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Saturday, November 30, 2013

Explorer: The Mystery Boxes edited by Kazu Kibuishi

Pages: 127
Intended Audience: Tweens and Teens
Genre: Graphic Novel – Short Stories
Notes for Parents: Some mildly scary scenes.

The Back Cover
What’s in the box?
Funny, fantastic, spooky, and suspenseful, each of these seven unique graphic stories revolves around a central theme: a mysterious box and the marvels – or mayhem – inside.

What the cover doesn’t tell you:
This is a collection of seven short stories in graphic novel style by a variety of writers and illustrators.

What’s good?
Ranging from clever and creepy to bold and colourful, these easy-to-read short stories are a sampling of some of the industries best graphic novelists. Each story is centered around the idea of a box and its contents. While some stories are dark, like Under the Floorboards and The Soldier’s Daughter, others are light and funny, like Spring Cleaning and Whatzit.
Best Part: Whatzit.

What isn’t good?
While not all of the stories were to my liking, it was still fun to experience the different storytelling and illustrating styles.
Worst part:  The Soldier’s Daughter was a bit too melodramatic.

Recommendation þþþþo
This is a fantastic introduction to eight graphic novels written and illustrated in eight different ways about one common idea – a box. If you’ve never read a graphic novel before, or you’re looking for new graphic novelists to read, this is a book for you. It was a super quick read and thoroughly enjoyable. Recommended.

Kibuishi, Kazu, ed. Explorer: The Mystery Boxes. New York: Amulet, 2012.

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