Illustrated books for adults are becoming more adventurous than ever, and these three graphic novels (though two may not be considered novels) all push the form in one way or another. In celebration of the art-form, I’ll keep these reviews mercifully brief…
Boundless by Jillian Tamaki…An interesting collection of short stories that also–to me–felt a little scattershot, and the gorgeous broad-sweep illustrations here aren’t nearly as eye-poppingly personal and intricate as the next book. Still, definitely worth the hour it would take you to read it. Grade: B
My Favorite Thing is Monsters by Emil Ferris…Stunningly detailed illustrations lead us into a teenager’s notebook, where she attempts to solve the murder of her Holocaust-surviving neighbor. A longer read than the other two, but this is the closest one that comes to obliterating the wall between graphic novels and prestige fiction. Grade: A-
Everyone’s a Aliebn When Ur a Aliebn Too by Jomny Sun…This intentionally misspelled book is the only one you could probably read to kids, as an alien comes to Earth to study it for his species and winds up befriending a lot of animals that share profound wisdom with him. Sweet, heartfelt, a little cutesy, but a very pleasant way to spend an hour. Grade: B+