2 sentence book reviews, part 3

here we go — a week of 2-sentence book reviews on 39 books. i allow myself one sentence for a summary and one sentence for my opinion of the book.

Graphic and Illustrated

david-boringDavid Boringby Daniel Clowes

2.5 stars

lonely butt-obsessed dude tries to figure out life. i love clowes’ work, and time mag gave this one a great review; but it was just too dark and pervy for me.

patiencePatienceby Daniel Clowes

4.5 stars

time-traveling widower seeks out truth about his murdered wife. at 180 pages, this full length (massive) full-color illustrated book is clowes at his best, telling a paced story with visual spectacularity.

Young Adult

wild-robotThe Wild Robotby Peter Brown

5 stars

roz the robot crash-lands on an island and has to figure out her purpose. technically, this is a pre-teen book (grades 3 – 7), not young adult; but it is SO DANG GOOD, and layered with meaning well deeper than the story itself.

it-aint-so-awfulIt Ain’t So Awful, Falafelby Firoozeh Dumas

5 stars

an iranian-immigrant middle school girl in the 1970s tries to make sense of orange county california and her life and very ethnic family. really, one of the best books for middle schoolers (and preteens) i’ve read in a long time, full of fun and insight without heavy-handed moralizing.

flightFlight: A Novelby Sherman Alexie

3.5 stars

native american teenage guy time travels into different storylines (and bodies) while learning about himself and history. not alexie’s best young adult fiction, but i love that he has male main characters (rare in YA fiction) and, in this book, that the short length makes this book accessible for those who wouldn’t read longer books.

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