How many of you guys recognize a name on this book cover from past posts (or even better, previous reads)? For those of you that don't, the one I'm referring to is Gene Luen Yang, the author of American Born Chinese and Boxers and Saints, quite possibly three of my favorite graphic novels ever. This book however, is not a typical Gene Luen Yang book. The illustrations, for example. Instead of Yang's round, more cartoon-y, style of drawing, we have sharper, scratchier characters from Sonny Liew. This is going to sound a little snobby, but Yang's drawings are sort of easier to look at. But the idea of this book is awesome. It's like Yang took the qualities of a comic like Superman and any graphic novel (there is a difference by the way...graphics novels are one continuous story with panels and illustrations, and a comic is a different story sequence every 1-2 pages) and mixed them together to form this book. This book is an origin story for the first Asian superhero called the Green Turtle that was created during World War 2. But, as Yang explains in the back of his book, his face was never shown. It was always facing away from the reader, or covered by a weapon, or even his own arm. And in his comics, every time he came close to telling someone how he became the Green Turtle, he is needed to save the world somehow, and the story of the Green Turtle is put off for that day. I guess Yang thought he kind of needed an identity...a face and a town and a family. Maybe you don't like comics or graphic novels or Gene Luen Yang or even Nerd Alert. That's fine. But you should read this book for the Green Turtle's sake. He deserves it.
Ages: 11+
Awards: None yet, but it's a really new book. I'll most likely have to update this area in a couple months.
You'll like this if you liked: American Born Chinese and Boxers and Saints
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