Reviewing the Mail: Week of 7/28/18

As always, this weekly posts lists new books within my immediate grasp, however I got them. (You might be interested in hearing about them, if our tastes are congruent at all, since finding out about books is usually fun. But I do it, these days, in large part because this blog is my external memory and helps me keep track of this stuff.)

This week, I have one book, which came from the library. It has an awesome cover, and it's by Hope Larson, who's previously made such good books as Gray Horses and Mercury.

Her new book this year is All Summer Long, a graphic novel in tones of orange -- like a bright summer sun. Our main character is the young woman on the cover: Bina. She's thirteen and at loose ends for the summer: her best friend (a boy) is off at summer camp, so she's hanging around with his older sister more than she expected. But she's thirteen, which means he's thirteen, so things don't stay the way they always were when he comes back from camp.

Graphic novels for younger readers are a big niche these days, and "younger readers" can mean anything from barely-out-of-picture-books to older-teens. This one looks to aim somewhere in the middle, around middle school, and to be a realistic growing-up story focused on people and without any obvious Messages lurking in it.

I expect to read it really quickly, so I'll have more to say about it after that....