Book: Secret Science Alliance by Eleanor Davis and friends

So the work continues, but I essentially need to refuel in mid-air. One of the ways I do that is by reading things that come at me out of the blue (often recommended by my daughter). They can't be long. They have to be interesting enough to break through my fatigue, and different enough to provide rest and new perspective.

Sometimes that includes manga, with which I am often disappointed. Frequently I can admire some of the artistic vision and quirky concepts, while I often don't feel like the entire package has been integrated or realized its potential.

The Secret Science Alliance and the Copycat Crook by Eleanor Davis (and co-conspirator Drew Weing plus some technical allies) is a graphic novel (not a manga, which is a subset of graphic novels) and it shows what can be accomplished when the text and images contribute equally to the storytelling in inventive ways.

The intended audience is middle-graders. The plot is nothing new or different. Who cares? It's fun. It's quick. It's well envisioned and witty. It works. I read the last page with a magnifying glass so I wouldn't miss much. I'm not sure I caught everything anyway.

Cover:

Inside:

Some spreads have significantly more dialog and text. I think the most enjoyable spreads are the most art-dependent ones.

Highly recommended for anyone who is not humor-impaired. That's probably most people I know.

__

Back to the wool for me.

Comments

[Donna]

No Kindle version :-(

[Deb Robson]

Bummer. I'm actually not surprised that it's not on Kindle--they have not been able to handle Nomad's most heavily illustrated books on that platform. Kindle works by far best with straight text.

Secret Science Alliance would be perfect on the iPad, though!

[Valerie]

I've read two graphic novels so far and both were morbid and depressing. One of the titles was Stitch. Can't recall the other (and am too lazy to look it up). This one looks like a different genre.

Thought you might enjoy this Icelandic post: http://icelandeyes.blogspot.com/2010/06/sheep.html

[Deb Robson]

Valerie, this is completely different from what you've read before. I laughed a lot. 

You're right, I love that Icelandic post! Thanks.

[Meg]

Glad you're having time for an occasional refuel. I love a good graphic novel! They can be so quick & engaging, with plenty to be absorbed by if you have the time...

[KitD]

This looks like a fun diversion. I'm always looking for things that are easy to relax with but that don't annoy me (by being poorly written, etc., etc.) and can get frustrated. There isn't enough time for everything and I don't want to waste it with junk... unrealistic, but there.

[Deb Robson]

Kit, once we return it {grin}, our library has a copy. Meg, yours likely does, too.

Very worth looking up. Because of what's happening in the images, it's not a page-turner . . . each page rewards some study . . . but it's the sort of book I put down the first evening because I didn't want to finish it so soon!