Flavor of the Week by Tucker Shaw

While scrolling through the archives of GuysLitWire, I realized I'd yet to post my review of Flavor of the Week here, so here we go!

If you're hungry for a good book, pick up Flavor of the Week by Tucker Shaw, a modern-day retelling of Cyrano de Bergerac in which the protagonist remotely woos his dream girl with pastries instead of poetry.

Cyril, a teenage boy with a flair for cooking, hopes to make it into a culinary academy after high school. He also wants to make it onto Rose's radar. Rose is quiet and cool, easy to talk to, but Cyril would rather freeze up than admit his feelings for her. When his friend Nick also falls for Rose, Cyril finds himself whipping up tasty treats for the girl and helping Nick pretend that HE made them instead.

The main characters are all offbeat high school students without being stereotypes. For example, instead of being the most popular girl in school or conforming to the norm, Rose is a Bohemian girl, with glasses and swirly skirts. With steady pacing, a sweet conclusion, and mouthwatering recipes - including kitchen-sink cookies and butter-and-sugar sandwiches - between chapters, readers will be drawn to the kitchen and to the characters. Hopefully, they'll check out the original Cyrano too -- after they've had dinner.

Hungry for more? Check out my Cooking Up a Storm booklist!

Fat Vampire by Adam Rex

“I think sometimes you think you’re the hero of the story, and sometimes you think you’re the victim…but you’re not either.”

Douglas Lee is rightfully confused in Adam Rex’s lastest novel Fat Vampire. He is the title character, doomed to remain a chubby fifteen-year-old for all time. He was trying to lose weight before he was attacked at his family’s cabin, but the curse of a vampire means that he will never change. Eternally hefty, eternally hungry for blood.

At first, he gets by biting cattle and stealing from a bloodmobile (aided by his partner in nerd-crime Jay). But an incident at the San Diego Zoo while trying to suck a panda has blown Doug’s cover, and the host of the basic cable show Vampire Hunters is now close behind and frantic for high ratings.

The Influencing Machine by Brooke Gladstone

In the interest of reviewing this book I will disclose the following: I do not watch TV news. I hate TV news. I think TV news undermines democracy and makes us dumb. I will, on rare occasion, watch the PBS Newshour, because that show usually does not do this. I do get news, however, from the New York Times (delivered daily), the Chicago Tribune (online), the Washington Post (online), by listening to National Public Radio (NPR), and reading websites (too many). I am a “news junkie,” as they say, but I see that as a good thing. I like to know what is going on. I feel it’s my responsibility to know what’s going on.

So does Brooke Gladstone, who hosts the popular NPR show “On the Media.” Her new graphic non-fiction book, The Influencing Machine, is outstanding. She wrote it and Josh Neufeld drew it (who also wrote and did the art for his terrific graphic non-fiction account of six survivors of Hurricane Katrina, A.D. New Orleans: After the Deluge). This book is about media and journalism: what it is, some history of it, its political controversies, and especially the complexity of it involving issues of truth, objectivity, manipulation, ethics, bias, and purpose. If you want to see your news more critically, gain some insight into the role news and journalism has played (and continues to play) in shaping political and social discourse, and grapple with some questions that do not have single or easy answers, read this book.

The Boy Detective Fails

When I was a little kid, there were books about boy geniuses with names like Encyclopedia Brown. Or the Hardy Boys. And maybe because I never stopped being a kid, I never wondered what happened if one of these child detectives grew up. Oh, but author Joe Meno did.

Journey into the Deep by Rebecca L. Johnson

Oceans cover about 70% of the earth's surface, yet only about 5% of the ocean has been seen by humans. In fact, we actually know less about the ocean than we do about some parts of our solar system.

In 2000, Census of Marine Life launched. Over the course of ten years, 2,700 scientists from around the world participated in 540 different expeditions that surveyed many different areas of the ocean. The goal of the Census was to “assess the diversity (how many different kinds), distribution (where they live), and abundance (how many) of marine life.” Although the exploration phase of the Census is complete, it will take many more years to sort through and study everything that was collected.

Journey into the Deep: Discovering New Ocean Creatures by Rebecca L. Johnson introduces readers to the Census and some of the creatures the Census discovered. The book is divided into sections based on the area of the ocean being studied, beginning with shallowest regions surveyed to the deepest.

Warp Speed

I’ve decided that if given the chance, I wouldn’t want to meet most of my favourite authors. My reason? I’d be worried that the person behind a most-loved book would disappoint me. I’d rather imagine said god-like person as brilliant / funny / clever / extraordinary, keeping him or her in a state of perfection in my mind, even though I know that’s probably not real. How many authors of great books can be as cool as their books? Could J.K. Rowling be as awesome as her stories? Hard to imagine. (Okay. I’d probably meet J.K. if I had the chance. C’mon. Who wouldn’t?)

But Lisa Yee. I would meet Lisa Yee in a heartbeat, mostly because she seems HILARIOUS and a little crazy – good crazy. Also because I would like to meet Peepy and have my picture taken with Peepy. (This is Peepy). Lisa’s books are this fantastic combo of smart and true and funny. Heartwarming is a good word, but I mean that in the coolest possible way – think quirky and insightful indie flick, not Hallmark Movie of the Week weeper. Yee’s stories impress me because they manage to balance a light tone with thematic complexity. They’re really well constructed too. She’s a pro.

Warp Speed is the fourth title in a series featuring the same setting and characters, each time told from a different kid’s point of view. This time, it’s seventh grade and the main character is a character who appeared only briefly in one of the earlier books. Marley Sandelski is a nerd. He’d admit it. He is an outcast who loves Star Trek and hanging around with his equally geeky friends from AV club. In some ways, he’s okay with who he is, but like many kids his age he also longs to be accepted by the cool crowd. Marley faces horrible bullying for being different. The only good thing about this scenario is that he discovers his amazing talent for running. This ability turns out to play a key role in Marley finding his way from invisible to invincible.

Yee crafts a complex picture of what it means to be bullied day after day after day. She succeeds in convincing us just how isolating it is to feel victimized and unnoticed. It’s sad and true that Marley really does try to just get on with his life, to cope, to keep his head down, and to struggle through it. I liked that this story counters some of the typically held opinions about victims of bullying: they have no friends (Marley has friends); they have messed up family lives (Marley’s home life is fantastic). The resolution to the bullying felt a bit too good to be true for me, but it wasn’t impossible to believe. This book is made for reading groups. And all readers actually.

In case you’re not convinced yet, here is the author speaking Klingon:



Just say it. Now you want to meet her too.

Warp Speed is published by Arthur A. Levine Books.

Spray by Harry Edge (by way of an Interview with bookseller Kimberly Jones)

Since last summer, I've cut back my hours at Little Shop of Stories, the children's bookstore here in Decatur, Georgia which got me involved in kidslit. One of the folks hired to replace me is Kimberly Jones, a super cool woman with a great sense of books for guys. She knows books for guys--in part because she's got a bunch of brothers, in part because she's got a young son, but also because, I think, at times she's like a 15 year old boy at heart.

One of her recent favorites to recommend to guys is the book Spray by Harry Edge. "It's like the coolest game of 'Assassination' ever, with lots of action and a great underdog character."

Read on for more about Spray and a brief interview with Kim

Beasts of Burden by Evan Dorkin and Jill Thompson

Sometimes, my two dogs run off into the woods and stay gone for hours--coming back long after dark, muddy and exhausted. Other times, they race to the window and start barking for no clear reason, ears pricked, lips pulled back. I'll check, won't see anything, and tell them it's nothing.

But what if there is something out there? Something I can't see?

That's the premise behind Beasts of Burden a comic series by Evan Dorkin and Jill Thompson. A group of dogs--and one stray cat--must protect their town of Burden Hill (get it?) from dangers their human owners can't see, including ghosts, werewolves, and a coven of witches.

Empire State by Jason Shiga

What can I say? I first asked for a copy of this graphic novel by Shiga since it was set in Oakland, and I'm an old East Bay boy myself. I'm always keen to see how an area so deeply imprinted on a cellular level is represented in other art. Would he get it "right," as viewed through the prism of my own memories (and return trips?)

For starters, Shiga works in a cartoony style that normally isn't my favorite mode for self-reflective graphic memoirs about love gone, well, not awry -- just never getting out of the starting blocks. Subject aside, the style is less "graphic" and more Sunday Funny-ish.

But my objections were quickly assuaged, in no small part because Shiga gets his Oakland right: There's Casper's Hot Dogs! There's Children's Fairyland! There are a bunch of old Victorians which could be right off Telegraph Avenue near MacArthur! Et cetera. But having a definitive sense of place (and given the book's title, you won't be surprised to learn the action switches from the East Bay to New York, after a fateful bus trip) doesn't make the story riveting on its own (just, for some of us, familiar!)

It's Shiga's wry/gentle -- and ultimately kind -- way of writing about his overly-smart, twentysomethingy characters who can joke about Fermi estimations of vaginas and where the McSweeney's is placed on their bookshelves, but who have a hard time -- like the rest of us -- asking for what they really need. Or dream about.

Speaking of which, the real Oakland is on the verge of shuttering its real libraries -- where, in this book, the Shiga character works -- due to the usual apocalyptic transfers of wealth from the public sector to the ultra-rich. It might be interesting to see if Shiga follows up this work on the politics of the heart with his characters facing the politics of politics. I'd certainly trust his eye for observation.

A shorter version of this review appeared in Nexus Graphica

Mouse Guard series by David Petersen

This wonderful graphic novel series by David Petersen begins with Mouse Guard Volume 1: Fall 1152. In trade form, there are two volumes and then a collection of stories from a variety of authors featuring the protectors of the Mouse Territories.

At first glance The Mouse Guard books look like a graphic version of Brian Jacques’ Redwall series of novels. While there are similarities, this is a completely original story. In Fall 1152, mice live in tough and dangerous conditions and the book follows three warrior mice who try to protect the others from predators and other disasters.

The series opens with the Guardsmice searching for a missing merchant. As they stumble upon a plot to destroy the home of the guard, the mice must desperately fight and survive to defend their homeland.

While I would love even more depth to the story, the action and art are incredible. Petersen uses the mice to signify courage and fortitude in the same way J.R.R. Tolkien put his characters in nearly impossible situation after impossible situation.

In Volume 2: Winter 1152, Petersen continues to extend the expansive world of the Mouse Guard, as the brutal elements of winter take even more of a toll on on the mice. Then, late last year Mouse Guard: Legends of the Guard was published. In Legends, several characters tell stories of their land and of the Mouse Guard. This is a great device to tell new stories in this series and allow several other graphic novelist to delve into Petersen’s creation. Like most collections, there are a couple of weak stories, but overall, this is also worthwhile.

So, there is your primer to the world of Mouse Guard. Fans of Kazu Kibuishi’s Amulet or the graphic novel collection that he edits, Flight, will enjoy Mouse Guard.