It is Young Adult Tuesday!
I have slowly been working away on The Hub Reading Challenge. One of my favorites from this list so far is:
Seconds: A Graphic Novel
The Story
In this graphic novel, a young woman named Katie is a talented chef. She already has one successful restaurant and is getting ready to open another. One night, a terrible accident happens;one of her employees gets badly burned. Katie goes to bed worried and feeling guilty. If she did something different could it have saved her employee? Just as she is about to fall asleep, a mysterious spirit appears. The spirit gives her some simple instructions to have a second chance & fix her mistake. All she has to do is eat a mushroom, write her mistake, go to sleep, and wake up anew. Just like that, Katie's mistake was undone. Her employee was never burnt, and Katie gets a second chance to redo everything. This opens the door for Katie to think about second chances with other things in her life. If she had done something different with her ex-boyfriend, could it have worked out? Katie begins to take advantage of her second chances. As many chances as Katie has, Katie begins to realize that sometimes things happen for a reason. But she must discover this before her whole world falls apart.
The Review
As an inspiring librarian, I hate to admit this but..... this is my first ever graphic novel.
I know, I know, but I always thought graphic novels were odd. I think it is just its set up. I found it intimidating. After I read this, I realized it is just different. Byan Lee O'Malley was a great first graphic novel for me. O'Malley is best known for his Scott Pilgram vs The World Series, and who doesn't love this story?
One problem I had was separating Scott out. (It is one of my favorite movies). Once I got it out of my head that Scott has left the building, I really enjoyed Katie's story. O'Malley has a lot of humor that he slides in. Which in many ways is why I liked Scott Pilgrim. I also really enjoyed the fate theme of this book. As a reader, O'Mally struck me most when he addressed Katie's worry about finding love and how much she wanted things to work out with her ex. To me, I really connected to that part of the book. I think this is a common worry among many people.
I also really enjoyed that she liked to cook. At one time, I wanted to be a baker, but it must have been fate I didn't because I have Celiac Disease. Not being able to touch flour would have made me a terrible baker! Reading about Katie's passion for it, however, reminded me of my passions though. I think that aspect of the book is really important too. Overall, I was really surprised by how much I connected with this book. I wasn't expecting much and walked away with a "everything is meant to be" lesson. I hope other reader's will connect to it in the same way as I did. As far as star ratings go, I would have to give it four.
I am really thankful for The Hub Challenge 2015 for opening my eyes to this genre. It made me take a chance on book that I wouldn't have normally read. I would love it if you joined me! There is still time. Here is a link to that information:
Also here are the list of books to read for the challenge:
You have to read 25 of the books on the list before June 21st.
This list contains a lot of wonderful need to know YA lit & you get rewarded for reading them.
It is just that awesome!
Until next time,
Pamela
It is just that awesome!
Until next time,
Pamela
No comments