Zeus, King of the Gods by George O'Connor

GUYS!!! You've GOT to get this graphic novel!! It's totally, amazingly INCREDIBLE!! I haven't this worked up for long time, but this gn is fan-tastic! George O'Connor has started an enormous project, turning the stories of the 12 ancient Greek immortals into graphic novels. This one focuses on Zeus. It starts with the creation of the world and goes into the domination of the earth by the Titans, Zeus's quest for his birthright, and the great battle of Zeus and Kronos. Wow! What a story. And what artwork!! George O'Connor does both the story and art and he excels mightily. This is everything a guy could want. As it says on the back, "Epic battles, daring quests, and terrible monsters await you." What more do you want? And what a perfect thing to read during the weekend that The Lightning Thief movie opens!! (PS--I'll give a free book to any one who writes a review of the movie) Zeus, King of the Gods--go get it!! And Bill, Zack--I'd love to hear what you think of it.

Carl

The Manly Sweaty Doll Blogger Award

Our good friend Ms. Yingling over at the Ms. Yingling Reads blog has very nicely given us an award. It's The Fabulous Sugar Doll Blogger Award (and we are very proud of this, but somewhat uncomfortable with the title). Yes, Darth Bill, we are very proud and grateful that a fellow blogger has thought to recognize us, but being the MANLY MEN that we are, we ARE uncomfortable with this extremely----PINK award. Therefore we're creating an award that MANLY MEN can display proudly. It's not a sweety doll award, it's the--

The MANLY SWEATY DOLL BLOGGER AWARD!

Yes, indeed, what do all MANLY MEN have in common? WE SWEAT!!! When we run down the court to shoot the winning shot, WE SWEAT!!! When we fight the barbarians at the gates, WE SWEAT!!! When we hack through the jungle in search of treasure, WE SWEAT!!! When we exert the least bit of mental effort, WE...wait a minute, that's not right. It's the perfect award to give to other bloggers who write about books guys love. So we've got a good deal here. As part of receiving the Fabulous Sugar Doll award, we're supposed to pass that award on to ten other blogs that we like. Well, we will do that, BUT, along with the Sugar Doll award, we will also pass along the Manly Sweaty Doll Blogger Award. Here are some deserving bloggers:

Charlotte at Charlotte's Library (she often links to our reviews of sci-fi and fantasy)
Elizabeth Bird of Fuse # 8 (a librarian in New York who writes for grownups but has turned me on to great guy books like the Percy Jackson and The Brixton Brothers series)
Jay Piscopo at The Undersea Adventures of Capt'n Eli (a great graphic novel series)
Jaymie at Bring on the Books (one of our followers who has boys of her own)
Jana at Adventures in the Library (another follower who has boys)
SWIRL at Book Clubs 4 Boys (yet another follower with boys)
Stable Granny at Writer on Horseback (an author who loves horses!)
Ms. Yingling at Ms. Yingling Reads (she spent a good part of January reading guy books)
Ms. Ellen at Girls Read Girls Rule (The World) (a great blog but we don't post to it beause we're guys)
Mr. Michael at SMS Guys Read (a teacher who runs a guys' book club in the Raleigh, NC area)

As part of accepting a Manly Sweaty Doll Blogger Award, you have to paste the picture on your blog (as you do with the Fabulous Sugar Doll Award) and answer at least 4 of these questions:
Tell a couple of things about yourself, the name of your favorite guy book, your favorite sports moment, favorite MANLY MAN movie, favorite manly music, and your Favorite Food With No Nutritional Value. Here's what the CARLMAN would say:

1. I can do the entire "I am the Very Model of a Modern Major General" song from The Pirates of Penzance.
2. I was a major in high school ROTC.
3. Guy book--the Percy Jackson series.
4. My favorite MANLY MAN movie is Spartacus.
5. Favorite Sports Moment--this last Super Bowl
6. Favorite manly music--Beatles, Led Zep, and the Who
7. Favorite Food With No Nutritional Value--any meat lover's pizza with black olives.

Zack? Bill? How about you?



1. Favorite Guy Book - The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaimen.
2. Favorite Sports Moment - The Red Socks win the World Series. (wow).
3. Favorite Manly Sweaty Movie - Aliens.
4. Favorite Manly Sweaty Music - Iron Maiden.
5. Manly Favorite Food With No Nutritional Value - Sweaty Chesse Cake.

Master Jedi Zack's Turn:

1. Favorite Guy Book: Gregor the Overlander by Suzanne Collins

2. Favorite Sports Moment: when my Texas Longhorns won the 2005 National Championship

3. Favorite Manly Sweaty Movie: any of the Star Wars movies!

4. Favorite Manly Sweaty Music: Nirvana

5. Favorite Manly Sweaty food with no nutritional value: pizza pizza pizza!

Thanks, fellow MANLY MEN! And thanks to you, fellow bloggers! You deserve BOTH these awards!

Cosmic Repair Boys and When the Whistle Blows

Hey, all you reader guys, you get two reviews for the price of one today. The first is from that awesome reviewer Michael:

Rodney and Wayne: Cosmic Repair Boys, book 1 The Age Altertronby by Mark Dunn

Rodney and Wayne live in a town that has been taken over by an unidentified force and is trapped in a force field. The force gives the town unexpected tests to see how the residents will react. Lately, everything is peach colored (except the peaches). After that passes, Rodney and Wayne go to visit their old mad scientist friend who has made a time machine that he calls the Age Altertron. It malfunctions and sends everybody in the city from infancy to old age in just a few days. The old professor is now 115 and can't move! Will Rodney and Wayne be able to fix the Altertron before it's too late?

Thanks again, Michael! You find the coolest books.

The second review is from me, the CARLMAN, and it's about another rare and wonderful book, When the Whistle Blows by Fran Cannon Slayton. It's a very terrific book! It's hard to find enough good things to say about it. It's set in a real town, Rowlesburg, West Virginia, although the characters are fictitious. The story traces young Jimmy Cannon's life from 1943-1949. Jimmy's family works for the railroad, as just about everybody else does in that small town, and Jimmy's convinced that he'll drop out of school and work on the steam engines just like his older brothers. His dad won't have it because he thinks major changes are coming that'll change everything. Will Jimmy listen to his dad or not? You'll have to read to find out. And you'll be really glad you did because there are a lot of unforgettable stories here--the Halloween pranks at the cemetery, the meetings of The Society, how a new principal tries to stop First Day, and the county championship football game. This is another one you'll want to read and reread throughout your lives, guys. DON'T MISS IT!!

The Heart of a Shepeherd by Rosanne Parry...

...is an absolutely fantastic book! It's not a slam-bang action adventure story but it's still great. Young "Brother" Alderman (he's called "Brother" because his real name is Ignatius!) lives on a ranch in Idaho. His dad is going to be deployed to Iraq for 2 1/2 years and his three older brothers are going off to the army, college, and a boarding high school, leaving him to run the ranch with his grandparents and a hired hand. He promises his dad to keep things the same while he's away, but events come that threaten to change things in the worst possible ways. How will he ever manage? Does this sound depressing? It's not!!!This is a rare and wonderful book about taking responsibility, getting in over your head, and the unexpected miracles that pull you through. There are some books that stay with you all your life--this is one of those books! Go get it--it's well worth reading.

PS--Just to let you know, there are a couple of swear words in this book. They're not gratuitous (which is a fancy word that means "dropped in there for no good reason") and you'd hardly notice them, but they are there and I know that some guys and parents might want to be aware.

AND--we've got 4 Camp Half-Blood t-shirts here at the Imaginon library. I'll give one away to any boy who can prove his dad, older brother, uncle, mom, older sister, or aunt is deployed in Iraq or Afghanistan. Guys like you deserve a reward. But be on your honor, guys. Don't just say, "My dad's in Iraq" to get a shirt. Show us some proof. This offer will be good through February or until these four shirts are gone.


Carl

Warriors, Spider-Man, Copper and Missle Mouse Oh My!!!

Hello all in the Land of Blog, tis I, Darth Bill. I have been away for awhile fighting evil and righting wrongs with my boys Batman and Captain America (hey I can dream, right?). But I finally took a break and read a bunch of Graphic Novels and would like to talk with you about them. So lets get to it:


Warriors, Ravenpaw's Path: Shattered Peace by Dan Jolley and James Barry - This is the first in a Graphic Novel (GN) series, taken from Erin Hunter's outstanding Warriors Book Series, featuring Ravenpaw and his best friend Barley (oh if you didn't know the Warriors Books and Graphic Novels are about cats living on their own). In this story Ravenpaw, a courageous and kind feline, has parted ways with his former clan named ThunderClan. Ravenpaw has settled on a farm with another stray cat named Barley who has lived his entire life on the farm. At first, Ravenpaw finds peace and comfort on the farm with his friend...until one night when they are visited by a pack of strays looking for help. The strays have a mother cat who is ready to give birth to kittens and they desperately need protection from the constant snow that has started to fall. Barley is suspicious of these strays, but Ravenpaw accepts them in the barn for as long as they need. The kittens are born, time moves on, Barley grows more uncomfortable with the new arrivals and Ravenpaw is reminded of clan life, which a part of him misses. Things are about to happen that will change Barley's and Ravenpaw's lives forever. To find out what that is check out the Graphic Novel and give it a read. Also, just to wet your appetite there will be a sequel to this GN. Great stuff!!!!!!!!




Marvel Adventures Spider-Man: Thwip! by Paul Tobin, Matteo Lolli and Jacopo Camagni - This Graphic Novel collects Marvel Adventures Spider-Man issues 53 - 56 and it opens up a whole new world for our favorite web-slinger. In the first story Peter (Spider-Man for those who need to buy a vowel) meets a bunch of new friends/foes who appear they will be around for the foreseeable future. Two of these people are mutants: Emma Frost (whose power is telepathy) and Sophia Sanduval (otherwise known as Chat and she has the ability to talk to animals). Emma discovers through her telepathic abilities that Spider-Man and Peter Parker are one in the same and shares this information with Chat who really likes Peter a lot (like in a boyfriend way). Is this good or bad for Peter? Only the future can tell. In the next story we meet another new girl in Peter's life, Gwen Stacy (she was actually introduced in the first story) and her father George Stacy who just happens to also be a Police Captain. To make matters more complicated for Peter, George Stacy figures out that he is also Spider-Man. Yikes, three people discovering your secret identity all within the period of a couple of days!!! The last two stories have Spidey teaming up with Captain America and the team of Cloak and Dagger to take on such villains as Tombstone and The Mob. Things are getting complicated in Peter Parker's life and this really leads to some great stories. Highly Recommended!!!!!

The Mutant Team of Cloak and Dagger

Copper by Kazu Kibuishi -This is an outstanding GN by the writer and artist Kaza Kibuishi who is also well known for such GN's as the Amulet Series - Amulet. Book 1, The Stonekeeper (you can see the review of this book through the Book 2 link), Amulet. Book 2, The Stonekeeper's Curse (of which the third volume will be coming out soon). This GN focuses on short stories about a boy named Copper and his best friend Fred (who also happens to be his dog). Copper is in general very optimistic about life and Fred is a bit of a pessimist. The stories are fun to read with each having a touch of the bizarre, weird, funny and sometimes deeper meanings (things that make you go hum.....). Really a bunch of fun, so give it a try.




Missile Mouse: The Star Crusher by Jake Parker - If you have not heard of Missile Mouse yet, boy are you in for a treat with this Graphic Novel. Missile Mouse has appeared before in Flight Explorer which was released in 2008 and reviewed by myself (click here to see the review). Incidentally, a Copper story also appears in the Flight Explorer GN.




Anyway, Flight Explorer is not the GN I'm talking about right now, but the most awesome "Missile Mouse: The Star Crusher" GN. In this GN Missile Mouse finds himself in hot water with his superiors at the GSA (Galactic Security Agency) whose responsibility it is to protect all known Outer Space and it's planets. He is in trouble for a mission that went bad that involved him finding a Star Compass (of great value, we learn later) which was then stolen from him by a bounty hunter known as Gurne. His commander does not take into account that Missile Mouse was at a severe disadvantage as he had just fought a Giant Space Slug that was on the space ship along with the Star Compass. Missile Mouse learns through his commander that Gurne is working with the RIP (Rouge Imperium of Planets) which is actively working on bringing back an ancient weapon of mass destruction known as a Star Crusher. Star Crushers were used in an old war in which both sides used them to create Black Holes that destroyed everything. Missile Mouse is tasked with stopping the RIP from recreating the Star Crushers with the help of a scientist named Ulrich (whose race was responsible for creating them) and Agent Hyde, a relatively new recruit to the GSA. If you like high action, plot twist, great artwork, space adventure, green slime and a mouse with a mission, this is definitely the Graphic Novel for you!!!!! Great stuff!!!!!!! Check out this preview if you don't believe me:





Later and peace all,

Bill

Weird Worlds = Awesome Books

Hey there guys, Master Jedi Zack here. Recently I've come across a few really cool books about some really weird stuff.

First we have The Glitch in Sleep. This is the first book in a series called The Seems, so once you find this awesome book too awesome to put down, you have two more to read. The story follows a 12 year old named Becker Drane who has a pretty cool job. Becker's job is to fix things that break down in a world called The Seems, which is the place that shapes everything about The World (where you and I spend our lives). The Glitch in Sleep tells us all about The Seems while we watch Becker try and fix a "Glitch" that is keeping everyone in our world from being able to sleep.

Second is Only You Can Save Mankind by Terry Pratchett. This book was brought to me by another guybrarian out there who is in the know. So if you are ever visit the North County Branch of the Charlotte Mecklenburg Library be sure to stop in and say hey to Ian, he is good people (and not an evil Sith like some people around here). This book is about Johnny Maxwell is finds that the aliens in his video game would rather surrender to him than be blown up. Now Johnny has to figure out what to do with all of these aliens from his game.

Last, but certainly not least is the graphic novel version of The Wonderful Wizard of Oz. Now I know what you are thinking, but this is not the same girlie girl Wizard of Oz you have heard about this is some serious Boys Rule! Boys Read! stuff here. In this version you can see some good ol' fashioned ax work by the Tin Man, one seriously scary wicked witch (but she does like silly straws) and more monsters than you can shake a Cowardly Lion at!

So there you have it, three new books about weird worlds (and even more than that if you read the rest of The Seems series). Read on!

Michael Writes Again!

Hey, everybody in frozen blog land, it's the Great and Powerful CARLMAN, survivng another frozen weekend. I spent the last few days the way I spend every weekend in January, cross-country skiing on the ice planet Hoth. You see what it looks like. You can't see me, though, because I've just gone over the horizon. Well, you couldn't have seen me anyway, since I ski at faster-than-light speed.

Anyway, we have a new review from our excelllent friend Michael:

The Time Thriller Trilogy, book 1 Ripple Effectby Paul McCusker

Fifteen-year-old Elizabeth Forde went home to take a bath and plan on how to run away. Suddenly, the bathtub fills with muddy water. When she emerges from the bathroom, she finds herself in an alternate time. Everyone in that time keeps calling her Sarah, and they say she has amnesia. When Elizabeth triggers a series of events that eventually leads to Sarah's boyfriend trying to kill her and all of her friends turning against each other, the people from Elizabeth's life in the real time only have so long to save her. What will happen? And more importantly, does the little town of Fawlt Line actually sit on a time fault: a portal to alternate times and unexpected time travel? The citizens are about to find out. The most exciting part of the story is yet to come in books two and three of the Time Thriller Trilogy: Out of Time and Memory's Gate.

Thanks, Michael! Would you say this as good as the Jump Man books? Better? About the same? Keep writing those great reviews!