Alison Dare, Little Miss Adventures

Genies that grant every wish as mischievously as possible, a dad with a secret superhero identity, an archaeologist mom with an evil Nazi nemesis. A little too much for most children's books, but business as usual for Alison Dare.

I got this from LTER thinking it was a graphic novel in the usual sense (well, usual lately). It turned out to be a collection of three Alison Dare adventures, bundled together in one book. In style, they're more like old-fashioned kiddy adventure comic books. Which was fine, once I got used to the notion. I did feel as if I came in during the middle of the story, and had a hard time sorting out who was who. In spite of that, I think it would be great, especially for reluctant readers who want a rip-roaring show more time.

Clearly drawing on the Indiana Jones trope of adventure (even down to the title font and certain lines of dialogue) Alison Dare never pretends to be anything but itself, a farfetched but utterly entertaining romp with over the top villains and equally over the top heroes.

http://bloodyyank.blogspot.com/2010/06/book-review-alison-dare-little-miss.html show less

Let me start by saying even though this is Volume 1 of the set it really read like Volume 2. We are literally thrown into the action with pretty much no introduction. I found Volume 2 to seem more introductory but oh well.

Little Miss Adventures is a series of stories that range from Alison getting into trouble on one of her mother's dig sites, the story of how her parents met (my favorite!) her mother is a world-renowned archaeologist and her father is a masked superhero, the Blue Scarab, to Alison helping her parents fight bad guys at the museum.

I love, love LOVE the illustration style used in these graphic novels. So crisp and clean but also really detailed. It lacks nothing by being in black and white. While I didn't actually read show more comics as a kid, these certainly would have been the kind to catch my fancy and they still do today!

I think my favorite characters would have to be, Alison of course (she'd kill me if I said otherwise), her father the Blue Scarab (and also a librarian) and her Uncle the master of disguise Johnny Dare. He would show up at the most random times totally unrecognizable there to help Alison and her family fight the bad guys!

Overall a fun graphic novel adventure good for any age! show less

There are three Alison Dare adventures included in this collection. Spoilers ahead.

In the first adventure, "Alison Dare and the Arabian Knights" Alison starts rummaging around during an archeaological expedition while her parents are gone and unearths an old lamp. It contains, of course, a genie and Alison gets busy with her wishes. She brings her friends to join her - and they are extremely irritated at having their summers interrupted. She wishes for adventure, just like the Arabian Nights and gets....1001 Arabian knights. Finally, things get so out of hand that she has to wish everything back the way it was. The whole genie plotline is pretty old and well-used, although the characters brought a fresh attitude to it. I was mildly show more irritated to see, once again, the short pudgy character with glasses is the brain. Just like Scooby-Doo. *takes a closer look*. Um....yeah, Dot looks an awful lot like Velma, come to think of it.

The second adventure, "Alison Dare and the Secret of the Blue Scarab" is the origin story of Alison's father, superhero the Blue Scarab, which she narrates to her friends Wendy and Dot. Originally a librarian with unbelievably well-developed shoulders and a collection of lines that wouldn't disgrace a boy's adventure story from the 50s, Alan Dodd's attempt to rescue a young archeaological student named Alice (with a handy famous father) puts him in contact with ancient forces and he becomes the Blue Scarab, fighting for the right. And marries Alice, of course.

The third adventure, "Alison Dare and the Mummy Child" bring the whole family up against Baron von Baron, Alice's old Nazi nemesis. His outrageously cheesy accent isn't the only thing nasty about him, and he tries to wreck Alice's new museum exhibit and steal her latest find. Fortunately, Alison and her friends just happen to be there, although Wendy and Dot quickly flee, and Alison, with a little help from various superhero members of her extended family, saves the day.

The black and white art has a crisp, contemporary feel but the language is exaggerated and oddly dated. It's hard to tell whether the author is deliberately poking fun at 50s comic dialogue and conventions or trying to blend old and new. The appearance of a stereotypical Nazi villain is even more confusing, since he seems to have been around for an awfully long time without aging....as have Alison Dare's parents. The Scarab, of course, has regenerative powers, but what about her mom? They're obviously supposed to be in a roughly contemporary world, since Alice Dare wears extremely short shorts and Alison and her friends seem to be attending a modern, if somewhat lax, boarding school.

However, these quibbles are more what an adult would see and complain about. Kids are more likely to pick up on the Indiana Jones-style adventure, the obvious elements of humor, and fast-paced action. Hand it to fans of Indiana Jones, especially younger kids, probably those who like Salt Water Taffy will go for this as well.

Verdict: Probably not something I would have bought on my own, but I'll donate this to the library and see how the kids feel about it. If there's enough enthusiasm, I'll buy the additional volume(s).

ISBN: 978-0887769344; Published May 2010 by Tundra; Review copy provided by publisher through LibraryThing Early Reviewers show less

Alison Dare has an interesting family: Mom's an archaeologist, Dad's a superhero, and her uncle is a spy master. How can she help but fall into adventure after adventure? While bored on a dig with her mother, she discovers a genie in a bottle. After (sort of) overcoming the language barrier, she finds out wishes have unexpected resulte. In the second of the three stories included here in black and while panels full of action scenes, we get a bit of her parents' back story. And in the third, the whole fam-damnly fight to defeat The Baron (super evil, of course). Aimed at the Kim Possible crowd (or maybe a bit younger) this series (there's already a second volume of stories out) is perfect for young girls in search of adventure show more themselves. Sure, adults have seen a plot or two before...and Alison's friends might get a bit annoying, but the series delivers the goods to its intended audience. 9-12 year old girls who aren't still into princesses will eat this up with a spoon.

(Oh, and I purchase graphic novels for my library & review them regularly for professional journals in case you're wondering why the heck this old dude is interested :-) show less

Alison Dare is the lead character in an adventure series, set in graphic novel format. With her two good friends, Wendy and Dot, she manages to get in and out of various entangling situations in humorous fashion. As the story progresses, we find out details about her parents (archaeologist mother and librarian father, or are they?) and her "interesting" uncle.

I enjoyed this book and think it would be a good addition to an elementary school library, among other places. While Alison is a girl protagonist, this story might appeal to boys as well as it's more about the adventure and not too girly.

Alison Dare is the daughter of a librarian (and secret superhero - shhh!) and archaeologist, and she has the curiosity and sense of adventure to prove it! Three stories are included, dealing with a genie, Alison's dad's superhero alter-ego's origin, and an attempted kidnapping.

This is a fun, exciting story for 2nd-4th graders - specifically girls, but in the event a boy picks it up, he should be entertained! The art is black and white and includes lots of action to help keep the excitement up.

Recommended!

*Side note: I used this book in a summer book discussion group, for girls going into 3rd-5th grades. We had a lot of fun discussing Alison's adventures, the excitement and what they thought of reading a comic book (it was a new show more experience for many of them). For an activity, we did a mummy race (teams compete to be the first to wrap one member completely in toilet paper), and for our craft, we carved hieroglyphs into *mostly* hardened craft cement rectangles, then strung them on necklaces. show less

Alison Dare, Little Miss Adventures is comprised of three separate, action packed stories: Alison Dare & the Arabian Nights, Alison Dare & the Secret of the Blue Scarab, and Alison Dare & the Mummy Child. Miss Dare is the 12-year-old daughter of (separated) archeologists and she doesn't want for adventures. I really enjoyed that Alison being a girl was simply a fact of the story with no further comment. It's nice to see a female protagonist taking full part in traditional comic book adventures.