Who's Afraid of the Big Bad Wolf?

Published:  September 30th, 2010
Dust City
By: Robert Paul Weston
Razorbill
ISBN-13:  9781595142962

When your dad is the wolf who killed Little Red Riding Hood, life is no fairy tale.

Henry Whelp is a Big Bad Wolf.  Or will be, someday.  His dad is doing time for the double murder of Little Red Riding Hood and her grandmother so everyone assumes crime is in Henry's blood.  For years, he's kept a low profile in a Home for Wayward Wolves on the outskirts of Dust City -- a gritty metropolis known for its black market, mind-altering dust.  And the entire population of foxes, ravens, and hominids are hooked.  But it's not just any dust the creatures of this grim underground are slinging and sniffing.  It's fairydust.

When a murder at the Home forces Henry to escape, he begins to suspect his Dad may have been framed.  With a daring she wolf named Fiona by his side, Henry travels into the dark alleyways and cavernous tunnels of Dust City.  There, he'll come face to snout with legendary mobster Skinner and his Water Nixie henchmen to discover what really happened to his father in the woods that infamous night...and the shocking truth about fairy dust.

Review

     In case you didn't get it by the bunches of other reviews on fairy tale infused books on this blog, I'm a bit of a nut for anything involving fairy tales or magic.   So when I saw this book on the shelf at my library, I was intrigued.  The concept of a retelling (in an urban setting, with humans "hominids" and animalia [ravens, foxes, wolves, etc.] as each others' antagonists, mind you) was interesting to say the least.  And Weston does manage to establish a world that is fairly easy for the reader to picture.  He has a great descriptive turn-of-phrase, that really brought things to life for me as a reader.  But there was some slightly annoying repetition of language, and overall stupid decisions, especially on the part of Henry Whelp.  I liked the integration of characters like Jack, the one friend Henry has at the reform school.  Jack is a mischief maker, and obviously some form of the kid from the "Jack and the Beanstalk" story.  The Detective who is always waiting for Henry to slip up (she also put away his Dad) is Detective White, aka Snow White.

      The main story of this book is a mystery of what happened to all the fairies in the land.  They disappeared years ago, and with them went the magic that kept people's lives on track - and their hopes up.  Another mystery interconnected with it is what really happened that night with Red Riding Hood and her Grandma.  Is Henry's father innocent?  Was he coerced by an influence he had no prayer of ever controlling or subverting?  Just what sinister plan do Skinner and his Water Nixies, not to mention the manufacturers of the new, improved "fairydust" have for the city's animalia?  Overall, it was an enjoyable read if you like noir and fairy tales, and don't mind the two being mixed together.  As I saw another reviewer point out, it was far more of a children's book than I'd have liked, in its overall simplicity and slightly too easy character arcs.  The ending is also somewhat loose and left me unsatisfied.  I did enjoy the idea presented, I just wish it would have been better executed.

VERDICT:  3/5  Stars

**No money or favors were exchanged for this review.  This book is now available in stores, online, or maybe even at your local library.**

V is For Villain and A is For A-Hole

Expected Publication:  May 20th, 2014

V Is For Villain

By: Peter Moore

Disney-Hyperion

ISBN-13:  9781423157496

Brad Baron is used to looking lame compared to his older brother, Blake.  Though Brad's basically a genius, Blake is a superhero in the elite Justice Force.  And Brad doesn't measure up at his high school, either, where powers like super-strength and flying are the norm.  So when Brad makes friends who are more into political action than weight-lifting, he's happy to join a new crew - especially since it means spending more time with Layla, a girl who may or may not have a totally illegal, totally secret super-power.  And with her help, Brad begins to hone a dangerous new power of her own.

But when they're pulled into a web of nefarious criminals, high-stakes battles, and startling family secrets, Brad must choose which side he's on.  And once he does there's no turning back.

Perfect for fans of The Avengers, Iron Man, and classic comic books, V Is For Villain reveals that it's good to be bad.

Review

     This book reminded me of a cross between the Disney film, Sky High, and a recent superhero read called Steelheart by Brandon Sanderson.  It has elements of YA angst, with the majority of the novel being set in a superhero school and the classes being split into those with powers and those without them (or with entirely useless or barely there ones).  The Disney edge about it is that the novel centers around the Baron family, is which Blake has all the powers and works on a team, as a real-life superhero.  His younger brother Brad is ordinary and viewed as an embarrassment to the family, a freak accident of nature.  The Steelheart thing about this book, is that the entire world knows about the superheroes.  They are the celebrities of this world and are followed constantly for coverage of their heroic exploits.  

     Brad is the protagonist of this novel and we spend the whole thing in his head, trying right along with him to decide if the superheroes really are the good guys and if he should become a villain instead.  We definitely get Brad's end of the spectrum quite a bit more, with him almost being paralyzed at the start of the book after being tackled by one of the powered kids too hard.  After mouthing off to his teachers one too many times, Brad is switched over to the A Program, and falls in with a group of kids who call themselves A-Holes.  The real reason Brad is interested in becoming villain though, is to hack into his geneticist mother's computers, and look at his gene mapping.  He wants to know why Brad has powers and he doesn't, when genetically speaking he should.  But digging deeper into his own past brings to the forefront a horrifying secret about the involvement of the government in the existence of super powers in the world - and just who the real heroes and villains are after all.

     I really enjoyed reading this one.  I felt that the characters were well developed, especially Brad and Layla, who were both really trying to think things through and have a sound reasoning for going to "the dark side."  Also, the whole superpower thing with Brad made for an interesting ride.  I wasn't expecting Moore to give him a secret one that he never knew he had.  It did make for a connection with Layla on a completely different level and still allowed Brad to be a societal outcast, albeit in a different way.  I liked the rest of the crew too, but felt like they were little kids playing dress up and sure enough, as soon as shit got real they all bailed out.  Blake was a superb caricature of the smug, self-involved, dumb brute hero character that's common in comics - that is, until he wasn't.  I loved the way Moore lulls you into thinking everyone is something different than really are and rips you apart with revelations.  My only complaint is that while the big reveal about Brad and Blake's respective powers at the end made sense, it was pretty cliched and really damn "muhahaha" in tone.  Other than that, I truly enjoyed this book and would highly recommend it to fans of comics and superheroes.  It struck the right balance most of the time between humor, action and philosophical musings.

VERDICT:  4/5  Stars

*I received this book as part of Around the World ARC Tours, run by the lovely Princess Bookie.  No favors or money were exchanged for this review.  This book's expected publication date is May 20th, 2014.*

You Tessered to Me

Published:  October 2nd, 2012
A Wrinkle in Time: The Graphic Novel
By: Hope Larson
Farrar, Straus and Giroux (BYR)
ISBN-13:  9780374386153

The world already knows Meg and Charles Wallace Murry, Calvin O'Keefe, and the three Mrs--Who, Whatsit, and Which--the memorable and wonderful characters who fight off a dark force and save our universe in the Newbery award-winning classic A Wrinkle in Time. But in 50 years of publication, the book has never been illustrated. Now, Hope Larson takes the classic story to a new level with her vividly imagined interpretations of tessering and favorite characters like the Happy Medium and Aunt Beast. Perfect for old fans and winning over new ones, this graphic novel adaptation is a must-read.

Review

 

     The story of Meg and Charles Murray Wallace and their friend Calvin O'Keefe is one that many children have known for decades and loved dearly.  Hope Larson puts a spin on things by re-telling that story as a graphic novel.  I went into this one thinking that it wouldn't translate well AT ALL and being completely amazed by what Larson managed to do!  At the heart of things, this is really a book about two kids determined to find their lost Father and bring him home.  Which is probably why I was wrong and it translated so well, even with other planets, galaxies and creatures like 'Aunt Beast' to illustrate.  With the actual illustration to go with the explanation of a tesseract, as a reader I finally understood that concept, wheras before I was totally lost.  Some of my absolute favorite illustrations though, were of Aunt Beast and her kind, when Meg is being taken care of by them.  This was a far more professional effort than a lot of classic retellings via graphic novel, and I wouldn't be at all opposed to reading more of the series done as graphic novels by this artist/author.  I think she did a remarkable job (my only complaint being that Calvin didn't look at all as I pictured him - but that's a personal problem!) and I will be trying to find her other work to read while I'm waiting for her next book.  Overall, gorgeous artwork that keeps to the heart of the original book and I highly recommend it to newcomers and longtime fans of L'Engle's Wrinkle series.

 

VERDICT:  4.5/5 Stars

 

**No money or favors were exchanged for this review. This book is now available in stores, online, or maybe even at your local library.**

 

One of my favorite panels: