Hilo Book 7: Gina - The Girl Who Broke the World by Judd Winick

 Who doesn’t love Judd Winick? My wife remembers him from the Real World, and I remember him from when he brought Jason Todd back to life.  But he’s now a superstar in our house because of Hilo.  Our 8 year old daughter was introduced to Hilo by the Story Pirates podcast, and after she devoured the first book, we had to rush to the library for the next 5! It involves a kid from outer space who lands on Earth and his two human friends having adventures.  Book 7 focuses on one of his human friends, Gina.  

My 8 year old read it and this is her review: “The book was great! I loved it so much that I couldn’t stop reading it. I was so sad when I finished the book because it meant I would have to wait another year to read the next one.” Thanks to NetGalley for an eARC in exchange for an honest review!

We Could Be Heroes by Mike Chen

I love a good superhero story. I grew up on the Superfriends (Wondertwins rule!) and I enjoy comics, but I especially love a great prose superhero story. A good one just hits me square in my reading happy spot. My favorites are the Velveteen Vs. series by Seanan McGuire and Soon I Will Be Invincible, by Austin Grossman. Hench, by Natalie Zina Walschots, is another new favorite. So when I read the description of We Could Be Heroes, about a superhero and a supervillain who don’t remember their backstories, I thought, cool, sign me up. When I got the book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review, I tried to get into it, I really did. It’s not bad, but I just kind of bounced off it. The book seemed like it didn’t know what it wanted to be. It kept switching from an intimate character piece on memory loss to a superhero mystery to a heist novel to an action story, and it didn’t do any of it very well. The two main characters had no depth and felt like cyphers all the way through, even as they learned more about themselves and their lost memories. The villain’s plan was rather nonsensical and the entire final third of the book was a long slog. In the acknowledgments, the author explained that the novel started out as a short story idea. I think that’s where it should’ve stayed. There just isn’t enough meat on these bones. 

Ozy and Millie: Perfectly Normal by Dana Simpson

Dana Simpson is the author of the fantastic Phoebe and Her Unicorn series, which my daughter and I love.   But Phoebe and her Unicorn is not her first comic strip - prior to that, she wrote Ozy and Millie, about a pair of foxes. My daughter wanted to read this, and she wanted to review it. Here is her review:

It was a great book and I enjoyed it very much! The book was exceptional and I wanted to keep reading until if finished it! The fact that Ozy’s father is a dragon is funny! I think that the person who wrote this book is a very good author and I can’t wait for the next book to come out!