by Tom Hart

Why are so many adult graphic novels about such hard subjects? War, chronic illness, devastating loss. This one is a memoir of grief. The author’s daughter died suddenly and unexpectedly shortly before her second birthday. Navigating their new life without a beloved child- I can’t imagine anything more difficult. The pages here are all about the things they do trying to make it through each day, to overcome the feelings of hopelessness, guilt and despair. All while still dealing with everyday responsibilities and this huge hassle of trying to move out of New York city- unable to sell their apartment due to some complicated, irrational-sounding reasons imposed on them- and add to that the heartache of dealing with financial issues surrounding the death of their child. It seems so heartless to have to think about and handle such things while you’re feeling so devastated, but it had to be done… Some panels are just about the overwhelming sink of depression. Or depicting all the endearing and memorable things their child used to do and say. The things they wanted to teach her, and never had a chance to. The bafflement over what happened- could they have seen it coming, prevented it? Seeing portents and omens in things that were probably just unlucky circumstance. Suddenly gathering stories from all sorts of people- friends, acquaintances, complete strangers- about other children who died too young. Trying to find solace and healing in therapy, spending time in nature, and traveling to a retreat. Finally being able to move into a new place, see the possibility of another child in their family, move forward. But never forget. So heartbreaking and solemn. It touched me far more deeply than Imagine Wanting Only This– another book about a period of grief- this felt far more accessible to the reader. Some of the panels are drawn in a simple, cartoony style, others look rougher and sketchy- it fit the mood very well.

One page made me chuckle: the author is on a flight and hears a song someone else is listening to- a Beatles song he doesn’t recognize but it resonates with him. Just the first line of lyrics noted in the drawing made the whole song- tune and all the words- spring into my head because I know that one. He’d never heard it and was surprised- I recognized it instantly. Odd how some things can be like that (my husband is continually surprised when he plays songs I’ve never heard before- or don’t remember that I have- because he assumes everyone will know them).

Borrowed from the public library.

Rating: 3/5
274 pages, 2015

Artist: Kevin Daniel
Maker and Year: Sure-Lox, 2014
Count: 1,000 pieces
Final size: 24 x 15.5″
Piece Type/Variety: Ribbon cut, one shape
Piece quality: Poor
Skin irritation: Yes, minor

Finally, the last one! And it’s been on my puzzle board for over two weeks- I’ve been working this at home, in between days of doing others at the library. Mostly I sat down to it on the weekends. It’s one of those difficult puzzles that made me feel very satisfied to complete, looks very impressive when done. The golden-hued trees, large tree trunk behind the main eagle, and eagle itself weren’t too bad. But all that blue sky/dark tree background, and all those evergreen needles going every which way, was hard. Lots of trial-and-error fitting, over and over. Sometimes it felt so tedious I just put it away for the day with a headache. I can’t imagine the patience the artist must have had, to paint all those fine details!

a thrift store find

by Jeff Lemire

Jack works as a welder on a oil rig. He seems obsessed with work- at least his co-workers think so- often leaving his expectant wife home alone because he’d rather be under the ocean. He tells himself it’s because he finds peace there, that he’d rather be alone. The stressors of upcoming parenthood seem too much, cause a strain in their relationship- arguments, she feels like he isn’t helping enough, he feels like she’s being demanding.. But as the pages unfold, Jack discovers- and the reader finds out- that maybe he is really fleeing his past. There’s something he has to confront there. An old guilt. A loss that maybe he didn’t know how to deal with when he was young. The story is illustrated in a rough, sketchy style that sometimes had me wondering a bit what was really happening, visually. It also wanders in and out of time- sometimes showing the present, sometimes the past, as Jack dives into memories- or relives them, or thinks he’s walking around talking to his younger self. At first I assumrd he was experiencing some mental confusion from decompression sickness, but now at the close of the book I’m not sure. Strange things happened to his perception of time and self while he was down there under the water, and he couldn’t shake an ominous feeling until he went back to figure out what it was. Finally he’s able to confront what happened to his father, admit his feelings of culpability- and forgive himself. I’m glad it ended on a somewhat happy note, because I was really concerned about his wife and child. Being alone.

Borrowed from the public library.

Rating: 3/5
224 pages, 2012

Artist: Luke Buck
Maker and Year: Sure-Lox, 2014
Count: 750 pieces
Final size: 22.5 x 15″
Piece Type/Variety: Ribbon cut, one shape
Piece quality: Poor
Skin irritation: Yes, minor

From the Sure-Lox set. This one was a bit difficult- all the foliage rather indistinct. But I found myself liking it- especially the variety of textures, some areas very closely rendered, others more abstract, painterly. And it looks like there was a fingerprint in the artwork!

I didn’t even seen this squirrel in the tree until I put its piece into place:

Curious what this little structure is under the covered bridge- anyone know?

Assembly shots. Some of the initial photos are rather awful, I didn’t realize they were out of focus until now. Surprisingly, they were all on my flip phone until the last one taken at home (you can see I was working at the library again, transporting on sheets of paper) I suppose I just had a steadier hand the second day.

Keeping this one. I’d like to work it again, see if it goes easier the second time around. Final:

a thrift store find

by Fabien Vehlmann

And I thought Darkly She Goes was dark. This one is dark. Not sensual at all, but very macabre. It’s like Lord of the Flies with a slight fantasy twist and also weirdly reminded me of those Little Horse books I just read- simply because it was about miniature people. I won’t tell what happens eight pages in, it gave me quite a start and a jolt of remembering that book I very much did not understand, Pincher Martin. Enough of all the comparisons, but there was a lot swarming in my head after reading this one. Can’t get it out of my mind, keep mulling over what it must all mean, what it says about human nature and decay. That’s why I give this one four stars: it’s not a nice book, it’s quite disturbing but it really sticks in your head. Can’t stop thinking about it, or picturing it. Some of which I don’t want to!

A girl is chatting coyly with this prince she likes, when suddenly strange things start happening and they crawl through a mess out into a different world. They find themselves miniature- small enough to ride a sparrow, or get attacked by a squirrel. Even insects are menacing. They immediately have to figure out means of survival- building rough shelters and scavenging for food. Accompanied by a bunch of other tiny people who crawl out of the same -ahem- wreckage. Some of them are drawn in a very cartoony style, while other characters later in the book look far more realistic- I think I finally get why but it’s part of the twist in the novel so I won’t reveal that here. Well, there’s not a ton of plot here- just little snippets of scenes showing what all these tiny people do trying to survive. Eating things they find which are not always safe- a whole bunch of them die from ingesting mushrooms (and when their names are listed, you realize you barely know who they were). Others die by freak accidents, or from doing stupid things: one crawls into a bird nest to keep warm among the nestlings but then gets fatally injured by the mother bird’s beak when she feeds him. There’s a girl who accidentally touches a toxic plant, her hand swells up with a rash and someone comments on it, but that’s it. I suppose they just had no means of treatment, but you see her in the background getting progressively worse- first her arm swells too, then also one side of her face, then her whole body. And then you never see her again, and nobody else even seems to notice. Some of the little people are very resourceful, others just sit around and expect the rest to help them and take care of everything. The main character Aurora is very helpful, always watching out for others, organizing things, making decisions. She’s taken aback when the others act selfish, absorbed in useless pursuits, betraying each other, being petty and mean and conniving. Forcing others to do what they want, cruelly. Doing dumb things without thinking of the consequences (and often meeting their end that way). In the end they even take over the one place of safety and privacy she has, and she stops hoping for their better nature to come forward, recognizes they’re all just terrible, idiotic and self-absorbed people, and retaliates in a very final way.

At least that’s my take on it. Maybe I’ll interpret it differently at a later read. Definitely worth a repeat, though I’ll need a lot of time before that. There are far more gruesome things than I’ve mentioned here, I’m not going to describe more because honestly I want to forget about some of the details for now, but you’ve been warned! See some of the reviews I linked to for more (quite a few of them reveal stuff I’ve left out here).

Borrowed from the public library.

Rating: 4/5
94 pages, 2014

illustrated by David McPhail

by Betsy Byars

Little horse gets the chance he has been waiting for when a storm comes and lightning strikes the barn he’s in. He crawls out of the rubble and runs off into a field. He thinks the large (normal sized) horses will help him, but instead they are startled by his minuscule size and dash away from something so unfamiliar. Discouraged, the little horse decides it’s time to try and find his way home. He travels back up alongside the stream, facing once again threats from predators (a hawk and a housecat), and seeking shelter among the roots of a tree. (There’s also an odd moment where he creeps into a mouse hole -escaping the cat- and baby mice crawl on him). Then there’s the problem about how to cross the stream again. But in the end, he bravely overcomes all, keeps going even when it’s difficult and he’s very tired. And finds his family, safe at last in their remote valley. It’s a nice little story, though so short could easily be one book instead of two. But I know this is written for younger children. It’s surely more appealing than those easy-reader chapter books based on television shows and popular cartoon characters!

Borrowed from the public library.

Rating: 3/5
48 pages, 2004

illustrated by David McPhail

by Betsy Byars

I like some of this author’s books for older children- Summer of the Swans and The Cartoonist in particular. This one is very short, with brief chapters and simple sentences. I think it’s aimed at beginning readers. It’s about a little colt who goes down to drink at a stream, and gets swept away by the current. He can’t swim strong enough to escape, ends up on an island or sandbar at night, and is attacked by a hawk there. Escapes by jumping back into the water, goes further downstream navigating some dangerous obstacles (including a waterfall) and is finally able to get back on shore where it is calmer. Now comes the big surprise- everything here is different- much larger! The flowers tower over his head. The animals he meets are huge. I thought at first this was some magical land he’d found, but turns out he’s just from a herd of very tiny horses (standing no taller than your shoe) and didn’t realize it until he encountered other animals. (I did wonder a few pages earlier why a hawk would try to carry away a young horse). So the little horse narrowly avoids being hurt by a dog, is shocked to meet full-sized horses, and gets rescued from harm by humans. The man hands him to his kid, who builds the little cold a miniature stable. He finds safety there, but can’t stop wishing he could escape and get back home to his family. The next book shortly follows.

Borrowed from the public library.

Rating: 3/5
48 pages, 2004

illustrated by Vincent Mallié

by Hubert

Another adult fairy tale. And this one is dark. Not in an unpleasant way, though. And while there is some nudity and sex, it isn’t gratuitous. Two misunderstood characters, each with their own (though very different) dark past, come together unexpectedly. The man Arzhur was once a knight, but now simply a hired sword, struggling to better his sullied reputation. Some shady-looking wizened old women hire him to rescue a princess from a black castle and take her home to her father. But he quickly finds out that this princess doesn’t want to be rescued and the monsters there aren’t holding her captive. Returning to her father’s court isn’t in her plans either. He’s already messed things up by the time he realizes all this, so he tries to set things right but only gets more and move involved in the life of this strange woman, Islen. She’s not what she appears. She struggles to overcome her own inner burdens and embrace who she really is, without hurting others. Together they set off on a journey, confronting people they once knew well, learning more about each other, attempting to be who they really are without hiding. I can’t find a way to say more about this story without revealing some of the plot twists and surprises that make it such a good read. (Some parts reminded me of the Frozen movie, in a very general way. The struggle to control negative emotions and power, to love those you’re afraid of hurting . . . ) The artwork is stunning, I took twice as long to read this book than I needed, just to immerse myself in the images. It kind of ends on a cliffhanger, which upset me a bit because I wanted to know. I am not sure if the writer left the ending open to let the reader decide what happened next, or if there is a sequel coming. I hope it’s the latter!

Borrowed from the public library.

Rating: 4/5
152 pages, 2022

More opinions:
No Flying No Tights
Slings and Arrows
anyone else?

Amazing Stories of Symbiosis in Animals and Plants

by Macken Murphy

We all know about some beneficial symbiotic relationships between species: the bees that feed from flowers and pollinate them, the clownfish that lives in a sea anemone, the birds that pick a crocodile’s teeth clean. The meerkats that eat parasites off a warthog’s skin. This book has far more examples, some of them I’d never heard of, and quite a few that are not beneficial for both parties (but still considered symbiotic). Cowbirds and cuckoos are one- they parasitize other birds’ nests. Head lice on humans (I loved that the book included us in its profiles). The tiny pseudoscorpion that lives on a pack rat’s fur. And that’s just a few of them.

The information on each of these species pairs is brief, but I still found it fascinating to read about. Did you know there is a small frog that lives in a tarantula’s den? the frog eats ants that would consume the spider’s eggs, and the spider protects the frog from other predators. There is a skink that pollinates the mulungu tree (the only known reptile to pollinate anything)- and in addition, this lizard sometimes ends up with a forked tail, when it regenerates a new tail end next to one that broke off in an attack! Swift parrots fertilize the blue gum tree, but I found it more interesting to learn that they fly from Australia to the island of Tasmania to breed every year, and then fly back again- 500 miles across the ocean each time. Some of the more complex relationships described in the book include insects and plants- ants that live in acacia trees- they literally nest inside the thorns, and feed off blobs of fat and protein that grow on the tips of leaves- just for the ants to eat. And they attack anything that climbs on or tries to eat their tree. Even more fascinating is the large blue butterfly and ants- this butterfly detects a chemical alarm a plant releases when ants are eating its roots. The butterfly lays her egg on the plant, her caterpillar feeds on it, then falls to the ground where it mimicks the scent of ant larvae so the ants take it into their colony and feed it- and it eats the ant babies while it’s in there, too. Until large enough to pupate and leave as a butterfly.

I like that there are some other examples including humans, too. The book notes that we have benefited greatly from cultivating and using corn- but in a way, the plant has benefitted too- it grows on over 350 million acres across the world. It also posits that dogs could be considered parasites. At one time in history, they were very useful to people for sounding the alarm, protection, and hunting partners. Or even keeping you warm at night. Nowadays, most dogs (not those doing service or rescue) provide little more than comfort and companionship- they reap the majority of the rewards (from a reproductive or evolutionary standpoint) from residing with humans. We support and pamper them big time.

A fun and educational book. Borrowed from the public library.

Rating: 3/5
128 pages, 2022

Artist: Evgeny Lushpin
Maker and Year: Sure-Lox, 2014
Count: 750 pieces
Final size: 22.5 x 15″
Piece Type/Variety: Ribbon cut, one shape
Piece quality: Poor
Skin irritation: Yes, minor

If you’ve been reading my blog you probably know that puzzles of scenes with lots of buildings are not my favorite. Cityscapes, etc. And yet I found myself getting “into the zone” of mental relaxation and enjoying my time with this one regardless. It was assembled entirely at the library, progress shots with my flip phone camera so not the best, last one taken at home with the better digital camera. Second photo in the series came out blurry but I kept it in because I still like to see the stage of building it.

This one was done over two days, about three and a half hours each sitting. I took the trouble to slide the halfway-done puzzle onto four sheets of paper to transport it home in my cardboard sandwich, and slide back off onto the table again to keep working the next day. I completed it last week, I think it was on friday, but didn’t have time to post it until now.

From the Sure-Lox boxed set.

Final:

a thrift store find

DISCLAIMER:

All books reviewed on this site are owned by me, or borrowed from the public library. Exceptions are a very occasional review copy sent to me by a publisher or author, as noted. Receiving a book does not influence my opinion or evaluation of it

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