The Witch Boy by Molly Knox Ostertag

 There are so many good queer authors/artists in the Children's and YA graphic novels these days, and I wish some of these stories had been around when I was the age of the target audience! This one is a sweet exploration of gender roles that would have absolutely hit me the right way, growing up, and was still an excellent read as an adult.

There's nothing super mystical about witches, in Aster's world. While the public at large is not aware of magic, his family is steeped in it for generations. All the girls in Aster's family are witches, and all the boys are shapeshifters. Because this has been the case for generations, the family is well prepared and homeschools the kids to ready them for their abilities when they emerge. Aster hasn't developed his shapeshifting powers yet, though, and while his family has simply labeled him a late bloomer and assume he'll come into his own in time, he is fascinated by the schooling of the girls. Aster is pretty sure he's never going to shapeshift at all, because despite being a boy, he's pretty sure he's actually a witch.

But only girls become witches. The abilities of the boys and girls in the family is innate, genetic, and very definitively split along gender lines. He's chastised for spying on the girl's lessons, and told witchcraft is very much off limits. Of course this drives a wedge between him and his family, and you can hardly blame him for finding a friend in the world beyond their magically protected estates in the gender non-conforming Charlie.

Then the boys of the family begin to go missing, and there is evil work afoot that requires witchcraft to solve it. Aster knows he can figure out what's wrong, if his family will just forgive him for using witchcraft to do so.

This is not a super long story, so there's nothing extra here that does not serve the plot, but it's well told and a beautiful tale about breaking the norms of gender binary and how restricting that doesn't serve anybody well. I'm sure this will speak to a lot of queer people out there, and even though I wouldn't call it a transgender story it still spoke to me.

Merrow by Ananda Braxton-Smith

As somebody who grew up next to the ocean, that's something I miss all the time and I frequently gravitate towards books that have that setting. Add in the connection to Celtic folklore, and I'm hooked (pun not intended). No regrets choosing this one for the first read of the year.

Set on the tiny Manx island of Carrick, this story follows Neen Marrey, a young girl being raised by her aunt, Ushag. The reason her aunt has raised her is that her father drowned at sea- a fate that is unfortunately not wholly uncommon among fisherman. The people of Carrick are stead and practical though, and it is the lot of a widow to simply go on, raise her children, maybe even remarry. Neen's mother was made of different stuff, though, and not long after losing her husband the woman simply disappeared. She was always a dreamer, a storyteller, and raised a very young Neen on tales of Selkies, elves in the hills, mermaids and merrows. Neen's memories of her mother may be dim, but she also loves stories of what may be just out of sight, of a magic that lives just past the borders of the drudgery of everyday life in a small fishing town. She takes after her mam. Everybody says so.

Everybody also whispers how stranger her mother was, how odd, how unnatural.

Neen has dreams of the sea, of her mother the merrow, the selkie, of how after her father's death her mother returned to the sea. She dreams that she is a changeling, a halfbreed, only part human and part something else. As she enters her teens, this idea and a deep yearning to follow her mother's escape to a fantastic world only intensifies.

But her auntie Ushag is a practical woman, and she says that dreams are just that, only dreams. Neen's mother was a dreamer, too, but that doesn't make the dreams true. A less stolid woman broken by the early death of her husband can also come to an early end, and there's nothing fantastical about that. 

Which of these is the truth? What path lays ahead for Neen?

It's a poetically written coming of age story, at times painful, but also sweet. There are no villains here, just people. It's hard not to sympathize with both Neen and her aunt, each struggling in their own ways. I won't give away the twists and turns or the ending, but there may be different kinds of truth and her search for it is itself magical.
 

Books Read 2022

 Predictably, working at the library has had me reading even more voraciously than ever. Every time I'm shelving or handling returns, I spot stuff I want to read. I can't check all of it out at once, so now my cellphone has a number of pictures on it of book covers and spine labels as I try to at least catch a reminder of books I want to read when I get the chance so I can find them in the stacks later. This year's list covers nearly 4 pages in my notebook, outpacing all previous years.

Additionally! I have now joined Goodreads! You're welcome to find me here!

(GN) denotes graphic novels

Sure, I'll be your Black Friend - Ben Phillippe

Bone 1: Out from Boneville (GN) - Jeff Smith

The Story of King Arthur & His Knights - Howard Pyle

The Lost Years of Merlin - T.A.Barron

The Seven Songs of Merlin - T.A.Barron

Kermit & Cleopigtra - G. WIlliams

Le Morte D'Arthur (Middle English) - T. Malory

World Without End - Ken Follett

The Green Man (Short story collection) - Various

The Pillars of the Earth - Ken Follett

I am Not Starfire (GN) - Mariko Tamaki

An Excellent Mystery - Ellis Peters

Draw Your Day - Samantha Baker

Lugosi (GN) - Koren Shadmi

Medieval Bodies - Jack Hartnell

The Hollow Places - T. Kingfisher

In Calabria - Peter S. Beagle

The Sculptor (GN) - Scott McCloud

The Explorer's Guild - Jon Baird & Kevin Costner

GhostBusters International 1&2 (GN) - Erik Burnham

Total Containment (GN) - Erik Burnham

God of Neverland - Gama Ray Martinez

Born a Crime - Trevor Noah

Likely Stories (GN) - Neil Gaiman

Sandman Overture (GN) - Neil Gaiman

Down Among the Sticks and Bones - Seanan McGuire

The Chinatown Death Cloud Peril - Paul Malmont

The Golden Vulture - Lester Dent

Noir - Christopher Moore

Front Desk - Kelly Yang

Good Asian (GN) - Pornsak Pichetshote

Doomboy (GN) - Tony Sandoval

Together We Will Go - J. Michael Straczynski

Razzmatazz - Christopher Moore

A Dirty Job - Christopher Moore

Bone Complete Series (GN) - Jeff Smith

Secondhand Souls - Christopher Moore

Gaugin, The Other World (GN) - Fabrizio Dori

Some Kind of Happiness - Claire Legrand

The Story of Diva and Flea - Mo Willems & T. DiTerlizzi

Dragons at Crumbling Castle & Other Tales - Terry Pratchett

Charlie and the Grandmothers - Haty Towell

The Inquisitor's Tale - Adam Gidwitz

Race to the Bottom of the Sea - Lindsay Eagar

Bayou Magic - Jewell Parker Rhodes

The Raven and the Reindeer - T. Kingfisher

Hook's Revenge: The Pirate Code - Heidi Schulz

Keeper - Kathi Appelt

Castle Hangnail - Ursula Vernon

And the Ocean Was Our Sky - Patrick Ness

Whalesong - Robert Siegel

Deep Wizardry - Diane Duane

Capt. Hook - J. V. Hart

Princeless #1 (GN) - J. Whitley & M. Goodwin

The Truth is a Cave in the Black Mountains - Neil Gaiman

American Gods #1 (GN) - Neil Gaiman

Max Tilt: Fire in the Depths - Peter Lerangis

Princeless #2-4 (GN) - Jeremy Whitley

Bone: Quest for the Spark (GN) - Tom Sniegoski

Sandman: Preludes & Nocturne (GN) - Neil Gaiman

Sandman: Dream Country (GN) - Neil Gaiman

Sandman: Season of Mists  (GN)- Neil Gaiman

Sandman: A Game of You (GN)- Neil Gaiman

WolfWalkers (GN)  - Sam Sattin

Lalani of the Distant Sea - Erin Entrada Kelly

Museum of Thieves - Lian Tanner

Sandman: Fables & Reflections - Neil Gaiman

Sandman: Brief Lives - Neil Gaiman

Sandman: World's End - Neil Gaiman

Sandman: The Kindly Ones - Neil Gaiman

Sandman: The Wake - Neil Gaiman

Queen of the Sea (GN) - Dylan Meconis

The Sleeper and the Spindle - Neil Gaiman

The Daughters of Ys (GN) - M.T. Anderson & Jo Rioux

Dead Endia: The Watcher's Test (GN) - Hamish Steele

The Real and the Unreal (Collected Stories) - Ursula K. LeGuin

Labyrinth Lost - Zoraida Cordova

Wingbearer (GN) - Marjorie Liu & Teny Issakhania

The Heartless Prince (GN) - Angela DeVito

The Crumrin Chronicles VI (GN) - Ted Naifeh

Ghostland: An American History in Haunted Places - Colin Dickey

Garlic & the Vampire (GN) - Bree Paulsen

Anthony Bourdain's Hungry Ghosts (GN) - Various

Dead Water - C.A. Fletcher

Incredible Doom (GN) - Matthew Bogart & Jesse Holden

Bone: Coda (GN) - Jeff Smith

Beautiful Darkness (GN) - Fabien Vehlmann & Kerascoct

Chivalry (GN) - Neil Gaiman & Colleen Doran

Pixie & Brutus: Gnome Sweet Gnome (GN) - Ben Hed

Incredible Doom 2 (GN) - Matthew Bogart & Jesse Holden

Cemetery Boys - Aiden Thomas

A Study in Emerald (GN) - Neil Gaiman

Castle in the Stars #1-3 (GN) - Alex Alice

Maiden & Princess - Daniel Haack & Isabel Galupo

Odd & The Frost Giant - Neil Gaiman

Saga #1-3 (GN) - Brian Vaughan & Fiona Staples

Wet Moon #1-5 (GN) - Sophie Campbell

Dead Water by C.A. Fletcher

 While I'm not necessarily looking to make a habit of reading way more horror, I will say the genre is beginning to grow on me. This one hit all the marks, with the main characters including queer and disabled people, who are usually some of the first to go in horror movies. This author has clearly decided it doesn't have to be that way.

The setting is extremely modern, by which I mean the Covid 19 pandemic is heavily referenced and contributes to the environment. This is a horror story that very much feeds on modern fears of contagion, albeit in ways that go beyond the scope of reality. The setting of a small island grants both a realistic plot device of isolation, and a unique and area-specific history that both contribute heavily to the story. 

It's not a zombie story, not precisely, but it's something that manages to be even creepier. I highly recommend this book, whether you're a fan of slow build horror and the creeps, or even if you're not but are willing to give it a try for the sake of a satisfying tale that bucks some tropes.

Ghostland: An American History in Haunted Places by Colin Dickey

This is one of those books I borrowed from work, but I am seriously considering buying myself a copy to keep on the shelf at home.

Are ghosts real? Who cares, that's not what this book is about! This book never fully takes a stance on whether or not ghosts are real, because that isn't the point.

This is a delightfully unbiased look at what ghost stories say about our history, and about us today. It presents a number of ghost stories across America, dividing out chapters by location, then analyzes the historical basis (or lack thereof) for the story. The primary focus is an exploration of why we hold onto and circulate the ghost stories that we do and what it might mean about us and what we value.

It also sometimes inquires why there is a lack of stories in places where there probably should be. As somebody who lives in Richmond VA, I appreciated that there was an entire chapter devoted to this city, which is full of both history and ghost stories that don't always accurately reflect that history. Sure, we have our share of civil war stories and ghosts, but the ghost stories of our particular area are overwhelmingly and noticeably white. Historically there is so much black bloodshed in this place, yet where are the stories of black ghosts?

Our household haunting, Yorick

The idea that our ghost stories speak far more about the living people who share them is one that deserves to be explored, and in fact I'd argue the worst aspect of this book is that it isn't one of a series. I would gladly read more of this.

Wingbearer by Marjorie Liu & Teny Issakhanian

 

This one really knocked it out of the park, for me. It's considered a Juvenile graphic novel but I'd say it's at least tween to teen for the intended audience. But I'm in my 40s and I enjoyed it thoroughly! All graphic novels should be a solid collaboration between artist and writer, and Teny Issakhanian does a lot of amazing work here. As a former story artist for Disney, Dreamworks, and the Jim Henson company her talent really shines. I have rarely read a comic where the emotions and intentions of the characters were so clearly carried in their expressions and body language on the page. The style of the characters also reminds me some of the old Gargoyles series, which is a huge old favorite of mine.

Our main character Zuli lives in a tree that houses the souls of all the birds, at least from the time of their deaths until they're ready to be reborn to fly in the living world again. Zuli herself lacks wings, but is accustomed to clambering Tarzan-like around the massive tree that is the only home she's ever known. Her only link to her unremembered parents is an armband, and her only friends are bird spirits who have lingered on, uninterested in being reborn.

Then something bad seems to be happening to the bird souls, and she ventures out into the world of the living to find out why their souls seem to be withering on the tree without being reborn as birds again.

The world into which she emerges is full of ruins, immediately dangerous, and literally every living creature in it has wings (unless they've been removed by injury). It's not the first time Zuli has been the only creature around without wings, but it is the first time everyone around her has seen that as strange.

This graphic novel is the first in a series, and it looks like the next one is promised to come out next year. Zuli's adventures are worth following, at any age!

And the Ocean Was Our Sky by Patrick Ness & Rovina Cai

 

I have to admit it's the cover of this one that caught my eye. It's almost a picture book, but it's definitely not aimed at little kids. If I had run into this when I was a tween in my brief fascinated-with-whales phase this one would have hit hard. The illustrations absolutely deserve some credit here, for helping to carry the sheer impact of the story.

There is a certain amount of simplicity to the plot idea at work here, it's a retelling of Moby Dick from the perspective of the whales, which is to say the whales hunt humans in return. With harpoons strapped to their bodies, pods of sperm whales form hunting parties with a clear hierarchy and a goal of fighting back against the mythical 'Toby Wick' who terrorizes the seas.

The story is told from the perspective of one of the hunter whales, Bathsheba, and when she encounters a real live human and he is not the monster she expected, she has to confront the long held ideas of her people.

Maybe not a super complicated idea, but powerfully and poetically written and beautifully illustrated.

The message is meaningful, the text is lovely and the illustrations are magnificent. It's not an especially long read, but it is definitely worth your time.