My Beijing

I bought this at my school's book fair in Shanghai, China, in 2022.

Title: My Beijing
Date: 2018
Publisher: Graphic Universe (a division of Lerner Publishing Group)
Writer: Nie Jun
Artist: Nie Jun

Four stories about Yu'er, a young girl with a disability who lives in a Beijing hutong with her grandfather. These magic realism stories are illustrated in a whimsical style and filled with visual details of the old Beijing neighborhoods that inspired them. All four stories are good, but my favorite was The Letter, which explores Yu'er's grandfather's backstory and has a little bit of a time travel twist.

This was a feel-good book with an art style that matched the storytelling style perfectly.

Rating: 9/10

Guinea Pig: Pet Shop Private Eye #5: Raining Cats and Detectives

Here's a book we picked up at the Maine Comics Arts Festival in Portland ME this past May.

Title: Guinea Pig: Pet Shop Private Eye #5: Raining Cats and Detectives
Publisher: Graphic Universe
Date: 2012
Writer: Colleen A.F. Venable
Artist: Stephanie Yue

This is an all-ages book printed in a squarebound 7"x7" 46-page softcover childrens' book format.

Sasspants the guinea pig and his best friend Hamisher the hamster have decided that they will only leave the pet store with an owner who is a stylish detective. But when the perfect owner shows up, he only has enough money to buy one of the rodent detective team.

And to make matters worse, an important case has come up. The cat who resides in the bookstore next door has vanished. This is particularly alarming because Tummytickles the cat never ever moves under his own power. Clearly there is foul play involved! The detective team won't be able to work as a team to solve this mystery, but perhaps they can arrive separately at the same conclusion.

The actual plot took some time to get going, but I really didn't mind because this story was absolutely loaded with quirky jokes. And the final resolution was handled in a perfectly adorable way.

Fun characters, a great sense of humor, and some clever mystery writing make for a winner here.

Rating 8.5/10