The Arrival

by Shaun Tan

Summary: This is an immigration story that is told entirely in pictures. That's right--this book has no words. The pictures at first invoke a feeling of a historical time period, but the reader soon notices the strange creatures running around that look nothing like anything from our world. The main character is befriended by a dog-sized alien creature, who helps him navigate this strange new world. This man has left his family to find work here, and the reader experiences his joys and his failures all depicted through beautiful artwork.

My thoughts: The Arrival took me much longer to "read" than I thought it would. I assumed I would flip through each page quickly. After all, it's just pictures. The pictures are so rich and complex, however, that you want to linger on every page. A beautiful and original story, that you almost sort of write yourself!

Right Behind You

by Gail Giles

Summary: How do you live with yourself if you intentionally kill a child by burning him to death? What if you were only a child yourself when it happened? When Kip gets out of the juvenile facility at the age of 14 after serving his time for this crime, he and his family must move and assume new identities so the community won't harrass them. No one would want their child to go to school with Kip, to be his friend. In his new town and new school, Kip struggles with his own massive guilt, and whether or not he can ever be himself or be honest with anyone if he doesn't reveal his terrible secret.

My thoughts: Right Behind You is extremely disturbing. Kip's crime, and his reason for committing it, is tough to swallow. His internal struggle is painful to read, but it's a great story about learning to forgive yourself.

Graceling

by Kristen Cashore

Summary: In Katsa's world, children born with two different colored eyes are both feared and revered. The condition is called a "Grace," and its affected are "Gracelings." Katsa has the Grace of killing. No person has ever been able to best her in a fight, so the king uses her as his personal guard and weapon. When Katsa meets Po, a Graceling from a neighboring kingdom, she has almost met her match, since he is Graced as a fighter. His grandfather has been kidnapped, and as he and Katsa set out to try to rescue him, they learn exciting secrets about their own (and each other's) Graces along the way.

My thoughts: This is a difficult book to summarize because there are many exciting plotlines going on! Cashore is a new author, but is so skilled that she keeps the reader interested in them all without causing confusion. The tension between Katsa and Po is enough to keep every girl reading, but is so NOT sappy that boys will keep reading, too. This is one of my favorite books of the year! Katsa is a strong female character. Sometimes authors pair strong girls in books with stupid boys (a trend that really bugs me), but Po has his own mind and is a strong male character in his own right. This is his story, too. Watching Katsa and Po grow up together is very cool!