Normal teenage problems. Plus, you know, the ability to transform into other people and embiggen herself at will. And the little issue with being mistaken for Captain Marvel while saving the life of her friend during a weird green smokey-fog. Kamala has to figure out what she's going to do with her powers and how she's going to protect herself and her friends and her family.
 

This is such a strong start for a reboot of Ms. Marvel. Kamala Khan kicks so much butt as Ms. Marvel. I want to give this to every nerdy girl who needs a hero. Wilson does a stupendous job of creating a diverse character who is unique, round, interesting, but also accessible to a non-diverse audience (I know, I know, that sounds really awful - but I can see my teen readers picking up a graphic novel with a Muslim character and putting it right back down. The superhero aspect helps to bridge the gap - it's about Kamala and being a PoC and a Muslim, but it's also about being a superhero. I'm hoping that once they see how awesome this is, it'll be a gateway book to other books with main characters PoC.). As someone who is really just starting to dip her toe into the ocean of superheroes, this was a good intro to Ms. Marvel. I didn't feel like I was missing a ton of backstory or I'd jumped into the middle of an arc. I learned just what I needed to know about Ms. Marvel and Captain Marvel while reading volume one and I felt like Kamala is also learning right along with me. The artwork is superb. My usual comic art preference is bold clean lines and bright colors, but this worked for me. I felt like the art fit the subject well - Kamala was all over the place and long, lanky, and bendy, which feels a lot like adolescence anyway - who doesn't feel like they have hands the size of hams and pencil arms and legs? Overall two thumbs way way way up. This is definitely one for the books.

Smile by Raina Telgemeier

In a semi-autobiographical graphic novel, Raina Telgemeier tells the story of her ordeal with her teeth (and other growing up stuff). After a girl scout meeting, Raina trips and falls and injures her two front teeth. This results in more orthodontics and dental work than anyone really ever wants to think about. As the orthodontist learns to wrangle her teeth, Raina learns about growing up, making friends, and just being a kid.

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I can't wait to bring this to the fifth graders this year. They're going to eat it up; I just know it. Raina's orthodontic adventure brought all kinds of memories back for me. The summer between my freshman and sophomore years of high school, I had maxillofacial jaw surgery - meaning a jaw surgeon cut off my top jaw and moved it back so I wouldn't have such a horrendous overbite. That plus years of braces, retainers, adjusters, spacers, brackets, and tooth extraction gave me the beautiful smile I have today. I think that's why Smile especially spoke to me; just as I was starting to go through the most awkward period of my life (no pun intended), I had to deal with a bunch of metal and pain in my mouth. Like navigating puberty isn't enough. Telgemeier does an excellent job of showing the awkwardness of first "like," learning when to make new friends and how, all while dealing with goofy looking teeth. The art of Smile is great - very colorful and cartoony which will appeal to younger readers, but not too picture book-esque that it will turn off older readers. Telgemeier did a great job capturing the outfits and style of the 80s and 90s, but without making the book look dated. I definitely think that tween girls will love this book.

The Nameless City by Faith Erin Hicks

Kaidu wants nothing more than to go to Dandao, the city of a thousand names. When he arrives there, he finds that the Nameless City is nothing like he imagined. He flails through his training to become a warrior, admitting that he "likes books better than blades." During an accidental excursion into the city, he runs into Rat, a girl who has always lived in the city, someone who will change his point of view of both the city and his own people's role in it.
 

The artwork in this installation is gorgeous. Hicks must have spent hours painstakingly drawing out every landscape. The details are astonishing and the coloring is rich and vibrant. That being said, the story is a little lacking. The world-building is intriguing and I definitely want to find out more about the Nameless City and its origins. The characters were interesting, but no one really stood out from the crowd. Kai was, to me, nothing more than a foil for introducing the reader to the city. This felt more like the prologue of a story than a full story in and of itself. The action really starts happening and the book ends. That being said, I will pick up the next installment to see where the story goes and how the characters develop.

My copy courtesy of First Second and Netgalley.