A vivid if overstuffed portrayal of life under a dictatorship that educates and informs.
A college student in 1984 South Korea addresses the personal and political in this graphic novel drawn from author Kim’s life.
Hyun Sook joins fellow members of Anjeon University’s folk-dance club—a group that performs satirical, sometimes subversive, works—on a winter break hiking trip to the mountains. She packs the copy of Erich Fromm’s The Art of Loving that club director Hoon gave her, describing it as a work of “socialist philosophy.” She and Hoon were in a club that read banned books, but they’ve been extra careful ever since a friend was imprisoned after being caught with a history of communism. Although the authoritarian political conditions are improving, Hyun Sook is aware of the cost of dissent. Starting another book club would be dangerous, but she hopes to teach others about the rights they’ve lost. Enjoying the getaway while surreptitiously continuing her political education isn’t easy. The bright, cheerfully cartoonlike drawings contrast with the serious topics, echoing the students’ balancing act as they pursue ordinary interests, such as romance, while protesting the dictatorship. The storyline introduces many characters and subplots that would have benefited from greater explication; Hyun Sook at times gets lost amid the clamor. Nevertheless, small details—a girl being harassed by police for wearing a too-short skirt, students cautiously walking to school past menacing troops in riot gear—authentically evoke the stark realities of the era.
A vivid if overstuffed portrayal of life under a dictatorship that educates and informs. (Graphic fiction. 12-18)Pub Date: Oct. 1, 2024
ISBN: 9780593521298
Page Count: 208
Publisher: Penguin Workshop
Review Posted Online: July 19, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2024
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A fast-paced dip into the possibility of a world without human emotions.
A teenage girl refuses a medical procedure to remove her heart and her emotions.
June lives in a future in which a reclusive Scientist has pioneered a procedure to remove hearts, thus eliminating all “sadness, anxiety, and anger.” The downside is that it numbs pleasurable feelings, too. Most people around June have had the procedure done; for young people, in part because doing so helps them become more focused and successful. Before long, June is the only one among her peers who still has her heart. When her parents decide it’s time for her to have the procedure so she can become more focused in school, June hatches a plan to pretend to go through with it. She also investigates a way to restore her beloved sister’s heart, joining forces with Max, a classmate who’s also researching the Scientist because he has started to feel again despite having had his heart removed. The pair’s journey is somewhat rushed and improbable, as is the resolution they achieve. However, the story’s message feels relevant and relatable to teens, and the artwork effectively sets the scene, with bursts of color popping throughout an otherwise black-and-white landscape, reflecting the monochromatic, heartless reality of June’s world. There are no ethnic or cultural markers in the text; June has paper-white skin and dark hair, and Max has dark skin and curly black hair.
A fast-paced dip into the possibility of a world without human emotions. (Graphic speculative fiction. 12-18)Pub Date: June 13, 2023
ISBN: 9780063116214
Page Count: 304
Publisher: Greenwillow Books
Review Posted Online: April 24, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 15, 2023
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Even so, this remains Macbeth, arguably the Bard of Avon’s most durable and multilayered tragedy, and overall, this enhanced...
A pairing of the text of the Scottish Play with a filmed performance, designed with the Shakespeare novice in mind.
The left side of the screen of this enhanced e-book contains a full version of Macbeth, while the right side includes a performance of the dialogue shown (approximately 20 lines’ worth per page). This granular focus allows newcomers to experience the nuances of the play, which is rich in irony, hidden intentions and sudden shifts in emotional temperature. The set and costuming are deliberately simple: The background is white, and Macbeth’s “armor” is a leather jacket. But nobody’s dumbing down their performances. Francesca Faridany is particularly good as a tightly coiled Lady Macbeth; Raphael Nash-Thompson gives his roles as the drunken porter and a witch a garrulousness that carries an entertainingly sinister edge. The presentation is not without its hiccups. Matching the video on the right with the text on the left means routinely cutting off dramatic moments; at one point, users have to swipe to see and read the second half of a scene’s closing couplet—presumably an easy fix. A “tap to translate” button on each page puts the text into plain English, but the pop-up text covers up Shakespeare’s original, denying any attempts at comparison; moreover, the translation mainly redefines more obscure words, suggesting that smaller pop-ups for individual terms might be more meaningful.
Even so, this remains Macbeth, arguably the Bard of Avon’s most durable and multilayered tragedy, and overall, this enhanced e-book makes the play appealing and graspable to students . (Enhanced e-book. 12 & up)Pub Date: Sept. 9, 2013
ISBN: N/A
Page Count: -
Publisher: The New Book Press LLC
Review Posted Online: Nov. 6, 2013
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2013
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