The Yellow Ao Dai by Hanh Bui
I was thinking that The Yellow Ao Dai was going to be super sappy. The cover is cute and sweet looking, and the main character is a young child. The subject felt as if it was going to be a “feel good tale.” And it is but all that, but it is more, too. It is a feel-good story, but there is some meat with those potatoes. We follow a young Vietnamese girl excited to share part of her culture with her class, but her […]
M.O.M.: Mother of Madness, Volume 1 by Emilia Clarke and Marguerite Bennett
I am glad that I did not realize who Emilia Clarke is before I read this book. If you have been under a rock (like I obviously have) she is an actress from Game of Thrones (at least I have heard of that). The why of that is I am a snob when it comes to celebrity books (not completely convinced of quality to be blunt). Even with a psychedelic cover that made me a bit stomach upset, I am glad I gave this graphic […]
Monster Friends by Katei Vandorn
Monster Friends by Katei Vandorn is a cute story that is clever, and slightly new. However, for the adult it is a familiar story of hiding from your fears. Ages six to young 10 will flip out over the humor and the sweet story. If you know the book Crabapple Trouble, also by Vandorn, there might be a surprise or two for you! And while it is not overly colorful, but it is brightly created. It fits the mood of that section of story. And with minimal […]
Anni Dreams of Biryani by Namita Moolani Mehra
Anni Dreams of Biryani has a bittersweet ending. And that colored my feelings about the story Namita Moolani Mehra tells. I was on board with our young hero, Anni, as she tries to figure out how to make biryani as well as Uncle (as the man who owns the café across the way is called) does. But no matter what she does, she cannot get the secret from this grumpy (but eyes shining) man. Oh, her biryani comes close, but is not exactly right. And […]
Spellbound: A Graphic Memoir by Bishakh Kumar Som
At first, I found Spellbound: A Graphic Memoir by Bishakh Kumar Som a little confusing. You expect to get the story of Som, and while it starts off that way, you quickly go into a fictionalized version of who they are. With the character Anjali, we see who Som could be and in a way is, as their protagonist is a piece of them. This is a fun, informative and unique slice of life story that may not shatter the world but will rock it […]
Heartless Prince by Angela De Vito
I am not sure if I have missed a book in a series, or Heartless Prince is the first and the set up for a series, but there was something missing for me. I needed a score card to keep track of the names of the characters as they had similar names or had “fantasy” names and that was confusing. The artwork is strong, and expressive, but nothing “popped out” at me. Overall, it is a decent book but not the best. This would probably […]
