Fashion Kitty and the BOYS

Fashion Kitty and the B.O.Y.S.: (Ball of Yellow String) Charise Mericle Harper

Leon hates Fashion Kitty. Leon hates most things. Leon wants to catch Fashion Kitty!

Meanwhile, Kiki (aka, Fashion Kitty) is trying to help her friend Lester, who keeps having things ruined by his twin brother (you guessed it) Leon!

And it all comes to a big showdown on the day of the school fashion show!

Fashion Kitty remains a funny and fun read. This one was a bit different because a lot of it focused on Leon. Also, it was always a bit of a hybrid between comic book and novel, but was mostly comic book. This volume is much more evenly split between comic and text.

I most liked the changing relationship between Kiki and her little sister. Fans of Fashion Kitty will enjoy it.

Book Provided by... my local library

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Ways to laugh at the pain that is Junior High

Flashcards of My Life Charise Mericle Harper

Emily is trying to navigate a mother who is always on a diet and fighting with her father, and friends who don't get along. Add in a major crush and... well, it's not easy. She never manages to keep a journal like her Aunt Chester thinks she should, so Aunt Chester (not really her aunt, and not really named Chester, but... it's a long story) sends her "Flashcards of my Life" flashcards with headings like "friends" "kisses" "embarrassments." It's a project Em thinks she can handle.

Harper perfectly captures the awkward horribleness of junior high, and with great humor. Em illustrates her story and the flashcards with drawings about how her friends get along like "tuna fish and ice cream" and charts to map out levels of friendships, "Things Your Friends Might Do to Crush-Test You" and things she wished came in potion form, like not getting a red face or always saying the right thing. It's a funny read, but one that does deal with the real angst-issues of the age range. I really, really enjoyed this one and have been throwing it at tween girls ever since reading it.

A great one for your female fans of Diary of a Wimpy Kid.

Book Provided by... my local library

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Comics for Kids!

Alrighty, Graphic Novel Week is not over yet, because I still have some graphic novels to talk about!

Today, it's Graphic Novels for the 12-and-under set.

Anyway, normally I don't review Babymouse books, because they fall under my 100 page rule and don't really meet any of the exceptions to that rule (books that pack a huge literary wallop so I feel like the 100 page rule doesn't matter, books that I have to review or discuss critically for something else, books I have something interesting to say about and that I feel compelled to talk about.)

Anyway, BUT! It's Graphic Novels week! And the new Babymouse is about musicals, so it totally fits under the parameters of Becky's Do Re Mi challenge.

Babymouse: The Musical Jennifer and Matthew Holm

It's the musical and Babymouse and Felcia are going head-to-head for the lead. Plus! New British boy!

There's not much story to this one, but lots of references to other musicals-- Chorus Line, High School Musical, Lion King, My Fair Lady, Pirates of Penzance, American Idol, Grease, Annie, West Side Story, Cats, Fiddler on the Roof, Chicago, Les Miserables, Sound of Music, Evita, and some that I know I'm missing.

Plus, the squid in her locker is totally playing the role of the Phantom of the Opera (or, rather, the Phantom of the Locker).

I don't think kids will get all the references to the different musicals, but it is fun. Fans of Babymouse will like this one (who else literally breaks their leg?)

Fashion Kitty and the Unlikely Hero Charise Mericle Harper

Fashion Kitty is meeting disaster--they need school uniforms! How will Kiki and her friends cope with everyone looking the same?

Plus, no choices in fashion mean that Fashion Kitty is no longer a super-hero in demand! So, when Fashion Kitty does get a call, she's more than a little dejected when her helpful advice is rejected...

Can Fashion Kitty save the day? Or will someone else end up solving this problem?

I really like Fashion Kitty. While the story is light and fun, there is some meat on it. It is mainly a graphic novel, but their usually is a sentence or two on every page offering some narration. The back of this book features a fashion fortune teller, as well as paper dolls of Kiki and June (paper dolls end up being rather important in the story itself.) I also like that the glitter on the cover STAYS on the cover and does not dust off all over the place.

Rapunzel's Revenge Shannon and Dean Hale, Nathan Hale

You know how everyone says this rootin'-tootin' old west take on Rapunzel is awesome? It is. I don't have much more to say than that, it's all been said before. There's a reason this bad girl won the Cybil!