Review by New York Times Review
In watercolors, ink and acrylics, Floca lays out colorfully and succinctly how the Apollo 11 mission unfolded. Crew and machinery are equally brought to life. One second before lift-off an astronaut gives a sidelong glance, full of suspense, and then . . . page turn: the rocket blasting off fills the spread (seeming to weigh every bit of its six million pounds). Inside, the airborne capsule is homey, with stuff floating around, in contrast to the black ink of space. CAT BURGLAR BLACK Written and illustrated by Richard Sala. First Second. $16.99. (Ages 11 and up) From its cinematic opening - a cliffhanger cutaway of a girl being chased by a wild boar - this noir comic sets up an inviting oddball mystery. K. Westree arrives at the remote Bellsong Academy for Girls to discover that school isn't in session. Instead, a cruel headmistress is training the other three "students" to be thieves as part of some grand scheme, and K. has been tapped to join them. Sala's style is cheerfully over-the-top, and the well-constructed plot, which is big on girl-power, as well as the sharply drawn characters will pull readers in. FIRST COME THE ZEBRA Written and illustrated by Lynne Barasch. Lee & Low. $18.95. (Ages 6 to 11) Barasch successfully dramatizes a real-life conflict between the Kikuyu and Masai peoples in Kenya, by telling the story of two boys. Abaani, a Masai herder, and Haki, a Kikuyu whose family are farmers, immediately begin fighting when they first meet. Things escalate until a baby wanders into danger and they both help in the rescue. The scenes are simply drawn, and the resolution feels hopeful and realistic; endnotes provide helpful context. FROM "FIRST COME THE ZEBRA" MULE TRAIN MAIL Written and illustrated by Craig Brown. Charlesbridge. $16.95. (Ages 4 to 7) There's one place left in the United States where the mail is delivered by mule train: from the rim of the Grand Canyon a mile down to Supai, on the Havasupai Indian Reservation. "The mules carry letters and packages, along with groceries, water, clothes and even computers," Brown writes, and neither 100-degree heat nor ice has ever stopped the trip. In the village, there are no cars; only mules and horses. In dusty brown pastels, he draws a quietly fascinating picture of a rare way of life. THE FASTEST GAME ON TWO FEET And Other Poems About How Sports Began. By Alice Low. Illustrated by John O'Brien. Holiday House. $17.95. (Ages 6 to 10) "Long ago, people all over the world played games with stones or ball-shaped objects." This is a fine idea for a book, and Low's light-hearted poems are both informative and amusing. In "They Ran for Their Lives," we're told, "It wasn't just a form of play,/ For when they ran/ They ran away" (from wild beasts). Also covered are skating using animal bones, early bowling - in church, circa A.D. 300 - and "kicking the Dane's head," or soccer. I DON'T WANT A POSH DOG! Written and illustrated by Emma Dodd. Little, Brown. $15.99. (Ages 4 to 8) Dodd's catchy text and handsome art make an appealing picture book for dog lovers (and those hoping to win a pet of their own). "I don't want a posh dog. A blow-dry-when-washed dog," says a small girl dressed in pink, who then goes on to list other things she doesn't want: "a growly, never-happy dog," "a grunty, wheezy, tough dog" - this while she hands a tissue to a doubtful-looking bulldog with spikes on his collar. The concept is simple and the execution charming. JULIE JUST
Copyright (c) The New York Times Company [October 27, 2009]
Review by Booklist Review
Sala, with his gothic expressionism charms intact, offers his first graphic novel for a YA audience. Katherine (who goes by K.) was raised in an orphanage by a mistress who indoctrinated the children in the arts of thievery. Now, she finds herself at a musty old boarding school run by a secret organization called The Obtainers, dedicated to the finer points of cat burglary. Along with four other students, K. embarks on a high-wire series of art heists, but when the other girls start disappearing and a bit of light gets shed on the organization's darker secrets, she begins to reconsider her role. Sure, readers might hope for more substantial characterization or smoother plot development, but the spooky, tiptoeing atmosphere of Sala's art and the sneakily sinister undertones of the story are the real draws. This high-quality caper comic should appeal to readers dismayed by the shuttering of DC's teen girl-centric Minx imprint, but it will by no means be limited to them. Several unresolved elements hint at possible sequels.--Chipman, Ian Copyright 2009 Booklist
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
Sala's charming new graphic novel recalls a revamp of the Nancy Drew mysteries-produced under the hypnotic gaze of Edward Gorey. Silver-haired orphan K. is a prodigious young thief who struggles with the legacy and implications of her larcenous talent. Her enrollment in a peculiar young women's academy promises respite from her troubled upbringing, but soon reveals a direct link to her own mysterious past as her skills are pressed into service for an unknown goal. Sala meets the publisher's smaller, digest-sized format with an economical visual style, fleshed out with gemlike watercolors, brilliantly reproduced. His disciplined images work to support efficient storytelling that is as crystal clear to the reader's eye as his sinister characters' motives are unclear to his headstrong, inquisitive heroine. Suitable for a YA audience, Cat Burglar Black is less gloriously eccentric than the author's previous adult works, but features the same sort of effortlessly eerie style. If the resolution is somewhat pat, its pattern of successive revelations implies further developments to come in a sequel. (Sept.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Review by School Library Journal Review
Gr 5-9-K. arrives at a peculiar, isolated private school after having been raised as a pickpocket in an orphanage following the disappearance of her circus-acrobat-cum-cat-burglar father. It turns out that the only other three girls at the school are also thieves, and the instructors are part of a guild of criminals and were allies of K.'s dad-or so they hastily claim when pressed. The school is owned by her aunt, who is very ill, and the guild-"The Obtainers"-hope that the teen will help them discover lost treasure on the grounds that could pay for medical treatments and the restoration of the school. Nothing is what it seems, particularly the disappearances of K.'s classmates during heists to procure clues about the treasure. The artwork is a winning mixture of lovely and comically ugly. This dichotomy, shown in the visuals, is further evidenced in the dialogue, where the guild members are transparent and broad in their motivations and delivery, while the girls are given casual dialogue and a number of funny moments. The story is structured like a lighthearted cross between a fable and a horror film, but only ever teetering on the edge of horror without depicting it. This could have resulted in a mishmash, but Sala elegantly dances through the creepy and the sweet.-Benjamin Russell, Belmont High School, NH (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Horn Book Review
(Middle School) In this boisterous graphic novel crime caper, K., a white-haired teen raised to be a cat burglar, believes she's escaped that life forever when her aunt issues an invitation to join her at the secluded Bellsong Academy for Girls. But all is not as it seems. K.'s past -- as one of many orphans corralled into thievery by the villainous Mother Claude -- is closer to her present than she suspects. The other girls (all three of them) are secretive, if friendly, and possess unlikely skill sets that match her own, and her aunt is locked away with a mysterious illness. And the school? Turns out it's run by a criminal society known as The Obtainers, of which Mother Claude and, apparently, K.'s father were members. Soon K. is employing her high-wire larceny talents once more, pursuing a project for the Obtainers, while her classmates disappear one by one. Sala's nightscapes are deep-hued and creepy, in stark contrast to the jewel-toned outdoor scenes, and the zany backstories, tongue-in-cheek hints, and quick-moving plot make for an entertaining tale. The transparent shiftiness of his villains injects a little levity amidst all the dire Gothic undertones, while the bizarre cast of characters balances K.'s soul-searching as she tries to reconcile her moral leanings with the "rush" of stealing. The ending is abrupt, and the fates of the other girls are left too open (and most likely dismal) for the sunny, pat conclusion to ring true. Here's hoping this means that sequels are on the way. From HORN BOOK, (c) Copyright 2010. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Kirkus Book Review
Sala usually aims his pulpy gothics at older teens and adults, but here he tries for a younger audience. The art is far more finished than the sketchy plot. Trained since childhood by Fagin-esque Mother Claude to be a thief, teenage K. is dispatched to a supposed girls' school in a creepy mansion surrounded by dark woods and, along with a trio of fellow "students," breaks into three nearby houses to steal paintings that contain clues to a pirate treasure buried nearby. Filling in the back story requires so much explanation that swollen dialogue balloons nearly fill some of the cartoon panels, but the contrast between the hulking and misshapen adult nogoodniks in the cast and the four slim, leggy teens adds retro charm to a tale well stocked with menacing characters, mysterious voices, rococo hazards and atmospheric shadows. Expect sequels. (Graphic fiction. 10-12) Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
