Black is for Beginnings by Laurie Faria Stolarz

Black is for Beginnings - #5 in the Blue is for Nightmares series by Laurie Faria Stolarz.

Click here: Blue is for Nightmares to read my review of the first book in the series.

Click here: White is for Magic to read my review of the second book in the series.

Click here: Silver is for Secrets to read my review of the third book in the series.

Click here: Red is for Remembrance to read my review of the fourth book in the series.

Freshman year at college is over. Now Stacey and Amber are taking summer classes to make up for taking their first semester off. 

After a horrible spring break visit to Colorado to visit Jacob, Stacey's unsure where her and Jacob stand. He was hanging out with his ex-girlfriend trying to remember everything in his past. 

The part that bothered Stacey the most was that Jacob never, not once, mentioned his ex-girlfriend Kira. The fact that Jacob and Kira were "taking a break" when he came to rescue Stacey makes Stacey unsure where they stand. 

Before they can figure anything out, Stacey goes back to school. Jacob had just remembered everything that had happened in the past, but he wasn't able to tell Stacey. 

Will Stacey and Jacob be able to communicate and find out if they are meant to be together, as soulmates? Read Black is for Beginnings to find out!

My Thoughts/Reflections

Graphic Novel? That's a new twist to this series! It was nice, though, to see the characters as the artist portrayed them. 

It might not have been how I saw them through books 1-4, but it was a nice change. 

This didn't go too much into Stacey's magic, nor were there any life threatening events that she had to save the day. 

It was definitely more about Stacey and Jacob's relationship and what was going to happen in the future. 

The Blue is for Nightmares series is now complete with this graphic novel - a great addition and completion to the series!

Kare Kano Manga Series

Kare Kano series by Masami Tsuda. Los Angeles, CA: Tokyopop Manga, 2003. 126 pages.

      1. A succinct evaluative annotation. Plot: [Conflict] Yukino is a straight A student, the best at everything at school and wants to be at the top all of the time, but then a new student came to her school, Arima, and he ended up being better than Yukino, which then made Yukino determined to out beat Arima. [Rising Action] Yukino studied harder and also started doing Arima’s homework when he needed help, all to try and get the best grade in the class. [Climax] When the final grades came out, Yukino beat Arima by 6 points, making her the “smarter” one in the eyes of her classmates. [Falling Action] After Yukino got her goal, she started to realize that she liked Arima as a friend, but those feelings grew stronger the more she started to hang out with him. [Resolution] In the end, both Yukino and Arima confessed their love to one another, and their competing days were over. Theme: The themes in this story included competition, winning, determination, and love. Tone: The tone was very comical because Yukino basically embarrassed herself in front of her school and Arima trying to be the best in her class when no one really cared except Yukino. Style: Since this is manga, the writing style was definitely different than what I’m used to. There were Japanese symbols that I wasn’t able to figure out and reading from right to left was difficult. Also, I wasn’t able to figure out right away that I was supposed to read from the top to bottom, right to left so it took some getting used to. Characterizations: Yukino is very competitive, and smart, which she knows so she’s kind of a snob to others. She wants everyone’s respect but, at the beginning, didn’t give her respect back. Arima was very helpful to everyone, never judging others for their lack of smarts, and overall a nice guy. Readability: For people who know how to read manga, this would be a very easy book to read. After I got used to it, I flew through the story quickly.

2. My reactions to the book. This was a cute romantic story. It wasn’t the best, but for my first manga experience I was glad that it was a realistic story that was easy to follow. I think the best strength it had was the drawings – the artist really did a great job showing the story through their artistic ability. The only weakness I saw was that while this is a Japanese story, having Japanese symbols on the side with exclamation marks made me want to know what they were saying but I had no way of figuring it out. As for accuracy, I don’t think much of this story was very accurate, just a cute story about a girl and a boy falling in love after being “arch enemies”.

3. Comment on the cover art. The cover art of this novel definitely shows that it’s a romance story, and how well the drawing is in this manga volume. I think it will definitely attract a female audience that likes to read manga, but that will be the only audience that would appreciate the cover because I wouldn’t think that too many males would want to read it based on the cover. However, the cover does show the viewer what the novel is about for those interested. 

Trickster: Native American Tales

Trickster: Native American Tales: A Graphic Collection by Dembicki, Matt (ed.), and Various Artists. Golden, CO: Fulcrum Books, 2010. 231 pages.

      1. A succinct evaluative annotation. Plot: Because there are 21 stories, there are a variety of different plots that happen in this novel. The majority of the stories, though, talk about a moral, or lesson, in life. The tricksters do something they aren’t supposed to, learn what they did wrong in their actions, and should learn from their mistakes, but since they are tricksters, they really will probably do the same actions again, only a little bit smarter about the outcomes. The ending of the stories, though, teach the reader a lesson of life and try to explain why something is the way it is today – through the story that was just told. Sometimes it might work, other times it might just be a fun story to read when one has free time. Theme: This book has a few themes, including learning lessons, finding out the meaning of certain aspects of life, and also, understanding a different culture (Native American culture). Tone: The tone of this novel is very fun and upbeat. The stories are about learning a lesson, but they also have a few funny moments when one of the characters does something unexpected and humorous for the reader to laugh about because they can relate it to their own lives one way or another. Style: The author’s writing style of this book is in a storytelling way. The tribes that the editor was able to get the stories from told the story the way they have always performed the story, and that was how the story was portrayed in this novel. Also, the illustrations were very precise and imaginative to get the reader’s creativity flowing when reading this novel. Characterizations: Many of the characters in this novel (21 stories overall) were tricksters and learned their just deserves in the short story. There was a moral to the story and overall the tricksters didn’t learn their lesson, but will more than likely do the same actions at a later date. Readability: This was very, very easy to read. Anyone who has a few minutes to space can pick up this book and read a story or two for pure enjoyment.

2. My reactions to the book. I’ve never read a graphic novel before, so this was a great experience. Not only was I able to read the Native American stories that were told in the tribes and were passed down through generations, but I was able to see the story from the graphics that the artists drew to correlate with the stories. That is one of the major strengths of this novel – being able to have different artists draw the story in a way to understand the traditional story. The only weakness I can think of is that for new graphic novel readers, trying to figure out exactly which section of the book to read after the previous one is a little tricky, but not too hard. The stories are very accurate – the editor made note of going to different tribes and asking their permission to use the stories that are very real to them and putting them into his collection of tales.

3. Comment on the cover art. The cover art of this novel is very unique. Because it’s a graphic novel, it is appropriate that the cover should be drawn as another graphic. However, I think it’s a mixed signal. There is a rabbit on the cover, but there are 21 stories in this book that are about many different animals or characters. I think a more variety of characters would have been better for the cover to attract a broader audience.

Rapunzel's Revenge

Rapunzel’s Revenge by Hale, Shannon, Dean Hale and Nathan Hale. New York: Bloomsbury U.S.A. Children’s Books, 2008. 144 pages.

      1. A succinct evaluative annotation. Plot: [Conflict] Rapunzel, as a little girl, goes beyond the huge stone wall that surrounds her house (a grand villa) with her mother, Gothel. However, Rapunzel finds out that Gothel stole Rapunzel from her real mother and took all of the green from the county, making Gothel have the power to force everyone else to do her bidding. [Rising Action] Rapunzel doesn’t like what Gothel did and went against her, making Rapunzel get locked away in a tower. Her hair grew extremely long and she was able to escape, planning to stop Gothel from using magic to keep trees and other natural plants from growing. [Climax] Rapunzel meets Jack and they have to travel a long journey to get to Gothel, meeting challenges along the way. They get to Gothel’s villa and crash a party. [Falling Action] Rapunzel finds the source of Gothel’s magic, breaks it, restores the land surrounding the villa, and saves the county. [Resolution] Rapunzel is reunited with her mother and thinks about going on another adventure with Jack, who she falls in love with. Theme: The themes in this novel include adventure, magic, family, making new friends, righting wrongs that occurred, and “saving the day”. Tone: The tone of this novel is very humorous and fictional. The adventure Rapunzel and Jack have include many tales that show Rapunzel as the hero and learning how to lasso her hair to stop the bad guys. Style: The authors’ writing style is a lot of dialogue and a story telling quality. The illustrations were very colorful, pointing out the events that were the most important on every page. Characterizations: Rapunzel is a fighter. She learns to stand up for herself and she goes after what she wants: to stop Gothel from using magic to take away the plants and grass. Jack is a character – he is humorous and funny, making jokes all the way through their journey, but he is also serious at times, talking about his troubles and how he needs to fix them. Readability: This novel was very easy to read. I flew through it very quickly and enjoyed every dialogue and narration – a younger reader could definitely read this on their own.

2. My reactions to the book. I really enjoyed this book. I have always liked the story of Rapunzel since I was little, and this story definitely had a twist to the original story. One of the biggest strengths of this book was the illustrations. The artist really did a great job with drawing the story and drawing the explicit detail of every page. I also liked how the authors changed the story a bit – Rapunzel isn’t a blonde haired princess locked away by the evil lady, but was forced into exile when she didn’t like the cruelty her “mother” treated everyone else in the town. Because the story included Jack and the Beanstalk, the goose who laid the golden egg, and many differences that were not in the original Rapunzel story, the accuracy is not the best. However, this is a cartoon story, a make believe story, so anything can change!

3. Comment on the cover art. The cover art is great. It captures the attention of the reader because Rapunzel has red hair, she’s dressed in pants, and is lassoing her hair – definitely not the true Rapunzel story. Because of all these details, the viewer will want to know why Rapunzel is so different and who the young boy in the background is. Very original and will definitely draw attention to many viewers at a library or book store.