One Dead Spy - by Nathan Hale

Nathan Hale is/was one cool dude.  The original Nathan Hale was awesome because he was a spy for General George Washington during the American Revolution, and risked (and lost) his life in the fight for liberty.  The author Nathan Hale is awesome because he wrote a book about a dead guy with the same name as his, and because his illustrations and sense of humor are just outstanding.

This graphic novel is a biography of the short-lived American spy Nathan Hale.  Told by the spy himself to his own executioner (hangman) through a series of flashbacks, this is also a great summary of the first part of the American Revolution and its causes.  It's really a wonderful book for anyone interested in this time period, and a good introduction to early American history and military history for reluctant, or any readers.

This series has two books (#2: Big Bad Ironclad), and I can't wait to see what else the author comes up with. Excellent book!

Smile - by Raina Telgemeier

I've never been a teenage girl.  Not once.  If anyone ever asks me what it's like to be one, I could just shrug.  More likely, though, I'll hand them this book. 

This is a very enjoyable graphic novel, and finally one written mainly for girls!  The author tells the story of her own childhood, from life as a tween with tooth trouble, all the way through high school, with all of the social situations that come along with those years.  The focus of the story may be on Raina's unfortunate dental problems, but the real story is her life itself, and told in this way, it's quite an enjoyable story!

There's drama, romance, athletics, dentists, orthodontists, braces, retainers, headgear, crowns, and stuff like that.  The illustrations are great, some of the tooth stuff kind of gross, but the take-away message positive:  Be yourself, you'll find friends who like you for who you are, just remember to smile.

The Dreamer - by Pam Munoz Ryan & Peter Sis

This is the beautiful, sad, hopeful, lyrical true story of the childhood of poet Pablo Neruda.  It's a story of courage, of a boy who never fit in, whose father was embarrassed of him, and who is never allowed to be what or who he wants to be.  He hangs in there, though, and eventually finds his own way, never losing hope, and never giving up on his dreams.  This biography focuses on Neruda's childhood and his unusual interests in nature and words, which anyone who has read his excellent poetry would have expected.  It's a guide for young poets, hopers, dreamers, and misfits.

This book is a physical pleasure to read.  Peter Sis filled it with amazing drawings in his typical pointillistic style, which is as much a selling point as the writing.  Poetry is mixed in throughout the chapters, and there is a short collection of Neruda's poetry at the end.  The writing is in dark green ink, Neruda's favorite color to write in, which is unusual and strangely calming to read.  This is such a wonderful book, it makes me happy just to think about it, which is something.