12/16 - I somehow misplaced this book when it first came in... So I'm just reading it now. A better review is to come.

12/17 - This was a very quick read for me. For some reason graphic novels make some things more palatable to me. I thought I was going to have a hard time with the subject matter but this was an biographical tale of a woman trying to figure out the timing in her life, and finally just letting go and letting things happen. The art style was not my favorite, but the themes of adoption and interaction with parents as you both get older were well suited to this medium. ( )

I had read the summary of the book when I first read the review. But I guess I missed the part of it being told in graphic novel form. So I was a little surprised when I first opened the book, but I loved it all the same. What I love about graphic novels is that the author can sometimes show an emotion and feeling better in drawing than writing. The image of an arrow shooting a heart, is a lot better than the sound of it. As for the story line, I think parts of it helped me understand a little better the long and painful process involved in adoption, which is something I see myself doing one day. Of course I'm a little far from that stage yet, second year in university. haha. I thought that despite everything going on in Henley's life, she managed to cope with it rather well to get the son she can call her own. It's a great story-- one that is inspiring and real and emotional-- that is a short read but manages to capture so much in it. ( )

I picked up Marian Henley’s graphic-novel The Shiniest Jewel from my ever expanding review pile and thought, “I’ll get through this fast so I can move on to the more weighty stories that I’ve promised to review.” While The Shiniest Jewel is a fast read, it’s certainly not less weighty. Henley does an excellent job of involving the reader in her joy and despair, her fear and uncertainty. The graphic novel style fits well and her tone is a mixture of quirk and depth.

The Shiniest Jewel tells Marian Henley's tale of deciding she wants to adopt a child on the cusp of her 50th birthday. Along the middle-age highway are typical bumps (boyfriends and aging parents) and the reader quickly begins to hope for Henley's success.

I walked away from The Shiniest Jewel with dreams of adopting my own Russian baby and cheesy tears streaming down my face. Perhaps the thing that packs the most punch is not the death of Henley’s father or the difficult path to her son’s adoption, but the sense of beauty and depth in our everyday lives.

Recommended for those interested in adoption, those who like quick & uplifting tales of real life people making their way in the world, and those who enjoy graphic-novel nonfiction (a small genre indeed)

...also reviewed on Many A Quaint and Curious Volume ( )

This small book is one of a kind. It combines the memoir with the form of a graphic novel. The artwork is black and white and simply drawn, and at first I was unimpressed. I have seen better artwork in a variety of webcomics.

Something about the starkness of the art though, mirrored the stark language in the memoir. It wasn't that it was simply written, but that you had the feeling that Marian Henley put all of herself out there to see as a way of talking about what her adoption experience was like.

This memoir is more than just an adoption story though, it is about transitions and the place between things - the transition into motherhood, the transition from confirmed bachlorette to married woman, the transition of her father from life to death...and how she handles each change as it comes. The story through its wording exudes a sense of taking life as it comes, its ups and downs with dignity. ( )

From Publishers Weekly
Nationally published comic strip artist Henley offers a warm, funny memoir of adopting her son, William, which will make you cry. With its talk of yoga, dating and the wacky freelance life of a cartoonist, it starts off sounding like a Sex in the City for the Austin, Tex., set. It's not. Where many older women comic artists fall into triteness, quips about men and snark, Henley rolls the reader back to a place where different generations matter and life makes sense. Comics are known for craziness, but they're also a medium that, unlike prose fiction, has a talent for making art from happy situations. On the surface, the protagonist's life is going to the aging, creative woman's hell: approaching 50, childless, with a younger boyfriend possibly afraid to commit, and, oh, yeah, her dad's dying. But even as the adoption agency screws up again and again, people come through, and her father finally meets the new son. The art's thin black lines belie the depth of the book. The drawings' simplicity works with the story, but the lines could be more expressive. Someone needs to take her roller-ball away from her. Otherwise, it's a near perfect book, especially for women over 30.

The humor and creativity exhibited in The Shiniest Jewel make it a shiny jewel itself. I really enjoyed this sweet little book. This book is a result of the author’s experiences in adopting a baby from another country, but I suspect it will ring true with many people who have done the same. I imagine the roadblocks to completely these adoptions must be almost never ending; it’s a testament to the fortitude of prospective parents who manage to stick this out to the end. ( )