Manfried the Man a graphic novel by Caitlin Major and Kelly Bastow

Manfried the Man is a graphic novel to be released 1 May 2018

Well, I wasn't exactly sure how to approach reviewing a graphic novel so I will separate it into two parts: art and story.

As far as the art is concerned, it is simply drawn, easy on the eyes, and quick to read; I had no problems at all there. I thought it was interesting that anime-style shorthand was used. For instance, there was a scene where Steve the protagonist cat is late for work and is depicted with toast hanging from his mouth and his shirt buttons off by one. It is also one of the few scenes where he is wearing a shirt.

It was also notable that "man" was used instead of "human" and all men are, well, male. I'm putting that creative choice on the art department, even if it was probably a writing decision.

Now for the story! The story is... Well if you took off the outer layer of "oh wow! People are cats and cats are people!" What you would get is a lazy, self loathing, depressed protagonist who prevails without any real internal growth. Steve doesn't learn to do his job or to be better to his friends or to be less awkward. Steve simply gets caught up in the mania of his lost pet for a brief period forcing him into action.

By the deus ex machina of... Getting popular? Steve suddenly gets a job, earns everyone's trust, and is well put together. It is never addressed how he overcame these issues, he just does because people liked his missing man posters.

I would not recommend this graphic novel to anyone except maybe people who already follow Manfried on Tumblr.

Thank you for reading; see you next time!

-Bekah

The Last Watchman of Old Cairo a novel by Michael David Lukas

The Last Watchman of Old Cairo, on sale 10 April 2018, reminded me of a fresh baked loaf of challah. Three entwined stories made for a rich story, steeped in symbolism and at the end of the day just something you want to consume and enjoy.

Mr. Lukas managed to really grab my attention with the first scene, dunking his reader into the waters of the Nile c. 1000CE. By the end of the chapter I had my phone balanced on my knee ready to google, when suddenly the time and tone shifted: Berkeley, 2000CE. Five chapters in the year 1000, five in 1897 and six in the year 2000 was more than enough for me to become invested in each storyline.

Of the three stories you follow, the thread that keeps them bound together is the al-Raqb family- the family of every watchman of the Ibn Ezra synagogue in Cairo. The book opens with the first watchman, Ali, and ends with the son of the last watchman wrestling with his family's past. In between the old and new are stitched together patiently by twin sisters and patrons of the historical realm who are assisting Cambridge University in collecting historical documents.

The theme of endlessness, of chains of descendants, chains of decision making, and the passage of rituals, secrets, and time all meld together in this mesmerizing story. Lukas did very well in creating relatable, flawed characters you can empathize with and an environment that leaves you wanting to know more.

I'd recommend this book wholeheartedly to anyone who enjoys historical fiction, a good read, or even someone who is interested in Egypt or Cairo.

See you next time

Chasing Helicity by Ginger Zee

Chasing Helicity by Ginger Zee is a young adult novel aimed at a 12-15 year old audience. Ginger Zee is ABC news' chief meteorologist. This is her debut novel to be released April of 2018.

To start, Chasing Helicity is a young adult novel that tackles a few things I was pleasantly surprised by, while also ignoring some pretty glaring things that were... problematic.

I loved Zee's writing style, it was clear and concise, the bigger words were defined before being used- perfectly accessible to a younger audience. I especially enjoyed her launching into a major conflict within the first three paragraphs to really capture a young audience.

I noticed immediately that of the family, the father is the definition of toxic masculinity, while the mother just puts up with it. In fact, his rages, belittling of Helicity, and general bullying behavior is taken as just another part of life. I feel like this is really sending the wrong message to the young women reading this book in a very formative time.

Of the other three male characters, one is a side kick named Ray who is great but only gets about as much 'screen time' as Helicity's best friend Mia, which is to say not much. Ray is the only positive male role model in the book. Helicity's brother steals from her and gets hooked on opioids though this is more of an undercurrent instead of an overt conflict. Helicity's work partner and crush is an egotistical overly cocky 17 year old that literally puts people's lives in danger, and refuses to honor literally the only thing she requests of him, which is to call her by her name instead of her age. Let's just say none of the male characters in this book are ones who I would want to spend any extended time with, except Ray, he seems nice.

The book is incredibly good at getting past trauma. Helicity, her best friend Mia, her mentor Lana and her mother Elizabeth are all very strong characters who carry the weight of tragedy on their shoulders. Unfortunately, because this is a Disney book, Lana has to have  both parents in her backstory die at a young age. In fact, None of the female characters are really much of anything until they are formed by trauma. Another thing I noticed was that in order to further Helicity's story, a woman has to be horribly injured and possibly die- why this is necessary I am not sure. It seems to me to be perpetuating the "girlfriend in the refrigerator" trope.

Another example of 'women getting horribly injured for not a lot of reason' is a quote about halfway through the book that reads, "Andy told her about one woman he'd seen at the hospital who'd slipped, fallen onto a broken window, and needed sixteen stitches to close the gaping wound in her abdomen." I applaud her use of graphic imagery to get a safety point across while also giving some scary imagery to young readers- but only one man (excluding victims of a storm that die 'offscreen') gets injured... and it's a broken arm. Why do all injuries have to be girls and women?

I feel pretty torn on this book; it is well written but I'm not sure I would recommend it. The protagonist is strong, her mentor is even stronger and more resilient but there's these insidious undertones of toxic masculinity that just made it seem like a bad thing to give to young women. I'd say give it a pass, but by all means take a look if you'd like to read about storms, storm chasing, and the undervalued kid thriving!