Cocoa Club: The reviews are in!

On January 28, Miss Katie hosted the first Cocoa Club meeting of 2015. During the meeting, we ate cookies, drank hot cocoa and shared the books we brought. Here's what we talked about this month:

Hansel and Gretel by Neil Gaiman, illustrated by Lorenzo Mattotti

A creepy retelling of the classic Hansel and Gretel story told by Neil Gaiman, the mind behind Coraline and The Graveyard Book. The bold black and white illustrations lend an extra hint of creepiness to the dark story.

Cleopatra in Space, Book 1: Target Practice by Mike Maihack

Young Cleopatra, before she was the famed Queen of the Nile, travels to the very distant future where she discovers something surprising: it is her destiny to save the galaxy from an evil, tyrannical ruler. This colorfully illustrated graphic novel has something for everyone: science fiction, a little bit of history, comical adventures, and a fun main character who surprisingly knows a thing or two about combat.

The Frankenstein Journals by Scott Sonneborn 

J.D. always wondered why his body was so different. His legs, hands, and feet are all different sizes, and his eyes are two different colors. But then he discovers a note from his birth father, along with a picture that answers all his questions... his father is Frankenstein's monster! J.D., who thought he was an orphan, realizes that all the parts that helped make his father belonged to people, and surely those people had relatives. They means they're sort of his family too, right? When he finds Doctor Frankenstein's journal, he sets out to find his long lost "relatives."

I Survived: Five Epic Disasters by Lauren Tarshis

Fans of Lauren Tarshis's I Survived series will eat this one up. Other books in Tarshis's series feature fictional characters in real historical disasters. This particular installment is non-fiction, and tells the stories of real children who miraculously survived some very real disasters. The historical events in this book include the Children's Blizzard of 1888, the sinking of the Titanic (1912), Boston's Great Molasses Flood in 1919, the 2011 Japanese tsusami, and the Henryville Tornado (2012).

Bad Island by Doug TenNapel

Bad Island is an action packed adventure story in graphic novel form. When Reese and his family are shipwrecked during their family vacation, they find themselves confronted with all sorts of strange plants, animals, and creatures that waste no time hunting the vacationers down.

One participant (Lamar, age 11) was eager to tell everyone what he thought of Bad Island and was excited to share his review on our blog:

"Bad Island was about a family who went on vacation and they get shipwrecked and end up on this mysterious island. They're chased by lots of different creatures, including Triangle Head, the biggest and baddest of all the creatures on the island. I'd recommend this to people who like graphic novels and action/adventure stories."

So what did Lamar like most about Bad Island?

"I like that it started out as two kids and their parents on a fun family trip and it turned into life and death."

TenNapel's other books include Ghostopolis, Cardboard, and Tommysaurus Rex. Lamar is a huge fan of all of them.