Fire Power Book One by Robert Kirkman and Chris Samnee. Image, 2022. 9781534322073. 448pp. Includes Fire Power Prelude and issues #1-12. The book opens with Owen Johnson climbing through the snow to find the lost Temple of the Flaming Fist […]
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Category: book review
Graphic Nonfiction Review: Poking the Squid: What We Can Learn From Animal Sex by Perrin Roosevelt Ireland
Poking the Squid: What We Can Learn From Animal Sex by Perrin Roosevelt Ireland. W.W. Norton, 2026. 978132408904. 272pp. Ireland, along with cats Pudge and Ursala, takes readers on a graphic tour of the amazing sex lives of animals. She […]
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Novel Review: Backwater by James Sallis
Backwater by James Sallis. Soho, 2026. 9781641298599. 208pp. I love short crime novels, and I love those written by James Sallis. He was a poet who created characters by sharing moments from their lives, whose books often move suddenly and […]
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Picture Books!
Monkeypig by Huw Aaron. Viking, 2026. 9798217039159. Molly (a pig) lives in the jungle with a bunch of monkeys. No one notices she’s different. But then the head monkey calls a meeting, announces there’s an imposter among them, and sets […]
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Picture Books!
Unicorns in Uniforms by Beth Ferry & A.N. Kang. Simon & Schuster Book for Young Readers, 2026. 9781665975421. Unicorns run the village square at a magical place in the forest. They seem to do all the jobs, and they even […]
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Guest Picture Book Review: Fly, Mama, Fly! by Anna McGregor
Fly, Mama, Fly! by Anna McGregor. Scribble US, 2025. 9781964992143. Guest review by Julie Strange This absolutely gorgeous board book will make snuggling up with your toddler or preschooler all the more dreamy and wonderful. Printed with special neon ink, you’re […]
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Graphic Novel Review: The Girl Who Raised The Dead by Kawashima Norikazu
The Girl Who Raised The Dead by Kawashima Norikazu. English Translation by Ryan Holmberg. Smudge / Living the Line, 2028. (Original © 1987). 9781961581134. 204pp. Contains an essay titled “Magical Girls and the Occult in Postwar Japan” by Tanaka Hirokazu, […]
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Graphic Novel Review: Last Day Pool Party by Emma Steinkellner
Last Day Pool Party by Emma Steinkellner. Labyrinth Road / Random House Children’s Books, 2026. 9798217031429. 176pp. I fell in love with Steinkellner’s art when reading her The Okay Witch series. Her art plus the expert way she was […]
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Graphic Novel Review: The Endless Game by J.D. Amato, art by Sophie Morse
The Endless Game by J.D. Amato, art by Sophie Morse. Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers, 2026. 9781665927154. 248pp. Fred moves a lot, and now he’s the new kid in Lakeside, Illinois, where most of the kids take part […]
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Graphic Novel Review: Buff Soul by Moa Romanova
Buff Soul by Moa Romanova. Translator: Melissa Bowers. Fantagraphics, 2025. 9798875000683. 240pp. A bookseller at Third Place Books told me about their obsession with this book and Romanova’s drawing style. It was such a passionate, slam-dunk of a booktalk that […]
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