Mar 15 2024

The No-Girlfriend Rule by Christen Randall

First of all, the No-Girlfriend Rule is bullshit. If you’re new to role-playing games and are told that your partner’s group doesn’t allow girlfriends, I don’t want you to have to spend time reading this (excellent) book to learn that that “rule” is manifest garbage, and you either need to find a new partner or your partner needs to find a better group. The only valid reasons for a GM not wanting you to join a table is a) they have their upper limit of players already, or b) they don’t think your personality would be a good fit. Option b does indeed suck, but it’s valid. Not everyone likes everyone else, but to pretend that the reason is “ew, girlfriends” is super cowardly.

That said, you should really read this book, especially if you’re interested in gaming and are part of a traditionally underrepresented group in the hobby. So, basically, not a straight-passing cis white dude, tho straight-passing cis white dudes are absolutely encouraged to read this, too! Actually, every gamer or budding gamer should read this, so they know what’s acceptable behavior (Gloria’s group) and what’s not (Landon’s group, ugggh) when it comes to RPGs.

Anyway, the story itself is about Hollis, who’s wanted to be a part of her boyfriend Chris’ Secrets & Sorcery group for years. His Secret Keeper (basically the Dungeon Master) Landon is all “no girlfriends allowed”. Landon, unsurprisingly, is a colossal asshole. But as their senior year of high school starts, Hollis feels insecure about moving too far apart from Chris, and decides that she needs to learn more about his favorite hobby even if he won’t actually include her in it.

This leads to an unfortunate experience at a local game store (and hooooo boy, did I want to punch some of the stereotypical but not at all uncommon role-players she met there in the face) before she stumbles across a recruitment call for a girl- and LGBTQ+-friendly group. Gloria is the Secret Keeper for this group, which consists of her younger sister Fran, glamorous influencer Maggie, over-achieving Iffy and effortlessly cool Aini. They welcome Hollis in, even as Hollis herself isn’t sure whether she’ll be able to be “good” enough for the people she now finds herself surrounded by.

Continue reading

Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2024/03/15/the-no-girlfriend-rule-by-christen-randall/

Mar 14 2024

I’ll See You In Ijebu by Bunmi Emenanjo & Diana Ejaita

After reading this wonderful, tender memoir of childhood — so close to my own yet so vastly different — I finally understood how it feels to suffer from anemoia, a longing for a past I never actually knew. Is there a separate thing for when you wish this was your past, that this could have been your past if only circumstances were different, if the world were a better place? I’m not one to indulge in pointless nostalgia but this book made me truly wistful for a childhood not my own.

I’ll See You In Ijebu is author Bunmi Emenanjo’s recollection of her own childhood in Nigeria. While she lived with her Catholic family in Lagos, they often went to Ijebu, several hours’ drive away, to visit her mother’s Muslim family, especially for celebrations like Eid. This book describes the time when she was finally eight, old enough to start helping to prepare food for the Eid al-Adha feast, something young Olubunmi had been looking forward to for years. From the hustle of traffic leaving the capital, to the food both at home and in Ijebu, to Olubunmi’s thoughts on spending time with her extended family, this is a tale told with copious amounts of both care and love.

It’s a simple enough story, but the richness of detail really grounds the narrative, contributing to that (my) feeling of anemoia. The narrative prose is interspersed with paragraphs of blank verse that often incorporate Yoruba (and sometimes Hausa?) words to more faithfully portray the rhythms of Nigerian life. Diana Ejaita’s exquisite block-print-inspired art is the perfect complement to the words, capturing the bustle and color of the tale. Honestly, this is one of the best combinations of prose and art I’ve seen in a while: I was so impressed by how beautifully everything worked together!

Continue reading

Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2024/03/14/ill-see-you-in-ijebu-by-bunmi-emenanjo-diana-ejaita/

Mar 13 2024

The Everywhere Atom by Christine Shearer & Kaz Clarke

subtitled A Journey Through The Carbon Cycle And Climate Change.

Honestly, with a title like that, you wouldn’t think that the contents would be as engrossing as they are, but this is genuinely one of the best science books for kids I’ve ever read. Heck, it explained things I hadn’t even known, and I consider myself reasonably well-informed when it comes to climate science, geology and organic chemistry.

The Everywhere Atom of the title is carbon. With accessible, clear language; cute illustrations, and hilarious asides, author Christine Shearer and illustrator Kaz Clarke brilliantly explain what the carbon cycle is and how it affects climate change, taking the reader from prehistory all the way up to the present. The book also talks about carbon-free alternatives to the fossil fuel consumption that is currently warming up the planet to disastrous effect, as well as what steps kids can take to help enact change in their own communities and, eventually, the world.

Continue reading

Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2024/03/13/the-everywhere-atom-by-christine-shearer-kaz-clarke/

Mar 12 2024

Market Day by Miranda Harmon

Oh, wow, I’m playing in a Wild Beyond The Witchlight campaign right now, and this is like the perfect G-rated accompaniment to the Carnival that more or less opens the proceedings!

Bright, colorful and filled with magic, Market Day is the story of anthropomorphic animals selling and buying wares at a day-long market. Ginger, Cinnamon and Nutmeg are the namesakes of 3 Kittens Bakery, the market stand run by their mom and serving all sorts of delicious baked goods. After a long morning of learning how to help Mom sell goodies and help customers, they’re sent off to enjoy the market with some coins and a bag of pastries to barter. Mom does tell them that they have to be back by sunset for a magical surprise!

As the kittens explore the market, grabbing some lunch and oohing and aahing over the assortment of items for sale, they decide that they want to get Mom a gift, too. But what to get, and what to do when their budget doesn’t seem to quite cover their desires? Worst of all, what will happen if they get lost and can’t figure out how to get back to Mom in time for the surprise?

This was a very cute, very colorful exploration of basic commerce in a cozy setting. Perhaps weirdly, I found it a much easier read when not trying to get my youngest to read along with me. While he is usually a big fan of both cats and baked goods — and has recently shown interest in playing pretend store — this book just didn’t engage him. I think he was a little confused by the kittens, whose identities only emerge over the course of the book. I also think he had a bit of a sensory overload with all the characters and all the stalls and bright colors.

Continue reading

Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2024/03/12/market-day-by-miranda-harmon/

Mar 11 2024

Sharp Wit And The Company Of Women edited by Michele Abounader

A Wave Blue World goes from strength to strength with this, their latest comics anthology focusing on women, blades and sapphic love.

As with any anthology, there’s a broad range of subject and subjective quality, meant to appeal to all tastes while still revolving around the central theme. More importantly, Sharp Wit And The Company Of Woman does an amazing job of spotlighting upcoming comics writers and artists who might not yet have hit the mainstream but who are sure to make a big splash when they do.

For this review, I’m just gonna focus on my own favorites and go through them in order, so apologies for any repetition in my reasons for enjoyment — I could arrange everything thematically, but honestly my brain is a little fried right now from all the reading I’ve done this weekend. I personally felt that this volume only really got going with Joan, Nineteen by Lillian Hochwender, Filipa Catalao Coelho and Kielamel Sibal. While the opening comics were your fairly standard tales of tormented women warriors — if anything, the stories they were trying to convey felt underexplored and unfortunately limited by the short format — this was the first one that felt to me like a complete snapshot, perfectly conveying the struggles of a young girl in our modern age who can’t help comparing herself to St Joan of Arc, for very good reason.

Continue reading

Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2024/03/11/sharp-wit-and-the-company-of-women-edited-by-michele-abounader/

Mar 07 2024

Table Titans Club by Scott Kurtz

Y’all. Y’ALL! So many books about girls getting into D&D focus way too much on nonsensical interpersonal drama that often reveals the author’s inability to process their own emotions, but this? THIS?! Is the best book on being a young female roleplayer I’ve read in possibly forEVER.

Val Winters is less than thrilled to be moving to a new city and a new school yet again. Her mom promises that the move to this city should be the last one, what with her new job providing greater stability than before. And if Val can stay out of trouble and not get into fights, then this should be her last school transfer for a good long while too.

Thing is, Val is kind of a dreamer, with a healthy imagination and a disregard for social appropriateness. She’s also smart as a whip, and not afraid to get physical when the situation calls for it. When a chance remark prompts one of her new classmates to invite her to join their school-sponsored D&D game — to the dismay of several of their peers — this sets her on a journey of discovery and friendship that will make life better for the entire Table Titans Club, as her new group of friends is called.

Hand to God, Val reminds me of me at that age (and maybe also at this age, lol.) I only wish I’d been lucky enough to be able to join an RPG group in middle school. I loved Val’s courage and her utter disregard for not standing out. Perhaps even more importantly, I deeply admired Scott Kurtz’ excellent and not at all preachy way of explaining why she’s like this, and why that prompts consternation and sometimes outright hostility from others. Honestly, this is invaluable information for kids who didn’t grow up as bizarrely self-assured as I did.

Continue reading

Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2024/03/07/table-titans-club-by-scott-kurtz/

Mar 06 2024

Polar Vortex: A Family Memoir by Denise Dorrance

As this graphic memoir opens, Denise Dorrance is a cartoonist living with her husband and son in London. Originally from Cedar Rapids, Iowa, she calls her 91 year-old mom every day just to check in. Mom has been living alone in their hometown since the death of her husband five years prior. When Mom doesn’t pick up one day, a concerned Denise has a home assistant go into the house to discover that Mom has, indeed, had a fall and needs to be admitted to hospital.

Denise immediately flies out to Iowa, intending to stay for only one week. But the nightmarescape of trying to find a place good enough to take care of her mother is disorienting, and Denise soon finds herself extending her stay week after week as she attempts to navigate the different and bewildering health, insurance and payment options given to her. Add to this her strained relationship with her younger sister on the West Coast, and the impending polar vortex descending on her childhood home, and she’s lost in an emotional spiral even as she tries to be strong for a woman whose mind is clearly slipping.

The art in this graphic memoir is perhaps unsurprisingly excellent. While the linework is overall cartoony, in keeping with the author’s usual trade, the use of color to highlight emotion and detail, with the occasional fanciful excursion as Denise allows her imagination to run riot, is outstanding. It really makes the story feel more immediate, intimate and accessible.

I also really loved the rightful excoriation of the American insurance industry as profit-seeking mercenaries who dole out earned benefits stingily at best. I’m not entirely sure how much I agree with the difficulty of bringing an elderly parent to the UK, tho with the current political landscape and the author’s obvious reluctance to provide daily care for her mom, I can certainly see where the prospect would seem daunting.

Continue reading

Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2024/03/06/polar-vortex-a-family-memoir-by-denise-dorrance/

Mar 05 2024

Cactus Kid And The Battle For Star Rock Mountain by Emmanuel Guerrero

This is one of those delightful graphic novels that plonks you into the action in media res, then skillfully unfolds a ton of world-building around you. Aimed at a middle grade audience, this is a terrific way to introduce that plot device to young readers, while immersing them in a wholly original fantasy world.

Cactus Kid isn’t really a kid, but definitely looks (and acts) like he’s on the younger side. He’s certainly old enough to have felt real heartbreak, which perhaps fuels his somewhat megalomaniacal quest to become the greatest wizard in the world. To that end, he’s acquired a book of magical recipes, and rides his motorbike across the Neverending Desert in pursuit of the exotic ingredients that will help him master, first, fire spells and then who knows what else. And perhaps once he’s proven himself as the greatest wizard in the world, his dad will respect him and the mysterious Ruby will allow him to join her in fighting crime back in their hometown of Florencia.

But for now, he’s in search of Star Rock, a powerful ingredient that will level up his fire potion mastery. He thinks he’ll be able to find some at the mountain named after it, so is dismayed to find the area virtually strip mined and definitely empty of any of the valuable substance. While there, he’s accosted by two rival motorcycle gangs, the Shells and the Clams. An accident causes an explosion, and Cactus Kid barely makes it out on the back of the bike driven by Freddy, leader of the Clams.

Continue reading

Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2024/03/05/cactus-kid-and-the-battle-for-star-rock-mountain-by-emmanuel-guerrero/

Mar 04 2024

Mary Tyler MooreHawk by Dave Baker

OMG, that was so hard to read on digital, friends, get the physical copy! This was such a good book, but such a challenge for me to read on a screen when the text abruptly switched to white on a dark background, given my astigmatism. It was absolutely worthwhile tho!

Mary Tyler MooreHawk starts out as an all-ages futuristic sci-fi comic a la Jonny Quest, featuring the titular character as she and her family travel the universe, seeking to stop evildoers and their terrible plans for galactic dominion. Mary has a sentient robot brother named Cutie Boy, whom she loves even tho he can be annoying at times; a strained relationship with her stepmother Meredith Moorehawk-Cho, and a devoted bodyguard in the form of Roxanne “Roxy” Racer. As believers in super science, they’re committed to building better tomorrows for all people. Along the way, they’ve picked up plenty of allies but also many deadly enemies, including Dr Zebra, the arch-nemesis of Mary’s late mom, Roseanne MooreHawk. Drs MooreHawk and Zebra allegedly perished together while struggling over an Einstein-Rosen bridge… but what is death really in the face of super science?

Interspersed with these comics, featuring an exhausting number of supporting cast members and done mostly in black and pinks, are curious prose and photography chapters that purport to be articles from a magazine called The Physicalist. These articles gradually build a picture of a dystopian future where corporations were granted full rights as people and the subsequent atrocities, some worse than others, committed therefrom. The story of Mary Tyler MooreHawk was made into a live-action show broadcast on dishwashers, as few people had televisions after the purges that rid most people of physical belongings, books and comics included. The show enraptured many, including the members of the Physicalist movement, who care about physical objects as being more than purportedly useless vanity.

Continue reading

Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2024/03/04/mary-tyler-moorehawk-by-dave-baker/

Mar 03 2024

Cahokia Jazz by Francis Spufford

What would Jazz Age America be like if it had a large and powerful Native American state in the Midwest, with its capital a thriving city called Cahokia, descendant of the largest Indigenous settlement north of Mexico? In 1922, the great Mound is still the symbolic center of the city, as it has been for nearly a thousand years. Next to it, though, is the Catholic cathedral, reflecting the alliance the future Cahokians made with the Jesuits before they made the long trek up from Mexico and settled in the Mississippi valley, displacing and mingling with the other nations who were there. The city has a radio station on a nearby bluff, an Algonkian hotel, Union Station on Grant Square, F. Xavier University, densely built traditional housing in the area immediately surrounding the ceremonial Plaza by the Mound, Germantown off to the west where many recent white immigrants live, and three modern skyscrapers just behind the Mound. They’re headquarters of the three trusts — Water, Land, Power — that undergird Cahokia’s prosperity and bring their tradition of collective ownership into the twentieth century.

Cahokia Jazz by Francis Spufford

Cahokia Jazz begins atop the Land Trust amid a light pre-dawn snowfall, detectives Phin Drummond and Joe Barrow summoned by a patrolman who had been alerted by one of the building’s overnight cleaning staff. “With the building dark beneath it, the skylight on the roof of the Land Trust was a pyramid of pure black. Down the smooth black of the glass, something sticky had run, black on black, all the way down into the crust of soft spring snow at Barrow’s feet, where it puddled in sunken loops and pools like molasses. On top, a contorted mass was somehow pinned or perched. … The whole scene on the roof was a clot of shadows, and the wind was full of wet flakes.” (p. 3) Clotted indeed, for the substance that has run down the glass is blood, and the contorted mass is the body of a man who has been murdered — ritually, by all appearances — at a site that’s both inaccessible and symbolically important to the city. To make matters worse, someone has written a Cahokia gang’s slogan in blood on his forehead. “‘But they write it on walls, not on bodies,’ [said Barrow]. ‘Till now,’ said Drummond.” (p. 9)

Continue reading

Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2024/03/03/cahokia-jazz-by-francis-spufford/