Graphic Novel Review: Friends with Boys by Faith Erin Hicks

Book Title: Friends with Boys

Author: Faith Erin Hicks

Publish Date: February 28, 2012

Genre: Young Adult Graphic Novel

Plot (from Goodreads):  

After years of homeschooling, Maggie is starting high school. It's pretty terrifying.

Maggie's big brothers are there to watch her back, but ever since Mom left it just hasn't been the same.

Besides her brothers, Maggie's never had any real friends before. Lucy and Alistair don't have lots of friends either. But they eat lunch with her at school and bring her along on their small-town adventures.

Missing mothers...distant brothers...high school...new friends... It's a lot to deal with. But there's just one more thing.

MAGGIE IS HAUNTED.

Why I Read this Book: I checked out this book from the library after it was recommended to me on Goodreads.

 

Review

The morals taught in this graphic novel are great: 

1. It is always good to forgive others.  
2. You should not judge others.  
3. It is okay to be different.  
4. Ignore stereotypes.  

The writing style was entertaining.  The art was amazing!  This is a wonderful coming of age novel which would be perfect for those going into high school.  With that being said, there are a few cuss words in it.

 

Final Statements

Recommended Reading Age: 13+ for foul language

Overall Rating: 4.5/5

Children's Book Review Tuesdays: The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis

Book Title: The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe

Author: C.S. Lewis

Publish Date: March 5, 2012 (First Published in 1950)

Genre: Children's Fiction, Fantasy

Series Name: The Chronicles of Narnia (Publication Order, #2)

Plot (from Amazon):  

Narnia . . . a land frozen in eternal winter . . . a country waiting to be set free
Four adventurers step through a wardrobe door and into the land of Narnia, a land enslaved by the power of the White Witch. But when almost all hope is lost, the return of the Great Lion, Aslan, signals a great change . . . and a great sacrifice.
The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe is the second book in C.S. Lewis's The Chronicles of Narnia, a series that has become part of the canon of classic literature, drawing readers of all ages into a magical land with unforgettable characters for over fifty years. This is a stand-alone read, but if you would like to explore more of the Narnian realm, pick up The Horse and His Boy, the third book in The Chronicles of Narnia.

Why I Read this Book: I hope to read through this series throughout this summer.  I have never read this series before.

 

Review 

This novel was a great middle grade novel and was better than the Magician's Nephew.  I loved the fantasy elements in this book.  This series is filled with wonderful Christian allegories!  I cannot wait to read the rest of the series!

 

Final Statements

Recommended Reading Age: Any Age

Overall Rating: 4/5

Sweet Summer, Crazy for YA Books, Library Books Readathons: Weekly Wrap Up

Goals Summary

Read 2100 pages (average of 300 a day)

• Monday: 411 pages
• Tuesday: 408 pages
• Wednesday: 1288 pages
• Thursday: 429 pages
• Friday: 609 pages
• Saturday: 51 pages
• Sunday: 20 pages

I did not have much time to myself this weekend, so I did not get to read as much.  My total page count was 3216 pages for an average of 459 pages a day.  I would not have been able to do this if I had not read so many manga and graphic novels.

Post daily update posts during the read-a-thon

I have done a daily update post for all of the posts except for Sunday.
 
Post a wrap-up post after the read-a-thon 
 
Here is is! :)
 
Finish The Scorch Trials audiobook (somewhat completing the optional challenge for the Sweet Summer Readathon)

I did not finish this book, but I did make some progress :)
 
Participate in the daily challenges for the Sweet Summer Readathon

Luckily, I did not specify how many of these I would do.  I ended up completing 3 challenges, but did not do all of the challenges for this readathon.
 
Read a book set in the summer for the Sweet Summer Readathon optional challenge

I did not do this challenge :(
 
Read as many library books as I can for the Library Books Readathon 

I finished 1 novel and 14 graphic novels from the library.  That's pretty successful!

Thoughts

I really enjoyed participating in these readathons.  I had a lot of fun and made a lot of progress.  I wish that I had finished more novels.  I got kind of stuck in Everfound.  I will not pick a 500 page novel for a readathon.

Sweet Summer, Crazy for YA Books, and Library Book Readathons: Day 6 Wrap Up (Saturday, June 14)

Reading Completed

Today I was able to read 51 pages.  I did not reach my goal of 300 pages.  Here is what I read:

• Continued Everfound by Neal Shusterman (read 51 pages, total of 220/500 pages)

Thoughts

Today was a busy day for me and I did not read as much as I would have hoped.  Hopefully, I will get to read more today and maybe finish Everfound.