I teach high school English and Algebra for ESOL students now, hence my refusal to update my blog, like, ever.
Ultra
I’ve also been having great difficulty in finding time to read since beginning work last year. However, the lovely Jonathan Luna got me into comic books, which is a huge relief in the way of struggling to read in the midst of a busy schedule. My graphic novels are nice, bite-sized stories I have time to read when I can’t sit around with a novel, and I often share them with my students. (Graphic novels with visual cues = GREAT for ESOL.)
So, at this point, I’m sitting on… maybe quite literally hundreds of potential graphic novel reviews. I started with Alan Moore’s Watchmen some time ago, for no other reason other than being psyched about the movie. (The movie makes me cry every time I watch it, by the way.)
Girls, vol. 3
So let’s begin with this: possibly my favorite series that I’ve read so far is Girls. I started with Jonathan and Josh’s stuff, of course. I really liked Ultra and truly didn’t see the brilliant plot twists coming. Next I read Girls. I remember reading volume 1 and thinking, “This is pretty cool, but what the hell is going on?” … And thinking the same after volume 2 and volume 3. Some people find the ending unsatisfying, but I find it brilliant. (Yes, I’m afraid it’s the kind of conclusion where you have to do a little brainwork yourself – I’m sorry.) Nutshell summary: in a twist on the zombie genre, Pennystown is overrun by beautiful, naked females bent on procreating with the men and destroying all of the women. What are the men to do about it? … and do they want to do anything?
The Sword, vol. 1
Brilliant. Jonathan knew it was my favorite and, for my birthday, gave me one of the special edition oversized hardcovers that he and Josh had signed and numbered. If it weren’t for the naked women on most pages, it would be one of the books I push on my students the most. I reference it constantly when we talk about theme, survival, the human condition, etc.
If you haven’t read The Sword yet, do it now. I started this series after reading Girls, but I suppose I should refrain from saying much until it’s over. It is fantastic, though, and I don’t even want to summarize because the first little surprise happens within the first couple of pages. Full of plot twists, full of surprises, spanning centuries, it’s the ultimate revenge story.
Anyway, the Luna Brothers get the first mention for amazing graphic novels, of course, but as I said, there are many, many more to come.
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