So. I picked up Amulet, book one: The Stonekeeper at the library, mostly because I thought my Perfect Non-Reader might be willing to read a graphic novel for a change. No luck there. I read it, of course, as I thought it looked pretty good just from a quick flip-through off the shelf. And, you know, it was OK, but not great. I have to admit I was surprised to see it was an Eisner Nominee. I mean, not that I actually know anything about the field, or had read any of the other eligible works.
I had the thing that I often have with comic books, where I flip through the pages very quickly, slurping up the plot, and possibly oohing at a nice image or two, and then feeling somehow dissatisfied when I finish the thing in five minutes. Sometimes, if the graphics are particularly dense, I’ll spend some time looking at them. But a lot of stuff is just wasted on me, particularly the stuff that I think of as Japanese style (note: may not actually have anything to do with Japan), where dialogue is scanty.
I also felt that this was an odd place to cut the book—there’s a nicely written introduction, a little woogly-woogly entry into the World of the Story, and then, well, things keep happening, one after another, without any particular arc. Or that’s how it felt to me. The last image was cool, as an image, but didn’t seem to come at a meaningful spot in the story. But then, I might have felt differently if I had spent more time going through the thing.
Tolerabimus quod tolerare debemus,
-Vardibidian.
What age is PNR now, again? I’m wondering whether it might be time for Runaways.
(Tangent: I remember a rule of thumb from a children’s librarian that kids usually like to read characters that are a year or two older than them, and looking back on my elementary school reading, I might say three or even four sometimes.)
She is seven and three-quarters and reads well above her years. Actually, she is a very lazy reader, speeding through books at an appalling rate, but not reading very many of the actual words. A lot like I was at her age, curse her.
Thanks,
-V.
Hmm. Yeah, maybe Runaways. There’s one off-panel human sacrifice that might be lingering-scary, plus evil parents (more likely to be a problem for you than PNR, I suppose). Some of the character dynamics are very much pre-teen and teenager (a little bit of romance, a lot of finding oneself and learning to work with other people you might not get along with), but nothing that couldn’t go over-the-head now and be appreciated on a later re-read. Many of my favorite books as a kid, especially fantasy, had whole themes that I totally missed until I came back to them as young adult. Like, an actual adult of drinking age, but on the young side. As opposed to Young Adult. I’m rambling, aren’t I?
Oh!
Oh!
Gunnerkrigg Court, by Tom Siddell! It’s a webcomic, but a collection is available for purchase and admiration and perusal in the bathtub. Or addition to a local library’s YA collection.