Book Review: Avatar: The Last Airbender - The Rift Part 1

In this sequel to the hit Nickelodeon series we get to see where Aang and his friends have been up to. During the story the crew heads to an island to celebrate an airbender holiday with Aang's new disciples. Unfortunately the island has become the site of a major mining operation that threatens to destroy the island.

This story is geared towards fans of the television series and most newcomers will have a difficult time understanding the group dynamics. However, for someone who has seen the entire series, this was an interesting look at where the characters are now.

I was a little disappointed that the story wasn't longer as I wanted to learn more about their new world but all in all it wasn't bad. The authors managed to keep the characters personalities intact through their dialogue and views on the mining operation. The artwork is also consistent with images fans will remember from the Nickelodeon series.

I received a digital copy of this book from NetGalley and Dark Horse Publishing in exchange for and honest review.

This comic book came out on March 18th, 2014 and is available on Amazon in both Kindle and paperback.

Book Review: Totem

Totem, by Jennifer Maruno, follows a young boy as he runs away from one of Canada's residential boarding schools for First Nations or Aboriginal children.

Jonny Joe has been living at Redemption Residential school for as long as he can remember. Despite how long he's been there Jonny doesn't really fit in, it's a native school and he's the only white boy. When summer break comes along all the other boys get sent home to be with their families, except for Jonny, being an orphan he spends his summers right there at Redemption Residential.

This year turns out to be different when a boy gets hauled to the school by the Indian Agent. Apparently Ernie's family had been taking him out on long fishing trips each year when the Indian Agent came around to take the kids away to the school. So as punishment Ernie will have to spend the summer at Redemption Residential.

Ernie is set on trying to escape and enlists Jonny's help. At first Jonny, having never lived anywhere else, doesn't want to run away. But when one of the new priests, Father Gregory, starts taking a rather personal interest in Jonny, Ernie convinces him that he needs to leave too.

The night that they escape a huge storm comes through that leaves the boys stuck in a secret cave. While they're looking at the drawings on the cave, lightning strikes right out side and both boys are knocked out. When they wake up they are in a different time, back before white people had settled in the land. An old man, who seems to know why they are there and where they came from, takes the boys to the village.

They spend close to a year living in the village and learning about their past. Eventually a ship carrying, priests, nuns, adventurers, and a photographer arrive. Though they are friendly they bring with them a disease that wipes out most of the village. Jonny and Ernie run back to the cave to warn the old man not to come to the village when another huge storm comes up and they are zapped back to the present.

Upon coming back to the town they realize that they've only been gone for one night. Not to mention, lightning had struck Redemption Residential and burned it to the ground. Jonny decides to stay with a local farmer and put the skills he learned to use. He carves a totem to mark the grave site of the village from long ago.

This book was both fascinating and intense. When Father Gregory takes Jonny into the basement to help him, I kept thinking "run man run!". There's a lot of history in this book, from the Residential schools that tortured and abused many of the First Nations people to the tribes that were wiped out by disease. Jennifer Maruno did a great job of making a history lesson into a gripping story of a boy connecting with his roots.

Totem comes out on July 7th 2014.

I received a digital copy of this book through NetGalley and Dundurn in exchange for an honest review.

Book Review: Will o' the Wisp: An Aurora Grimeon Story

Aurora's parents have just died from an accidental mushroom poisoning and Aurora barely survived. Instead of being sent into the foster care system the state locates her one remaining relative, her estranged grandfather Silver. Silver lives out on Ossuary Isle where hoodoo is part of daily life. Aurora struggles to fit in and though she finds the hoodoo customs fascinating, many people on the isle view her as bad luck. The situation doesn't improve when some of the residents start washing up in the swamp. As Aurora becomes friends with the local hoodoo woman, magic and evil spirits come head to head with her grandfathers scientific approach to life.

Prior to reading this book the only experience I had with graphic novels was reading the Elf Quest series as a kid, so I wasn't sure what whether I would still enjoy this genre as an adult. Fortunately the dark story in Will o' the Wisp coupled with the unique illustrations drew me right back in. Even though the story has a dark theme there is some comic relief in the form of Silver's pet raccoon.

Will o' the Wisp is not only a story of a young girls struggle to find out where she belongs but also a fascinating introduction to hoodoo. While most people are used to hearing about druids, wiccans and other more mainstream magic and belief systems, hoodoo seems to remain in the shadows. So reading a book where the practice is just a part of daily life was both interesting and informative. I am really hoping they come out with another chapter in the saga of Aurora Grimeon.

I got to read a digital copy of this book for free through NetGalley and Diamond Book Distributors in exchange for an honest review.

Book Review: The Otter, the Spotted Frog & the Great Flood: A Creek Indian Story

The book starts out with Listener the Otter and Honors Himself the Buffalo talking by a fire late at night. Listener hears the spotted frogs singing and calls the loudest over to tell them what they are singing about. Honors Himself does not like the frog and does not want to hear what he has to say so he throws the spotted frog into the fire. Listener pulls him out and the spotted frog looks as though he was never burned, but this action just irritates Honors Himself so he throws the frog back into the fire again. This happens several times until Honors Himself gives up and walks away.

The spotted frog tells Listener that there will be a great flood and that if he wishes to survive he will build a raft and tether it to the tallest tree. Listener does what the spotted frog tells him to in spite of Honors Himself's taunting. Otter Woman wants to believe Listener but in the end she does not board the raft with him. When the flood does come all of the animal people climb a tall hill while the buffalo assures them that they will be safe. The water covers the hill and all the animals drown except for Listener the Otter who is on the raft.

Once the water recedes Listener is all alone and he doesn't know how he will survive. Spotted frog returns and tells him to do as his name suggests and listen. In the end Listener the Otter is turned into the first man and Otter Woman is turned into the first woman.

Great Flood stories exist in virtually every culture on the planet and the Creek Indians are no exception. I have always enjoyed reading myths and legends from other cultures and comparing them with the stories I was brought up with.  This one was unique for me in that it not only told a great flood story but also the story of the first humans.

As much as I enjoyed the story, the illustrations were by far the highlight of this book. They are both beautiful and engaging. I read the digital version of this book and for how good the pictures look even on my phone I can only imaging how much better they would look in the hard copy. Kudos to Illustrator Ramon Shiloh for his excellent artwork

I got to read a digital version of this book for free through NetGalley and Wisdom Tales publishing.

To view this book on Amazon go to The Otter, the Spotted Frog & the Great Flood: A Creek Indian Story