Author's posts
Happy October, readers! With Black History Month starting in the UK, what better time to explore a book on Africa and its diaspora? Ayo is a young boy in America whose parents are doing a wonderful job teaching him about his heritage. While he’s proud to be a Black American with a rich generational history …
Continue reading
Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2024/10/01/ayos-adventure-across-the-african-diaspora-from-afro-to-zulu-by-ain-heath-drew-erin-robinson/
translated and edited by historian Ryan Holmberg as part of Smudge, “a line of vintage horror, occult, and dark fantasy manga”. Honestly, this was rad and creepy all at once. The original manga was published in 1976, and has been translated and repackaged here for English-speaking audiences, with illuminating essays and notes to boot. Shirakawa …
Continue reading
Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2024/09/30/ufo-mushroom-invasion-by-shirakawa-marina/
There isn’t anything super innovative about the plot of this terrific middle grade graphic novel, but the storytelling choices that the creative team have made give it a truly profound 21st century edge. Blue literally lives on the wrong side of the tracks. Their mom works multiple crappy jobs to make ends meet and they’re …
Continue reading
Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2024/09/27/heebie-jeebies-by-matthew-erman-shelby-criswell/
Who doesn’t love a French bulldog? With their compact size, sweet faces and affectionate natures, Frenchies are some of the cutest pups around! Our hero Gus Davis is an adorable Frenchie whose best friend is his owner Bean. When she comes home from the store one day, Gus immediately sniffs out that she has cookies …
Continue reading
Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2024/09/25/the-very-patient-gus-davis-by-laurie-trumble-davis-marjorie-van-heerden/
When the lovely publicist at Abrams Comics pitched this graphic novel adaptation to me, I made him laugh by replying, “I’ll be honest: I desperately hated The Road but am wildly curious to see what Manu Larcenet brings to the story. He can’t make it worse!” You can read my original review of the source …
Continue reading
Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2024/09/24/cormac-mccarthys-the-road-by-manu-larcenet/
This first book in The Web Of The Spider series for middle grade readers could not come at a more relevant time! Young Rolf von Heusen is eleven years old in the spring of 1929. His main interests are football and palling around with his friends Ansel and Joshua. He thinks that his hometown of …
Continue reading
Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2024/09/23/rise-of-the-spider-by-michael-p-spradlin/
Had a mini panic attack when I thought we were in October already: reading all the spooky stories currently rolling out will definitely do that to a reviewer! But here we are considering the middle to late part of September and all the intriguing books that I haven’t quite had the time to get to …
Continue reading
Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2024/09/20/tantalizing-tales-september-2024-part-two/
Time to take a break from spooky season reads to cherish a book that will mean so much to any immigrant or person of color. Inspired by Langston Hughes’ iconic poem I, Too, this children’s picture book follows a young girl who tries to figure out racism and xenophobia as it’s directed at her family. …
Continue reading
Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2024/09/19/i-too-am-here-by-morgan-christie-marley-berot/
Me while reading this book: Why am I crying?! Me reading the artist’s bio at the end: Oh, because this is one of the creators behind Everyday Hero Machine Boy, which was another extraordinary graphic novel that I also did not expect to make me cry. If you’ve read my last two reviews, you’ll know …
Continue reading
Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2024/09/18/the-strange-tales-of-oscar-zahn-volume-1-by-tri-vuong/
subtitled The Dark Joys of Raising Baby Bats. Readers, everything is making me emotional recently. Whether it was yesterday’s Camp Twisted Pine stabbing me in the heart again with a pain first inflicted almost a year prior, to today’s wonderful Goth Parenting reinforcing to this tired (and temporarily single) mom that I’m doing okay if …
Continue reading
Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2024/09/17/goth-parenting-by-casey-gilly-robin-robinson/