Best Shot in the West - Patricia & Fredrick McKissack, Randy Duburke

Best Shot in the West by Patricia C. McKissack & Fredrick L McKissack Jr illus. by Randy Duburke
This is a graphic novel based on the life of Nat Love who was born into slavery in 1854 and grew up to become a famous cowboy.  The author's based this graphic novel off of Love's autobiography.  "The Life and Adventures of Nat Love.

I was confused by the first few pages, it felt as if I was thrown into Nat Love's post cowboy life as a porter. Being unfamiliar with Nat Love's life, a part of me even wondered if I was reading the right story.    An old friend visits and convinces Love to write about his cowboy days.  Love begins by recounting his years as a slave.  After slavery is abolished Love earns a living by breaking horses, the first step to becoming a cowboy.

I did not  connect with this graphic novel textually or visually.  Part of problem was that I was still out of sorts from the early confusion. However I did try to compartmentalize, focusing only on what was in front of me and it still didn't work from. From a textual standpoint I felt it lacked the excitement  a cowboy story should have.  Within the panels the clarity of the faces drawn varies. I would've preferred if Duburke committed to using one style.

The story  focuses a lot of the camaraderie of the cowboys as they take on dangerous jobs, like herding cattle.   There's also much time spent on the battles between cowboys and Indians. Seeing Indians portrayed as the bad guys in Best Shot in the West, made me cringe. 

"We'd just left Dodge City after driving a herd of cattle. Our time there was not well spent: we'd boozed it up pretty good.  I believe I'd left my good sense there. As we passed the fort, I got the notion that we could use a cannon back at the ranch to protect us from rustlers and Indians."

Good or bad history is what  it is and can not be changed nor should it be rewritten. While I am against the rewriting history I am all for having a supplement in the back that places the history of this context.  I got off on the wrong foot with this graphic novel and it never got better. 

I am linking this post to Non Fiction Monday. This weeks round up can be found at Apples with Many Seeds.

Giants Beware - Jorge Aguirre, Rafael Rosado

 Giants Beware by Jorge Aguirre, illus. by Rafael Rosado After Claudette hears the story of the giant who loved baby feet and terrorized her village she wants nothing more then to slay it. Claudette goes on this quest with her best friend Marie, a princess training and Gaston, her younger brother who wants to be a pastry chef.  Aguirre has created some wonderful characters. I love the author ignores traditional gender roles, making Claudette the hero.  At the same time, Claudette's best friend wants nothing more than to be a princess.  While Claudette may not understand why any girl would want to be a princess she still supports are friend.  The fact that the author doesn't feel the need  to show princesses in a bad light in order to play up Claudette desire to slay giants is another three points in his favor.  Then there's Gaston, the younger brother who works magic in the kitchen and wants nothing more than this father's approval. This graphic novel was so much fun, I absolutely loved it.  The text and illustrations all blend together very well, making for some adventure filled and laugh out story panels.  Since this does not even come close to doing Giants Beware justice, highly recommend checking out

An excerpt
The NYT review

Hereville: How Mirka Got Her Sword - Barry Deutsch

Hereville:How Mirka Got Her Sword by Barry Deutsch
I loved this graphic novel. It has one of the best tag lines of the year -
"Yet Another Troll-Fighting 11 yr old Orthodox Jewish Girl"
The Hirschberg family lives in an Orthodox Jewish community. 11 yr old Mirka dreams of fighting dragons but her step mother insist that she learn how to stitch.

While walking home from school, with three of her siblings, Mirka eats a big grape from someone else's property. Seconds after Mirka finishes the grape this huge pig comes out. The pig is pissed about the stolen grape.

Lucky for us, because watching Mirka run for her life is very funny. The angry pig makes Mirka's life hell for the next few days. At school, Mirka's older sister Gittel wants her to stop talking about the pig out for revenge. Gittel's worried Mirka's "story" will keep her from getting a good husband. Mirka doesn't care want anyone thinks, she just wants to slay dragons.

I loved Mirka and her siblings. There voices were perfect. I think this story works so well because the author took the time to develop Hereville and the Hirschberg family. He seamlessly includes the Orthodox Jewish faith of the community into the story. Without making a big deal about it. Its simply is what it is. I think that's why I appreciated it so much.

Hereville is one of the best graphic novel's I've read this year. I laughed my way through it, yet there were still moments that touched my heart. I love being able to read and see the action at the same time. Deutsch's panels are great.

As much as I enjoyed this book, I know I didn't to it much justice. So check out more reviews via author's site