Murder on the Orient Express: The Graphic Novel by Agatha Christie, adapted and illustrated by Bob Al-Greene (Bibliolifestyle Book Tour)

 

Thank you, Partner @bibliolifestyle @williammorrowbooks for the review copy of Murder on the Orient Express:  The Graphic Novel by Agatha Christie, adapted and illustrated by Bob Al-Greene.

The overall theme for #ReadChristie2023 is Methods and Motives.  Murder on the Orient Express was my read for October with the method of stabbing. I had read the novel previously and thought it would be fun to read the new graphic novel. 

Hercule Poirot is taking the Orient Express to travel back to Europe.  Unfortunately, the train is stopped by a snowdrift on the journey and a passenger is found stabbed to death in the morning.  Hercule Poirot is on the case interviewing the passengers on the train to determine who killed Samuel Rachett and why. 

Bob Al-Green did a wonderful job creating a graphic novel out of this story.  I really liked the artistic choices he made such as graying out scenes that were memories.  He also used graphics to illustrate who the passengers were and what rooms they were staying in on the train. It really helped me to visualize what was going on in the story.

My thirteen-year-old daughter Penelope saw me reading this in October and asked to borrow it afterwards as she thought it looked interesting.  I think making Agatha Christie’s classic novels into graphic novels is a great way to get teens interested in her works.

I highly recommend this graphic novel to fans of Agatha Christie and to mystery fans.

White Bird by R. J. Palacio

 

How do you find out about new books?  My daughter Penelope and I were at the movie theatre watching “Are You There God, It’s Me Margaret” where we watched a trailer for White Bird.  We thought it looked good and looked up and ordered the book when we got home.  We were both surprised to discover that it was a book from the world of Wonder, a book we had both previously enjoyed.  Penelope devoured White Bird and implored me to read it as soon as possible so we could discuss it.  I complied.

White Bird is a graphic novel.  The framing of the story is that Julian, the bully from Wonder, has a beloved Grandmother who tells him a story of her youth to help explain why she thinks it is important to always be kind to everyone.  Grandmere was a young Jewish girl growing up in France when the Nazis invaded.  Other Jewish children and her parents were taken away.  She was only able to survive because a crippled boy that the other kids disdained put his life at risk to help her.  The story is a harrowing tale of survival that shows there is always good in the world. 

This story was very engaging, and the graphics are wonderful.  It’s a heart-rending story.  My daughter gave me the book with tears running down her face . . . she also told me what was going to happen, so it wasn’t a surprise for me at the end.  It was still very sad to read.

I really liked the message of good people helping those in need, and that you should always be kind to those around you.  When you get to know other people, you can find new and wonderful friends. 

For those that want to know more, there is a great author’s note at the end that discusses the real-world inspirations for this book.  I thought it was very interesting and would be a great learning tool for those who want to learn more.  I also thought it was interesting that it noted many World War II fiction novels about the atrocities against Jewish people are told from the point of view of a non-Jewish person.  I had never thought about that before, but it is true.  I liked that this did tell the story from the Jewish child that has to go into hiding.

Overall, White Bird is a touching and meaningful book that is perfect for both kids and adults alike.  I can’t wait to see the movie based on this book!

Favorite Quote:

“Evil will only be stopped when good people decide to put an end to it.”

Book Source:  Purchased from Amazon.com.

 

Dork Diaries #2: Tales from a Not-So-Popular Party Girl by Rachel Renee Russell

My nine-year-old daughter Penelope loves reading the Dork Diaries novels. They are the story of an awkward middle school girl named Nikki who is picked on by the cool girls and must find her way out of mischief.  The book is written like a diary and has pictures throughout. Nikki is a budding artist and illustrates her diary.

In Tales from a Not-So-Popular Party Girl, Nikki finds herself in a mess as she is the people pleaser and she schedules herself to be in three places at once the evening of the school Halloween party.  Hilarity ensues.  Mean girl Mackenzie continues to be a villain, and Nikki is asked to the dance by her crush Brandon.  I like that Nikki learned her lesson that she should have just been honest with everyone up front.  I also like that while Nikki does not think much of herself, she is a good person that likes to help kids and is good to her friends.  

Overall, Dork Diaries #2:  Tales from a Not-So-Popular Party Girl was a light entertaining novel that was good for some laughs.  It was a good book to read with Penelope with all the stresses of COVID going on right now.  

Book Source:  I believe I purchased this from Amazon.com for Penelope’s birthday.

They Called Us Enemy by George Takei, Justin Eisinger, Steven Scott, and Harmony Becker

They Called Us Enemy is a powerful graphic novel that tells the story of George Takei and his childhood spent in the concentration camps that were set up for Japanese during WWII.  I have spent my lifetime enjoying George Takei in Star Trek the original series and the movies.  As Takei has moved into social media, I have enjoyed his humor as well as his activism.

I ordered this book from the Scholastic Book order to read with my eleven-year-old son Daniel.  He loves historical fiction and graphic novels so it seemed like a great fit for him.  We both enjoyed the novel.  Daniel says some other historical fiction novels that he has been trying to read have been hard to understand and get into, but that this novel he was able to really grasp the essence of the story and enjoy it.  We both were appalled learning that 120,000 Japanese American families were imprisoned during WWII.  Besides their freedom, their homes and businesses were taken away from them as well.  It’s hard to envision that our country would treat its own citizens this way, but the book makes a compelling argument at the end that we are going back to this with our treatment of refugees at the border.  The illustrations were wonderful and compelling.

I also enjoyed that Takei also talked briefly about how he got involved in Star Trek as well.  I am a Star Trek superfan.

Overall, They Called Us Enemy is an important first-person account of a dark period of American history.

Dork Diaries: Tales from a NOT-SO-Fabulous Life by Rachel Renee Russell

Penelope received this book this summer and was enthralled with it.  She read it while we were camping and then her brother Daniel may have also read it was well.  Penelope and I then read it together this fall.

Dork Diaries is a story told diary style with graphics similar to the Diary of a Wimpy Kid series.  This time, the protagonist a girl named Nikki J. Maxwell.  She is dealing with moving to a new school, making new friends, and making an enemy, the mean popular girl Mackenzie.  There are plenty of embarrassing and funny stories along her journey in this book.  She competes in a major art contest against Mackenzie.  Will she win the art contest and will the cute school paper photographer, Brandon, notice her?

Penelope really liked the graphics and the story. She was particularly concerned about Nikki getting into and out of embarrassing situations and didn’t like the mean girl.  For me it was positive for Penelope to note what is mean and how not to be like a mean girl.  I didn’t like how it talked about clothing and where it is not cool to buy clothes . . . which I think include the stores I buy Penelope clothes at like Kohls.  Luckily this seemed to pass over Penelope and she didn’t get into the I need to have to buy my clothes from a certain mall store trend.

Overall, Dork Diaries:  Tales from a NOT-SO-Fabulous Life was very entertaining for Penelope and me to read together.  We have book number two now and will start reading it soon.  We are also listening to the audiobook for book number thirteen.