Kindred

Kindred by Octavia E. Butler
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Kindred: A Graphic Novel Adaptation by Damian Duffy
My rating: 4 of 5 stars



I read both the original novel and the graphic adaptation of Kindred, and I was impressed/horrified/entertained by both. I don't like to compare books by format, or stories by medium, so I won't. I'll just say that the audiences for each version are slightly different, with some overlap, and I think I'm in both.

The basic premise of the story is that Dana, a young black woman living with her white husband in Los Angeles in the 1970s, suddenly and inexplicably travels to pre-Civil War Maryland where, over the course of several visits, she realizes she has met one of her white ancestors, Rufus, the son of a slaveholder. While at first she is only in the past for several hours, and then several days (the equivalent of a few minutes in the present), eventually she finds herself truly living in the past, struggling with the contrasts and intersections of her blackness and womanhood in both her modern life and the life she creates with her ancestors, both free and enslaved.

Not quite sci-fi (the time-travel is never explained, nor is it the focus of the story), Kindred captures and examines the absurdity of slavery from a modern and female angle. It explores the complexity of living as a black woman with a white husband, especially when viewed from a historic lens. It's a powerful story that translates well as a graphic novel.

The grim tone of the story comes across immediately in the muted illustrations, and the choice to give more color to scenes set in the past enforces the fact that this is where the main action of the book takes place. Much of the dialogue remains, and that is what moves the story along to its stark conclusion.


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Black Panther

Watch it:
 if you're a Marvel fan.
 for the music.
 if you like your heroes brave, funny, nuanced, strong, complex, and visionary.
 if beautifully choreographed fight scenes are your thing.
 for the drama.
 if you've ever wondered:

1. What a car chase would look like with a remote driver.
2. What a battle would look like with a rhinoceros army.

 if you love gadgets or clothing with style and function.
 for the sweeping landscape views of Wakanda.
 even if you don't think it's for you.
 because basically everyone else has.

Black Panther is both a standalone and part of a larger universe, giving it broad appeal to fans of Marvel comics and those who just want to see a good movie alike. This isn't your basic good guy versus bad guy (in capes and tights) fare - the conflict is nuanced, and highlights tensions that play out in the real world. The acting is stellar, the drama hits all the right notes, and the visuals had my jaw dropping. See this one in theaters, people.



Extra: What to read after you watch!

The Hate U Give

The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Wow. This book is powerful, funny, heartbreaking, important, and so thoughtfully written. It's been impossible not to hear about it in the past year, and I'm grateful to have gotten to read it for my YA class and discuss it with other librarians-to-be.

Starr is such a dynamic character - stubborn and proud, sensitive and insightful - she felt very present. I loved her narration, even when her story broke my heart. Thomas writes from reality (police brutality, racial profiling, code-switching, interracial relationships, current pop culture references...), and the accuracy of her story is shattering, convicting, and empowering. This should be required reading, and is definitely a book unafraid of telling it like it is.

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Extras: Book Riot's list of books to read after reading The Hate U Give.

From Brooklyn to Wakanda to Chicago: 2 YA Superhero Adaptations

Miles Morales by Jason Reynolds
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Quippy dialogue, a friendship I could see existing in reality, and loving and understanding parents made this a joy to read. (Okay, so Jason Reynolds could write a novel adaptation of a QVC commercial and I'd read it, but still.) All of this isn't to say Miles Morales is a happy-campy-fun time book - there's a real villain, and real evil, and while Miles as Spider Man prevails on the page, racism and its effects are still a real threat after the book ends. Miles Morales isn't just "Black Puerto Rican Spider Man" - his story is completely unique to his experience, not a "diversity" retelling of Peter Parker. He is a super hero, undoubtedly, but that doesn't mean he isn't affected by our country's history of racial discrimination in his daily life.

This book is cinematic and action-packed, as expected, but it also has currency and a poetic tone that sets it apart from other similar superhero adaptations.

Black Panther: The Young Prince by Ronald L. Smith
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Before T'Challa becomes King of Wakanda, he is a pre-teen, sent to live in Chicago with his friend M'Baku and attend middle school there. His father thinks he'll be safer away from political unrest, but bullies, cultural differences, and evil villains don't make it easy for T'Challa to be away from home. This was a quick and fun read, made all the more relevant with the upcoming release of Marvel's Black Panther. As someone who doesn't read comic books, and isn't well-versed on the Marvel Universe in general, I enjoyed getting some (well written) back story on a unique character. T'Challa is both royalty and (future) superhero, with imaginative and useful gadgets and wisdom beyond his twelve years.


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This Blog is a Tide Ad

The real and one true winner of Super Bowl 52 was Tide. What teams even played? Who cares.

I knew Tide was the winner when an ad for a different laundry detergent started playing and the entire room went, "Wait, is this a Tide ad too?" - like, no one remembers what brand of detergent was actually being advertised.

And do you see any stains here? Nope - this blog is a Tide ad too.

The Boy in the Black Suit

The Boy in the Black Suit by Jason Reynolds
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

After 17-year old Matty's mom passes away, he finds himself working in a funeral home, hoping the grief others feel will help him with his own. Things change when he meets Love at her grandmother's funeral. She doesn't seem to grieve in the same way, and she "gets" his conflicting feelings of both wanting to move on and wanting to go back in time.

This YA novel feels more mature than similar stories - Love and Matty are thoughtful teenagers. They develop a shy friendship that grows into romance, and Matty works through some rough stuff. Besides grieving his mother, he becomes the parent figure for his father, who doesn't handle her death very well. He also learns what it means to forgive, what it means to have regrets, and why comparing trauma is never a good idea.

Fans of Jason Reynolds will embrace this sweet story, one with heart and characters to care about.


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