Trina Robbins (1938–2024)

Book two of this series and all I can say is...I hope you're having as much fun with it as I am. Seriously! It's a graphic novel with a LOT of story to spare and characters you can't help but enjoy. Megan with her high spirited, haiku writing nature. If light were given a personality and spunk to boot, she'd be it. Raf, her best friend who's pretty much sick in bed through this adventure...but it doesn't mean that he can't help out and leave his mark on the story as well. Then we have their show more pal Bradley. Who's he? Oh...just a talking dog that they saved in book one...nothing strange or anything. Did I mention that he narrates the story at times in classic Bogart style? Yep...sure does. Adds a little something extra to it and keeps it fun. The rest of the cast is a rather mixed bag that will keep you guessing. Let's see you have a little evil, some ancient curses, secret identities...yep, "mixed" works well here.


As for the story itself, it turns out to be a "kid" version of the classic book The Maltese Falcon. Now that's not to say that adult readers wouldn't enjoy it but I mean how often do we get to see serious threads of a classic worked into a graphic novel.....successfully? Coming from a non-graphic novel enthusiast...that's saying something too. In my opinion, this wonderful middle grade work will not only entertain readers of today, but will also garner interest in the "original" story for additional reading options. There's never a bad time to revisit the classics!


By book's end, the baddies are uncovered and the case is laid to rest (hehe...small pun there...), leaving readers satisfied for now yet ready for more. No worries though...book three, Night of the Living Dogs, is on the horizon. -- adds to wish list -- In short, a pictorially on point book with a story that moves things along at a rapid pace which asks readers to uncover the mystery along the way...if you can. It's a brief adventure fit for readers young and old, girls and boys, animal and mineral (okay, so maybe not mineral) but one certainly worth taking. show less

This intriguing short biography tells the story of Lily Renee (Wilhelm). Austrian by birth, her father was a director of the luxurious Holland America cruise line. Persecuted for their Jewish faith, the family lives through forced homeshare and Kristallnacht before Lily is sent to England on one of the last Kindertransport trains. Starved by her English "mother," she eventually leaves and finds work as a nurse's aide and mother's helper. When police identify her as a possible alien show more interloper, she turns herself in ... only to find that she is not in trouble but being looked for so she can join an ocean liner bound for America, where her parents await her! (Luckily, the cruise ship -- from her father's line -- had been unexpectedly delayed, or she would have missed the boat.) As her family tries to rebuild from scratch, she works odd jobs and eventually becomes the illustrator behind Senorita Rio, who fights Nazis and accomplishes what Lily could not -- vanquishing them. An engaging true story of persecution, escape, and reinvention. Highly recommended. (153) show less

Book two of this series and all I can say is...I hope you're having as much fun with it as I am. Seriously! It's a graphic novel with a LOT of story to spare and characters you can't help but enjoy. Megan with her high spirited, haiku writing nature. If light were given a personality and spunk to boot, she'd be it. Raf, her best friend who's pretty much sick in bed through this adventure...but it doesn't mean that he can't help out and leave his mark on the story as well. Then we have their show more pal Bradley. Who's he? Oh...just a talking dog that they saved in book one...nothing strange or anything. Did I mention that he narrates the story at times in classic Bogart style? Yep...sure does. Adds a little something extra to it and keeps it fun. The rest of the cast is a rather mixed bag that will keep you guessing. Let's see you have a little evil, some ancient curses, secret identities...yep, "mixed" works well here.

As for the story itself, it turns out to be a "kid" version of the classic book The Maltese Falcon. Now that's not to say that adult readers wouldn't enjoy it but I mean how often do we get to see serious threads of a classic worked into a graphic novel.....successfully? Coming from a non-graphic novel enthusiast...that's saying something too. In my opinion, this wonderful middle grade work will not only entertain readers of today, but will also garner interest in the "original" story for additional reading options. There's never a bad time to revisit the classics!

By book's end, the baddies are uncovered and the case is laid to rest (hehe...small pun there...), leaving readers satisfied for now yet ready for more. No worries though...book three, Night of the Living Dogs, is on the horizon. -- adds to wish list -- In short, a pictorially on point book with a story that moves things along at a rapid pace which asks readers to uncover the mystery along the way...if you can. It's a brief adventure fit for readers young and old, girls and boys, animal and mineral (okay, so maybe not mineral) but one certainly worth taking. show less

I love the city of Chicago, so when I was perusing the books available on NetGalley the other day and discovered a book titled, Chicagoland Detective Agency, Vol 1: The Drained Brains Caper, I thought that I'd give the book a try, even though I knew nothing about it. Well, Chicagoland Detective Agency, Vol 1: The Drained Brains Caper is a fun, short, youngish, manga-ish graphic novel that follows the adventures of Raf, Megan and Bradley (a talking dog) as they come together and form the show more Chicagoland Detective Agency.

Megan is new to the Chicagoland area and in search of a tarantula. She happens into Raf's mother's pet food store, hoping maybe to find a tarantula (or maybe just a new friend) and an unlikely friendship forms between Raf and Megan. Megan is sent to a summer school called the Stepford Preparatory Academy, where all the teachers and students are mysteriously happy and content with life (I know, I know... I didn't say that the book was challenging...) and where Megan certainly doesn't fit in. When Megan is forced to see the school appointed psychiatrist, she discovers the secret behind the perfect students and faculty, and only Raf and Bradley (who they rescue along the way) can save Megan.

This is not a particularly challenging book in the slightest, but I think for the age group that it's geared at (Amazon says 9-12, but I'd be willing to bet that a slightly younger audience would still appreciate this book), it would be a perfect book for kids. The writing is fun and witty and the art is engaging and stylish. If you've got a younger one that is interested in reading and likes manga or graphic novels, I don't think you could go wrong with this selection. show less