Ember and the Island of Lost Creatures

From a Little Free Library in Milton MA USA.

Title: Ember and the Island of Lost Creatures
Date: 2023
Publisher: Harper Alley (HarperCollins)
Writer: Jason Pamment
Artist: Jason Pamment

Ember, a teacup-sized boy who lives alone in a city of giants, just wants to make a friend. After an attempt to leave a note in the playground of a local school goes badly, Ember meets Lua, a sea turtle who takes him away to a new life on an island with a school for creatures his size.

Making friends is still a challenge, though, and Ember is struggles to get used to life on the island with its many strange plants and animals. He is also being watched closely by a mysterious cave-creature that seems to want to learn his secrets.

I loved the worldbuilding in this, which provided a whimsical setting that di
dn't feel the need to answer every possible question. I also enjoyed the story's commitment to nonviolent resolution of conflicts while still having plenty of plot twists and drama. 

This was a feel-good fantasy story filled with delightful bits of detail everywhere.

Rating: 8.5/10

The Baby-Sitters Club Volume 3: Mary Anne Saves the Day

Found in a Little Free Library in Amherst MA USA.

Title: The Baby-Sitters Club
Issue: Volume 3: Mary Anne Saves the Day
Publisher: Scholastic / Graphix
Date: 2015
Writer: Raina Telgemeier, Ann M. Martin
Artist: Raina Telgemeier
Letterer: John Green
Editor: Cassandra Pelham Fulton, David Levithan, Sheila Keenan

The main plot in this story, told from Mary Anne's point of view, is that a big fight breaks out between the four members of the Baby-Sitters Club, and none of them are on speaking terms with each other. A few attempts to work it out go wrong for various reasons, and the quality of their work begins to suffer as they close in on an upcoming birthday party that they are all expected to work together.

The main plot here, is a bit generic, and it's the least interesting thing going on in the book. Mary Anne makes a new friend, Dawn, who's new in town and discovers a connection between Dawn's mom and her dad. She also confronts her dad about his overprotective side, handles a genuine emergency on a babysitting job, and even changes her hairstyle.

The character development for Dawn is great, and so are a bunch of the small moments involving interactions with supporting characters. Raina Telgemeier has done a great job bringing Ann M. Martin's setting to life, and all of the small details really give the story some extra sparkle.

The series continues with #4, which I read previously and reviewed here.

Rating: 7/10

Rave Master Volume 1

From a Little Free Library in Amherst MA USA.

Title: Rave Master
Issue: Volume 1
Date: February, 2003
Publisher: Tokyopop
Writer: Hiro Mashima
Artist: Hiro Mashima

This was full of charmingly odd translations. So there's a set of magical stones called Rave. And there is a series of evil magical stones called Dark Bring. The Dark Bring stones are controlled by an evil organization called Demon Card.

Enter, our hero, sixteen-year-old Haru Glory, resident of the an isolated community called Garage Island. When Haru catches a strange horned creature in the sea, he is set on a course that leads him to become the new controller of the Rave stone and wielder of the Rave-powered shapeshifting sword.

The story here is straightforward hero's journey, but the characters are pretty strong, there is some good tragic backstory going on, and the odd quirky details like the strange talking flower-being that lives attached to the wall of Haru's house really make the story shine.

This was more fun than I expected it to be, and I'm interested in seeing where it goes.

Rating: 7.5/10

Explorer: The Lost Islands

I got this one at a Little Free Library in Milford NH USA. My copy is a Bookcrossing book (BCID: 446-14437417, entry is here).

Title: Explorer: The Lost Islands
Date:2013
Publisher: Amulet Books
Writer: Jake Parker, Chrystin Garland, Jason Caffoe, Dave Roman, Raina Telgemeier, Michel Gagne, Katie Shanahan, Steven Shanahan, Kazu Kibuishi
Artist:Jake Parker, Chrystin Garland, Jason Caffoe, Dave Roman, Raina Telgemeier, Michel Gagne, Katie Shanahan, Steven Shanahan, Kazu Kibuishi
Colorist: Braden Lamb, Eric Kim, Selena Sizazzo, Jason Caffoe
Editor: Kazu Kibuishi

Graphic novel anthology edited by Amulet creator Kazu Kabuishi.

This is an anthology of fantasy stories loosely themed around the idea of islands. It opens with Jake Parker's cute fable about an island of hardworking rabbitfolk and the discovery of a useful robot who proves to be a bit too useful.

A pair of stories hit the "stranded on a desert island" idea."Carapace" by Jason Caffoe is a cute tale of the friendship that develops between a castaway and the ghost of a giant crab. Featuring giant crab theology! Dave Roman and Raina Telgemeier's "Desert Island Playlist" is an oddly surreal story that plays around with nonlinear time.

Michel Gagne's "Loah" is a mythic story of ancient fish seeking a way to escape disaster.

The amusing "Radio Adrift" by Katie Shanahan and Steve Shanahan involves a mage-in-training working to complete her pixie-hatching project and an unusual radio station that she tunes in to.

Editor Kazu Kibuishi contributes a classic fish story with "The Fishermen" that does a nice job of character development in the short space it has to work with.

My personal favorite was the very creepy "The Mask Dance" by Chrystin Garland.

All of these stories were good, and the artwork, while varied in style, was all fantastically colorful and imaginative. The tone of the stories varies a lot with the broad theme, but if you enjoy a general sense of myth and wonder, you will definitely find a lot to like in this volume.

Rating: 8/10

Metamo Kiss Volume 1

I got this one at a Little Free Library in Nashua NH it's also a Bookcrossing book. I'll be releasing it back into the wild at a Little Free Library in MA later today.

Title: Metamo Kiss
Issue: Volume 1
Date: 2007
Publisher: Tokyopop
Writer: Sora Omote
Artist: Sora Omote

After being separated from his family for most of his childhood, Kohamaru discovers that they have a rather unique property: Each family member has a soulmate with whom they can switch bodies upon kissing. Kohamaru finds this out the hard way in an awkward collision with a girl on a train platform, and it only gets more awkward from here.

The comedy relies a bit heavily on pretty simple switched-gender humor, but there is some depth to the background of the family and their strange abilities that opens the potential for the story to get more interesting as it goes.

Rating: 6/10