Graphic Novels: Sunny Side Up and Roller Girl

Some year soon, a graphic novel is going to win the Newbery Medal. The day is coming. A graphic novel has received an Honor in each of the last two years (EL DEAFO and ROLLER GIRL) and this year a picture book took home the Medal (LAST STOP ON MARKET STREET). As children readers change and interests widen, and as more authors begin exploring this medium, I envision the quality of stories being told to only get better and better.

Two popular graphic novels from 2015 were SUNNY SIDE UP and ROLLER GIRL. Both are designed in bright, friendly packages and both include a selling quote from Raina Telgemeier. Despite these physical similarities the stories inside these covers are very different from each other.

SUNNY SIDE UP was written by Jennifer Holm who is no stranger to the graphic novel format (BABYMOUSE series) or the Newbery Medal (she has Honored three times with OUR ONLY MAY AMELIA, PENNY FROM HEAVEN, and TURTLE IN PARADISE). SUNNY SIDE UP is her first graphic novel that is not a part of her BABYMOUSE series.

In SUNNY SIDE UP, Sunshine Lewin heads to Florida for the summer to stay with her single grandfather in his over-55 retirement community. She has dreams of Disney World and playing in the pool but instead, gets trips to the grocery store and early-bird buffet dinners at Morrison's Cafeteria. She meets a boy named Buzz who introduces her to comic books and his company begins to help her take her mind off of the real reason she is in Florida with her grandfather.

SUNNY SIDE UP is a quiet story. It has the feel of an Alexander Payne film. It is a quick read. I read the entire graphic novel in about an hour. Not a lot happens and Sunshine doesn't say much, but often times her expressions do the talking, as do the flashbacks to time spent with her troubled older brother Dale. There is humor in the book, in a fish-out-of-water kind of way, but most of this humor resides in the shadow of the much heavier plotline of Sunshine's older brother's issues. Sunshine loves him but feels partly responsible for what is currently happening to him (which is a mystery to readers at first, but unfolds through the flashbacks). Kudos to Holm for addressing this subject matter and not watering it down. This will probably find a niche among younger sibling readers.

ROLLER GIRL by first time author and former roller girl Victoria Jamieson, is an entirely different story. It's similarly serious but a much bigger story. In ROLLER GIRL, Astrid and Nicole have been best friends forever but during the summer before middle school, their interests change. Astrid impulsively attends a roller derby camp and falls in love with the sport while Nicole heads to dance camp. Astrid struggles with losing Nicole as a friend, making new friends, and riding out the (literal) ups and downs of learning the sport of roller derby.

ROLLER GIRL is as much about friendship and growing up as it is about the sport of roller derby itself. Jamieson does an awesome job of using the book to introduce the sport to readers without devoting pages and pages to rules and terminology. We learn the ropes as Astrid learns the ropes. Her struggle with the sport is a great parallel to her struggle with losing Nicole and making a new friend. Astrid is an imperfect, yet endearing character and you can't help but root for her as she discovers herself. ROLLER GIRL is the type of book that could be loved by grade 5-8 girls for a very long time.

While I would never want to separate the text from the illustrations, hypothetically ROLLER GIRL is the type of story that could survive and be just as endearing without the graphic novel format. I'm not sure the same can be said for SUNNY SIDE UP. Holm doesn't provide us with an inner monologue the way Jamieson does with Astrid. SUNNY SIDE UP is told primarily through parse character dialogue and pictures. This isn't a bad thing at all, just a different thing. Astrid's thinking is present on every page of ROLLER GIRL which gives the text an extra depth. While the illustrations are great, they just add to an already distinguished coming-of-age story. I enjoyed SUNNY SIDE UP thoroughly because I enjoy everything Holm does! ROLLER GIRL however, caught me by surprise and completely lived up to its Newbery Honor hype.

The Fourteenth Goldfish

Kid Lit authors don't come much better than Jenni Holm. Her books have fun characters, are kid-friendly, and are filled with great figurative language. You can usually count on some fun history lessons too!

Holm has also had significant success where the Newbery Medal is concerned. She's made the shortlist three times (OUR ONLY MAY AMELIA, PENNY FROM HEAVEN, and TURTLE IN PARADISE) but has never brought home the gold. Her track record though, could suggest that it is only a matter of time.

At first glance, Holm's latest novel, THE FOURTEENTH GOLDFISH does not appear to be your typical Jenni Holm story. Her novels tend to be so rich in setting and developed in a particular historical time period. THE FOURTEENTH GOLDFISH is technically a work of science-fiction and set in present day. One similarity: it is as character driven as any of her previous novels. Fans of Holm's will not be disappointed.

Ellie is having a rough start to middle school. Her parents have separated and her best friend Brianna is forming new friendships with her volleyball teammates. Ellie is craving companionship but is too proud to admit it. Enter Ellie's grandfather, Melvin. Melvin is a scientist of sorts, obsessed with finding the cure to aging. And he does! In the form of a rare jellyfish that ages backwards. After injecting himself with DNA from the jellyfish, he ages backwards to Ellie's age and is forced to join her in middle school. The result is a heartwarming coming of age story about friendship and the circle of life.

THE FOURTEENTH GOLDFISH took some time to develop for me. Ellie's snarky voice was vintage Holm right out of the gate, but suspending my disbelief and accepting the quirky premise took a little more effort for some reason. The themes Holm seems to be exploring are so deep yet the plot of this story is rather zany. It wasn't a good match at first. In the beginning, Ellie's grandfather appeared so abruptly and his quick-forming relationship with Ellie seemed more of a plot device than anything genuine. By the end of the novel however, that changed. The relationship between Ellie and her grandfather is by far, the strongest element within the book. With her best friend slipping away, the companionship Ellie is seeking comes from the place she least expects it. The relationship between her and Melvin is heartwarming.

Jenni Holm could teach a fine workshop on figurative language. Her first person, prose always fits her character's voice so well. Take the following few examples for instance:

"Nicole has long buttery hair and looks like she should be in a shampoo commercial."

"Middle school is like one of those highway restrooms in the middle of nowhere. It's dirty and smelly, and it's crowded with strange people."

I also love the relationship between Melvin and his daughter, Ellie's mother. I like the comedic irony in Melvin the teenager, not relinquishing his responsibilities as Ellie's mother's father and in her retreating to the role of caretaker and guardian for her teenager father. Their banter provides some hilarious moments, especially as Melvin accompanies her on a date.

It's amazing how much depth Jenni Holm provides this quirky, absurd, Benjamin Button style story. The themes of friendship, family, and mortality are all expertly explored. On the surface level of this story is this bizarre plot about a teenager befriending her mad-scientist grandfather who has injected himself with a special jellyfish that has caused him to age backward. Underneath the absurdity though, is a touching story about finding yourself and the fragile nature of life.

Bold Newbery Predictions

Okay, so maybe not so bold, but some of the predictions I'm about to make are for books I haven't even read. Just heard the right amount of buzz on.

For the record, I did more reading this year than I ever have, of Newbery eligible contenders. I thought I had read at least 30 but looking back, it's closer to 25 eligible titles. Maybe closer to 30 if we count the Elephant and Piggie easy readers that Heavy Medal has been clamoring over.

Here are my predictions:

Of the books I've read, the following three titles would not surprise me in the least . . .

 

They would not all be my personal choices (although OKAY FOR NOW remains my favorite read of the year), but I can at least see the merits behind them and could understand them being honored in some way Monday morning.

Of the books I've read, I'm really pulling for the following three titles to receive some kind of honor, though I'm not sure their chances are anything but a long shot . . .

Now onto the bold part of my predictions, books I haven't even read yet! Last year, MOON OVER MANIFEST came out of nowhere to grab the Medal and I have a feeling, a few titles announced Monday morning will surprise folks. Maybe even the Medal again. Similar to MOON OVER MANIFEST, the following books have received just the right amount of buzz (somewhat small), have some starred reviews to their names, and just have the overall look and feel of a Newbery book, and I wouldn't be surprised in the least to see their names announced . . .

BETWEEN SHADES OF GRAY was honored by none other than Apple, as their Book of the Year. BREADCRUMBS draws on classic fairy tales, much like the shortchanged A TALE DARK AND GRIMM from last year. The fact that Gidwitz's novel was left out last year gives me a gut feeling about Ursu's tale this year. YOUNG FREDLE received lots of early buzz, but was mentioned never on Heavy Medal this season. Kind of makes me wonder . . .

Both SPARROW ROAD and WITH A NAME LIKE LOVE just have plot descriptions and covers that scream Newbery to me. 

So, that's how I'm calling it. Like I said, maybe not so bold, but we'll see now Monday morning if I'm onto something.

SLJ's Heavy Medal Shortlist Vote

Tomorrow morning, thousands of children's literature enthusiasts and regular Heavy Medal contributors and participants, will flock to the site and place their "Top 3" votes for the 10 titles on Heavy Medal's Mock Newbery shortlist. Okay, maybe not thousands but maybe hundreds . . .!

The three I will be voting for . . .

First Place: OKAY FOR NOW by Gary D. Schmidt. I read this book before I read many others this year and the bar was set very high. Troves of criticisms (many of which I personally found a bit trivial and trite) were brought to the table and upon two rereadings, the book's strengths were only strengthened in my eyes. Nothing else I've read this year even comes close in terms of style and voice. I will be enthusiastically giving this my first place vote tomorrow morning.

Second Place: THE TROUBLE WITH MAY AMELIA by Jennifer L. Holm. I fought as hard as I could to get TURTLE IN PARADISE the attention it deserved last year on Heavy Medal, that I think I approached my first reading of THE TROUBLE WITH MAY AMELIA with a little bias. Maybe I had my mind made up before I even opened the book. Rereading the book with my 5th graders confirmed that like OKAY FOR NOW, Ms. Holm's voice and character development here are as good, or in my opinion, better than any of the other shortlisted titles.

Which brings me to my third place vote . . . I really only felt strongly about my top two, and had mixed feelings about the remaining eight titles. There were some titles I could remove immediately from consideration, like THE PENDERWICKS AT POINT MOUETTE, which I finished last night. I recognized areas of strong writing, but overall, it's hard for me to argue this book's strengths when I feel that writing like this is all too often classified as "distinguished" when I'm not so sure it's not just "good".

I also can strike WONDERSTRUCK from the list (which I will get to in a whole other post). I had lots of issues with this title. At least when considering it for the Newbery Medal. In my opinion HEART AND SOUL was far too big and I can't bring myself to vote for SIR GAWAIN when I don't even feel that it's in the top 3 of books of its own kind (easy readers like THE TROUBLE WITH CHICKENS, TOYS COME HOME, and CLEMENTINE AND THE FAMILY MEETING).

That left me with four titles:
- THE MONEY WE'LL SAVE
- A MONSTER CALLS
- AMELIA LOST
- I BROKE MY TRUNK!

While I feel that Jonathan Hunt valiantly argued I BROKE MY TRUNK's rightful place in this discussion, I still feel like a vote for it would be settling for diversity in genre and titles and not necessarily a vote for the most distinguished text. Same with THE MONEY WE'LL SAVE, which I did find to be very smart and cleverly paced, but maybe I'm bothered by the reliance on pictures in both texts to really back either as a finalist.

Of the remaining two titles, I had to go with AMELIA LOST over A MONSTER CALLS. Patrick Ness is a brilliant writer. Parts of A MONSTER CALLS are beautiful. What tipped the scale toward Fleming's biography to me, is readability. I think the Newbery Medal should reward books that all children should read. I cannot say that A MONSTER CALLS is a book that all children should read. It's dark. Some of it's deepest themes, would mean nothing to a large population of children readers. AMELIA LOST, is a book that all children should read because it is a riveting, unique look at one of the most revered women our society has ever seen. Therefore I'd give my third place vote, to AMELIA LOST by Candace Fleming.

Can't wait to see how the results turn out.

The Trouble With May Amelia

I have not read OUR ONLY MAY AMELIA by Jennifer Holm. My first foray into the world of Ms. Holm came in reading TURTLE IN PARADISE this past year. Historical fiction is not always my cup of tea and perhaps that is why TURTLE IN PARADISE impressed me so. A genre of book I don't normally read for pleasure, yet I couldn't get Turtle and her Diaper Gang of cousins out of my mind. Anytime a book catches a reader off guard in a good way, it tends to linger on and leave a lasting impression.

Written in the same spunky, first person narrative style as TURTLE IN PARADISE, THE TROUBLE WITH MAY AMELIA grabbed me with it's opening sentence:

My brother Wilbert tells me that I'm like the grain of sand in an oyster. Someday I will be a Pearl, but I will nag and irritate the poor oyster and everyone else up until then.

May Amelia is far from irritating to me as a reader, but to her father and family full of boys, she's nothing but trouble. She's witty, she's strong-willed, she's not near as proper as she's expected to be, and she never lets anyone get the best of her. She's learned how to survive as the lone girl in her small pioneer farming community of boys in 1900, Washington State and she refuses to take guff from any of them. That is, until a business man comes to Pappa with a proposition and he needs May Amelia to translate to Finn for him. Suddenly, May Amelia begins to wonder herself if she's good for nothing.

As with TURTLE IN PARADISE, the strengths of this book come in May Amelia's voice, Holm's impeccable characterizations, and her strong sense of setting. Details specific to the time period and setting (such as the Dunking Box at school) make the dark, damp, and chill of Washington State in 1900 come alive off the page. And through May Amelia's eyes, each character grows and develops in realistic fashion through the course of the book. Her siblings are almost as memorable as the Diaper Gang!

Life in 1900 was a lot of work and Holm sugar coats nothing. The manual labor of maintaining a farm was not easy and each child shares the load. Pappa's job at the lumber mill is dangerous and when some of May Amelia's brothers are forced to work there as well, the danger is intensified. Balancing this gloom with May Amelia's witty humor, is done exceptionally well.

The thing that impressed me so while reading TURTLE IN PARADISE was how Jennifer Holm's figurative language was so fitting to the narrator's voice. The same is true with THE TROUBLE WITH MAY AMELIA. Every word from May Amelia was a word I fully believed she'd say. Look at some of these writing samples:

• My brother Wendell wants to be a doctor, so he doesn't hold to things he can't squeeze between his fingers.

• Sunday is a day of rest but nobody bothered to tell the big bear who knocked down the fence in our field where our sheeps graze.

• It's spelling time and I'm starting to see Berle's point of view. Not much use in knowing how to spell words on a farm. The cows don't care if we can spell "hay.' All they want to do is eat it.

• Sorry about stealing your teacher away, Mr. Clayton says to me. A good wife is hard to find. A good teacher is even harder to find, I reply.

In terms of plot, THE TROUBLE WITH MAY AMELIA may be even better than TURTLE IN PARADISE. It's a little tighter and not so far-fetched (as TURTLE became near it's conclusion). I do realize it's a little unfair to compare the two, as Holm has authored a book about May Amelia previously and Turtle is not even in this same universe, but TURTLE IN PARADISE is the only other Holm book I've read and the similarities were so striking, it was hard not to be reminded of it.

I debated about whether to read OUR ONLY MAY AMELIA first but decided against it. Often times when discussing the Newbery Medal and "sequels" the debate of whether or not the title can "stand alone" is brought up. When Newbery discussions heat up this winter, I fully expect THE TROUBLE WITH MAY AMELIA to be brought up. Not having read this book's predecessor, I can now attest to its ability to "stand alone".

Jennifer Holm is no stranger to the Newbery (Honoring in 2011, 2007, and 2000) and here's hoping THE TROUBLE WITH MAY AMELIA only follows suit!

Final Grade: A