Oct 28 2024

Twinkle, Twinkle, Nighttime Sky by Elizabeth Everett & Beatriz Castro

This is 100% the book you should buy for any astronomy-minded young readers you have!

Throughout the pages of this picture book, a diverse set of children look at and learn about the nighttime sky, with accompanying text set roughly to the cadence of the Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star nursery rhyme. Whether they’re outdoor campers appreciating the crisp beauty of the stars overhead, budding astronomers with telescopes or young scholars gathered around books indoors, kids are shown not only appreciating but also investigating the marvels and mysteries of outer space.

Elizabeth Everett briefly discusses the two chief occupants of Earth’s night sky — the stars and moon — before talking about all the other wonderful things beyond our atmosphere. Planets and galaxies and black holes are all touched upon, as are our human endeavors to find and catalog these wonders. The book ends not only with a gentle exhortation for readers to keep wondering and exploring, but also several pages on the science and history of space exploration.

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Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2024/10/28/twinkle-twinkle-nighttime-sky-by-elizabeth-everett-beatriz-castro/

Oct 25 2024

Monster Locker Vol 1 by Jorge Aguirre & Andrés Vera Martínez

Coatlicue help me, I’m pretty sure my kids have infected me with their brainrot, because as soon as I realized that this story was set in Ohio, I began chortling to the tune of Swag In Ohio.

But that Midwestern state (and Gen Alpha shorthand for weirdness) is honestly the perfect setting for this tale of strange hijinks revolving around a middle school locker that’s really a portal to the monster realm. Even better: it’s set in Columbus, which is a city I particularly enjoy from years of visiting for the Origins Gaming Convention (which nearly always coincided with Pride!)

Our young hero Pablo Ortiz would certainly fit in with the crowds of nerds I’m used to hanging out with. A figurine-painting, druid-larping sixth grader, he’s hoping to make friends at his new middle school, since most of his old ones from elementary school have been zoned to a different institution. Unfortunately, the two guys who did come with him from his old school seem to have no inclination of not being jerks to him anymore. One of them, his former best friend Dylan, even steals his assigned locker, forcing him to take a new one in the allegedly haunted basement.

Pablo isn’t thrilled by any of this, especially when he learns that his locker really is haunted. A ghost named Obie wants Pablo to use the portal in his new locker to summon monsters onto the earthly plane. Pablo is smart enough to decline but when he’s tricked into accidentally releasing Coatlicue, the Goddess of Earth, from the monster realm, he’ll have to figure out how to stop her before she can exact her vengeance on an ungrateful humanity.

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Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2024/10/25/monster-locker-vol-1-by-jorge-aguirre-andres-vera-martinez/

Oct 24 2024

Bloom by Delilah S. Dawson

Oh my God, this was incredible and terrifying all at once. Spicy, sweet and hardcore revolting, this sapphic horror novella breathes new life into the trope of obsessive love as a lonely young woman falls hard for a mysterious figure she meets at the fair.

Ro’s recovery from being betrayed by her ex-boyfriend, and the subsequent shame heaped upon her by her awful mother for the “failure” of that relationship, has involved moving to rural Georgia from New York City to accept an associate professor’s position at the only university in the area. Bookish and awkward, she isn’t good at making friends, much less lovers. But one day at a farmer’s market changes her life forever.

Ash runs a farm stand filled with the loveliest homemade goods, selling delectable cupcakes, luscious soaps and little plants from her own garden. Ro is just as taken by the products as she is by their lovely, luminous seller. She’s never been attracted to a woman before, but the more she gets to know Ash, the stronger her desire to be part of Ash’s seemingly charmed “waste not, want not” life.

Trouble is, Ash’s life is a lot more complicated than her carefully curated exterior would appear. Sure, any relationship takes work. But the more Ro discovers about Ash, the more she’ll have to decide what she’s willing to give and to take in order to attain her own happily ever after.

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Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2024/10/24/bloom-by-delilah-s-dawson/

Oct 23 2024

The Knitting Witch by Norma Kassirer & Mark Richardson

Very shortly after beginning to read this book on my Kindle Paperwhite, it struck me that I was definitely missing out by not being able to see all the illustrations in full color. After some frantic searching across various websites and devices, I was finally able to access a non-grayscale copy, and oh readers, what a delight this was!

Don’t get me wrong, the pictures are totally serviceable in black and white — and arguably this book could be enjoyed without pictures altogether — but why needlessly deny yourself the pleasure? Mark Richardson’s delightful watercolor and ink illustrations, done primarily in sepia tones with the occasional highlight in green and purple, so perfectly suit this whimsical but thoughtful tale of a small family learning how to be better.

The main character is not, as the title would suggest, a mystical being. Instead, our protagonist is the obnoxious Ivy Lou, a beautiful little girl who is dreadfully spoiled by her parents. Whenever she doesn’t get her way, she launches into a series of tantrums that her cowed parents inevitably give way to. Soon, their resources — material or otherwise — are drained as they cater to their demanding little girl.

Unsurprisingly to anyone not in Ivy Lou’s family, she has no friends. When a witch shows up on their doorstep promising to make perfectly obedient little friends for Ivy Lou to boss around, Ivy Lou’s parents hand over the last of their money to help their little girl acquire the only thing they haven’t been able to give her. The witch even shows them delightful little samples knit out of magic yarn, and Ivy Lou gleefully anticipates the acquisition of a small army of helpless minions.

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Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2024/10/23/the-knitting-witch-by-norma-kassirer-mark-richardson/

Oct 22 2024

MrBallen Presents: Strange, Dark & Mysterious — The Graphic Stories by MrBallen, Robert Venditti & Andrea Mutti

I am genuinely loving the resurgence of horror comics, as well as the myriad channels by which they’re coming onto the market. Some cynics may say that books like these are just a cash grab, but I’d honestly never even heard of MrBallen before this engaging volume landed on my desk. Call me an old but I, for one, am super glad that the author decided to expand from podcasts — a medium I tend not to engage with — to graphic novels — a medium I very much do. As of the time of writing, I still haven’t heard any of his podcast work. I can, however, attest to the fact that he knows how to tell an engaging story, if this terrific book is anything to go by.

The nine stories collected here go from creepy urban legend to outright savage horror as former Navy SEAL turned professional storyteller John B Allen or, as he’s more popularly known, MrBallen mines a wealth of material gathered from all around the globe. Whether describing terrifying, and sometimes deadly, experiences camping in the woods or extremely well-documented tales of inexplicable events and disappearances, these are all stories pulled from real life. More importantly to the connoisseur of strangeness — as I consider myself to be, as well — these nine tales are genuinely obscure. Fans of MrBallen may have heard them all covered in his podcast before but they were almost all entirely new to me, which is saying a lot considering the amount of spooky traditional media I’ve consumed in my lifetime.

Robert Venditti was given the task of shaping these varied stories into scripts more appropriate for the graphic novel format. Frankly, he does a brilliant job of it. Each short is perfectly paced for suspense, and I wouldn’t be at all surprised if he worked closely with artist Andrea Mutti for layouts. Like the best of old-school horror comics, the writing is punchy and blends seamlessly with the illustrations. Reading the book feels less like an active experience of text than an almost passive experience of hearing the story being told to you — perhaps by MrBallen himself, either podcast-style or while you’re sitting together around a campfire, as the cover cleverly suggests — with the enriching bonus of having the scenes brought to life by the illustrated panels.

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Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2024/10/22/mrballen-presents-strange-dark-mysterious-the-graphic-stories-by-mrballen-robert-venditti-andrea-mutti/

Oct 21 2024

Patsy Cline’s Walkin’ After Midnight by Judith A Proffer, Julie Dick Fudge & Yoko Matsuoka

It almost always surprises people to hear that I enjoy country music. I’m not sure why: so much of it is fantastic, and I love good music of every genre. Perhaps it helps that I lack the class prejudices of most Americans when it comes to music. Admittedly, I don’t care for stoner jams, but that’s an exploration of my psyche for another day.

My appreciation of country music actually began in Malaysia, which likely accounts too for the afore-mentioned lack of class prejudice. My dad had gotten into karaoke, and one of the karaoke tapes he brought home had Patsy Cline’s version of Tennessee Waltz on it. Readers, I fell hard and fast. Fast-forward several decades and, thanks to that long-ago encounter, I’m currently enjoying Miranda Lambert and Shaboozey’s latest excellent albums, with the former’s Wildcard being my kids’ most frequently requested CD when we’re driving around in the van together.

So when I had the opportunity to lay my hands on this picture book based on Ms Cline’s most famous single, I absolutely had to take it. Though Tennessee Waltz will always be my favorite song of hers due to the spark it kindled, Walkin’ After Midnight comes a close second (Fiona Apple does a lovely cover of it, too!) This picture book takes the idea of dreams — whether they be ambitions, daydreams, the usual nighttime dreams or “walkin’ after midnight” dreams that feel analogous to lucid dreaming — and applies them to Little Patsy Cline’s life. In this way, the book covers a broad range of the real life singer’s interests and accomplishments in a manner suitable for young readers.

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Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2024/10/21/patsy-clines-walkin-after-midnight-by-judith-a-proffer-julie-dick-fudge-yoko-matsuoka/

Oct 18 2024

Tantalizing Tales — October 2024 — Part Two

Time flies, dear friends! Halloween will soon be upon us, so let’s check out some of the best spooky season reading, as well as some excellent counterprogramming should you be in the mood for a break from the cold, dark and scary.

Into that first category goes Joelle Wellington’s sophomore effort, The Blonde Dies First, where a group of friends must grapple with a demonic force that closely follows the rules of classic horror movies.

Our heroine Devon is always being left behind by her genius twin sister Drew. At this point, it’s just a fact of life. But Devon has one last plan before Drew leaves for college a whole year early: to enjoy The Best Summer Ever. After committing to the bit a little too much, the twins and their chaotic circle of friends learn why you don’t ever mess with a Ouija board if you want to actually survive the Best Summer Ever, and soon find themselves being hunted down by… a demon?

While there’s no mistaking the fact that the creeping, venomous figure stalking them is not from “around here”, its murderous methods don’t feel very demonic at all. In fact, it’s acting downright human, going after each of them in typical slasher-movie kill order. What that most likely means is that Devon, the blonde, will be up for slaughter first, while her decade-long crush Yaya is destined to be the Final Girl who must kill or be killed in order to end the cycle.

Devon has never liked playing by anyone else’s rules though, and especially not a demon’s. But the longer this goes on, the more she feels Drew and Yaya slipping away from her, even as she tries to help them all survive. Can they use their horror movie knowledge to flip the script and become the hunters instead of the hunted? Or will their Best Summer Ever be their last?

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Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2024/10/18/tantalizing-tales-october-2024-part-two/

Oct 17 2024

Gaza Faces History by Enzo Traverso

translated from the original Italian by Willard Wood. This review is going to require a lot of background on me as a reviewer so buckle up, or feel free to scroll down till you get to the parts that are primarily about this book, around six paragraphs down.

When I was a girl growing up in Malaysia, I didn’t understand the conflict in the Middle East, due in large part to the contrary and muddled tales I heard from grown-ups and media about it. What I knew for certain is that after World War II, in order to atone for their awful treatment of Jewish people, Europeans gave Jews the land now known as Israel in compensation. The Arab people who were already there weren’t thrilled about it, and war broke out. Muslims worldwide decried the Israeli occupation, often using terrible anti-Semitic language to denounce it.

Being a well-read kid who’d already absorbed The Diary Of Anne Frank and similar, I felt a lot of sympathy for the Jewish people, and wondered why they couldn’t all just share. The Jews wanted a safe homeland, and Muslims already had Mecca and Medina and entire countries where we’re in the majority. Muslims are supposed to be hospitable. And historically, Muslim civilizations and governance had always been much more welcoming of Jewish citizens than their Christian counterparts. So what had changed?

In a word: colonialism. Looking back on my younger self, I can forgive her for not understanding the evils of European empire because I and everyone around me was still trying to come to terms with it. Back then, it never occurred to me that the British did not have the right to take Palestinian land and give it away to foreigners. I had no idea the scale of displacement or ethnic cleansing of the native Palestinians, much less the fact that the Israeli government had basically said that those Palestinians who wanted to return to their ancestral lands could go fuck themselves.

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Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2024/10/17/gaza-faces-history-by-enzo-traverso/

Oct 16 2024

Mr. Lovenstein Presents: Feelings by J.L. Westover

I’ve seen plenty of Mr Lovenstein panels and cartoons floating around as memes on social media, but it never occurred to me that these were actually part of a regular webcomic. Thank goodness for books collecting this material so that people like me can finally understand what the rest of the Internet has been going on about for ages!

The Mr Lovenstein comics themselves are fairly basic, usually consisting of three or four panels each, with a “secret” panel (in this book printed on the overleaf) that serves as an extra punch line. Each comic deals with a seemingly innocuous yet emotion-filled slice of life, usually transforming a dark everyday moment into something humorous, if not outright uplifting. This collection focuses on feelings, and runs the gamut from joy to affirmation to anxiety to annoyance to envy to grief to despair, with tons else covered in-between. It can sometimes feel shockingly deep in the way it pokes at the emotional welter of everyday life, teasing out the moments that so many of us encounter but don’t really want to talk about for fear of being misunderstood. Not everyone has friends they can reliably talk to about, for example, feeling angry or horny or proud of themselves without feeling judged (and shout-out here to my bestie Karin, who has listened to and supported me through some of my darkest times! I am very lucky to have her in my life.)

So books like these, that remind readers of the universality of their experiences by being achingly but also hilariously vulnerable, are truly invaluable. I never really figured out who Mr Lovenstein is (the sweaty yellow figure on the cover, I presume) and since I’m being completely honest, the only character I can actually identify after the fact is Milo, the BEST cat ever. But you really don’t need to know who these cartoon characters are because they represent Everyperson, being so rudimentarily described as to make their individuality a moot point. The real purpose of these figures is to channel the emotions and embody the situations that all of us readers are going through: having them be memorable enough to attach identities to defeats the purpose because they’re meant to be any and perhaps every one of us.

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Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2024/10/16/mr-lovenstein-presents-feelings-by-j-l-westover/

Oct 15 2024

The Light Keeper by Karen Levine, Sheila Baslaw & Alice Priestley

Times are hard in young Shmuel Saslovsky’s shtetl. Papa has just lost his job, and tho everyone in their family of eight pitches in to make ends meet, it’s a struggle to get by. While Shmuel’s five older sisters earn a few kopeks taking in mending or helping out around town, no one wants to hire a ten year-old.

To help make up for that, Shmeul volunteers to do as many household chores as he can. He has a secret tho. He’s deathly afraid of heights, and will happily do anything except help repair the roof.

One day, he and the other villagers are startled by the appearance of strangers approaching on a wagon. Boldly, Shmuel asks the pair why they’re here. Beryl, the younger and friendlier man, announces that they’ve arrived to install electric lights in the square, which is currently lit dimly by only two small kerosene lamps.

This is exciting news for the shtetl, but especially for a ten year-old boy. Over the course of the next eight days, he watches Beryl and his partner closely as they set up the poles and wires. While the older man is pretty grumpy about it, Beryl is happy to explain everything that they’re doing to the wide-eyed kid. And when it’s time for them to head on over to the next town to install lights there, Beryl tells Shmuel that he told the mayor to go get Shmuel if the lights ever need fixing, as he has faith that the kid will know what to do.

When one of the lights goes out, as promised, the mayor comes asking Shmuel for help, promising payment in return. Shmuel absolutely knows what to do, and desperately wants to help both the village and his family. But doing so means climbing to the very top of those light posts. Will he be able to face down his fear of heights for the sake of everyone he knows?

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Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2024/10/15/the-light-keeper-by-karen-levine-sheila-baslaw-alice-priestley/