Tuesday, January 31, 2017

Top Ten Tuesday: Cecilia's Recommendations

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted by The Broke and the Bookish.

Before we get started on the TTT for this week, be sure to check out our Valentine's Day Giveaway!

This week's topic had to do with comics and graphic novels. Since neither of us really reads those, we changed it up a bit this week. 

Introducing Cecilia's first list for JUBB! Cecilia is Mariela's daughter, and since Mariela doesn't read comics, we decided to ask her for her favorite books that she wishes everyone would read. 



Ivan is an easygoing gorilla. Living at the Exit 8 Big Top Mall and Video Arcade, he has grown accustomed to humans watching him through the glass walls of his domain. He rarely misses his life in the jungle. In fact, he hardly ever thinks about it at all.

Instead, Ivan thinks about TV shows he’s seen and about his friends Stella, an elderly elephant, and Bob, a stray dog. But mostly Ivan thinks about art and how to capture the taste of a mango or the sound of leaves with color and a well-placed line.

Then he meets Ruby, a baby elephant taken from her family, and she makes Ivan see their home—and his own art—through new eyes. When Ruby arrives, change comes with her, and it’s up to Ivan to make it a change for the better.

Katherine Applegate blends humor and poignancy to create Ivan’s unforgettable first-person narration in a story of friendship, art, and hope.


The Center for Cartoon Studies presents a wholly original take on the story of Annie Sullivan and Helen Keller in the fifth book of the award-winning series of graphic novel biographies.


Steve just wants to save his baby brother—but what will he lose in the bargain? This is a haunting gothic tale for fans of Coraline, from acclaimed author Kenneth Oppel (Silverwing, The Boundless) with illustrations from Caldecott Medalist Jon Klassen.

For some kids summer is a sun-soaked season of fun. But for Steve, it’s just another season of worries. Worries about his sick newborn baby brother who is fighting to survive, worries about his parents who are struggling to cope, even worries about the wasp’s nest looming ominously from the eaves. So when a mysterious wasp queen invades his dreams, offering to “fix” the baby, Steve thinks his prayers have been answered.

All he has to do is say “Yes.” But “yes” is a powerful word. It is also a dangerous one. And once it is uttered, can it be taken back?


Graphic novel star Kazu Kibuishi creates a world of terrible, man-eating demons, a mechanical rabbit, a giant robot---and two ordinary children on a life-or-death mission.

After the tragic death of their father, Emily and Navin move with their mother to the home of her deceased great-grandfather, but the strange house proves to be dangerous. Before long, a sinister creature lures the kids' mom through a door in the basement. Em and Navin, desperate not to lose her, follow her into an underground world inhabited by demons, robots, and talking animals.

Eventually, they enlist the help of a small mechanical rabbit named Miskit. Together with Miskit, they face the most terrifying monster of all, and Em finally has the chance to save someone she loves.
 

Orphan, clock keeper, and thief, Hugo lives in the walls of a busy Paris train station, where his survival depends on secrets and anonymity. But when his world suddenly interlocks with an eccentric, bookish girl and a bitter old man who runs a toy booth in the station, Hugo's undercover life, and his most precious secret, are put in jeopardy. A cryptic drawing, a treasured notebook, a stolen key, a mechanical man, and a hidden message from Hugo's dead father form the backbone of this intricate, tender, and spellbinding mystery.
 

All those who enjoyed shuddering their way through Alvin Schwartz's first volume of Scary Stories To Tell In The Dark will find a satisfyingly spooky sequel in this new collection of the macabre, the funny, and the fantastic.Is it possible to die -- and not know it? What if a person is buried too soon? What happens to a thief foolish enough to rob a corpse, or to a murderer whose victim returns from the grave? Read about these terrifying predicaments as well as what happens when practical jokes produce gruesome consequences and initiations go awry.Stephen Gammell's splendidly creepy drawings perfectly capture the mood of more than two dozen scary stories -- and even a scary song -- all just right for reading alone or for telling aloud in the dark.If You Dare!







I am so far removed from the comic book world, it's not even funny. Well over a decade ago, I used to be super obsessed with manga, which is basically just a graphic novel. I haven't read one in a billion years, but I figured I would share the ones that I loved enough to keep over the years. 

I'd say that Cardcaptor Sakura was my introduction into the world of manga. Sailor Moon (and Holly) introduced to me to anime way back when, but it wasn't until I found this copy of CCS at the old Walden Books in the mall that I really fell in love with manga. Of course, this was way before manga and graphic novels and comics were so easy to find. I can still remember my mom taking me to used bookstores to try and fuel my habit and all of the sales people looking at me like I was insane when I asked them if they carried manga. Now, Half Price Books has entire shelves devoted to mange for a $1! Oh, to be a teen again now :p 

Cardcaptor Sakura stars Sakura, a young girl who discovers she is supposed to be the master of the Clow. Clow cards are these little cards that hold...monsters? Creatures? I'm not sure how to explain it. But they hold these little creatures that have powers, and she has to trap them back in the cards in order to keep them from wreaking havoc all over the world. It's seriously cute! 


This manga is by the same authors as CCS and stars the same two lead characters, Sakura and Syaoran. Except, older and edgier and from a different world. This was perfect for me at the time, because I was getting older myself and loved the more romantic storyline from an older Lee and Sakura. What's also cool about this anime, is that is mashes up a lot of characters and worlds from all of the CLAMP manga. So there are tons of easter eggs and fun surprises for people who love CLAMP. Now I want to go home and watch the anime! 

Surprise, surprise! Another CLAMP manga on here. I swear, it wasn't intentional. I just really love CLAMP! This one I actually stole from Holly a billion years ago. This one is very typical video game style. (It also has a video game made after it that was actually seriously good.) It's three high school girls who get transported into an alternate realm and can't get back to modern day Tokyo until they rescue the princess. It's funny and badass and just all in all a good time! 

This one might be a little embarrassing, given how much I loved it. I would beg. wheedle, bribe, and all out annoy my mother til she would take me to Walden Books (a good 30 minute drive from home) to go get the new issue of this every month the day that they came out! It was so cute and fun. This one involves a bunch of school girls who have their DNA fused with the DNA of endangered species. This allows them to transform into "Mew Mews" and help save the world from evil villains. Think Sailor Moon, but with animal identities. The only problem with this manga is that Ichigo totally chose the wrong dude. 
 
I actually own a couple of manga that are based off of video games. In fact, I got every Zelda manga for Christmas this year! It almost made the list, but really, who doesn't know about Zelda? So I decided to go with Suikoden III. Because, seriously. This game is freaking amazing. The manga is really good too, but I can't say enough good things about the Suikoden series as a whole. Suikoden III is different than the first two incarnations in that it actually has three different main characters: Hugo, Chris and Geddoe. At first, you get to play all three characters equally up to chapter 3. But then, you have to choose which one is the Flame Bringer and finish the game with just that character. It's really just a fun game and makes for a good manga adaptation. 


34 comments :

  1. Ooh nice! All new to me ones here! I think my sister might have had Ivan in her previous classroom though. I can't remember.

    Thanks for visiting my TTT post!

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  2. Fun list! I've only encountered Hugo Cabret before! Tell her she did a great list!

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    1. Thanks! She was asking what people said about her list! hahahaha

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  3. I've read Amulet and The One and Only Ivan, and liked them a lot. I wasn't expecting to enjoy The One and Only Ivan as much as I did.

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  4. Fun list! My son really like the Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark one. :)

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  5. Aw, I love The One and Only Ivan! Such a cute book! :)

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  6. Hugo Cabret is such a gorgeous book, great choice! Thanks for stopping by and commenting today.

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  7. It's fun letting your children participate, isn't it?

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  8. I guess I need to read the book about Ivan!. My daughter loved it and she was begging me to read because she said it was really good.

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  9. I am always looking for new manga for my teen readers. I will look at some of your titles to see if they will work.

    My TTT Graphic Novels

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  10. I loved Scary Stories books when I was younger. I also have read the first 2 volumes of Tokyo Mew Mew and have the first volume or 2 of Tsubasa. I'm looking forward to reading that one. Thanks for stopping by my TTT

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  11. Hugo Cabret is excellent and the adaptation is pretty good too. :)

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  12. Hugo Cabret is on my list to read someday. Nice selection!

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  13. I haven't read any of these :(

    BUT! K.A. Applegate wrote one of my FAVORITE series when I was a kid. I couldn't get into ALL of her books, but I absolutely LOVED her Everworld series. It introduced me to the world of mythology in fantasy books, and I've never looked back! They're totally worth it if you can manage to hunt them down :)

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  14. All of these (books and comic books) are unfamiliar to me, but since I don't read comic books, I'm not surprised! :) Glad to know these are good though, and as always, thank you for visiting Finding Wonderland.

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  15. My son LOVES The Amulet series!! It's probably been his favorite so far out of all the books he's read. And Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark!!! That was a sleepover staple when I was growing up. We would scare the crap out of each other reading it out loud!

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  16. These are some cute covers. It looks like I'm about to add some more books to my tbr. Thanks Cecilias for sharing.

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  17. Can you believe I've never read manga? Rayearth looks good!

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  18. I was also obsessed with Tokyo Mew Mew as a kid, but the animated series rather than the manga. I was so upset when I realised the second season wasn't dubbed in English, and I've tried to watch it but their voices are painfully high pitched. To make up for the cliffhanger I decided to read all the manga last year. It was so cutesy, but also a little creepy how romance focused it was given that Ichigo was like, 12? Definitely some consent issues there (which is even creepier given it's aimed at kids). All 3 guys were a little weird for my tastes. But all in all I still liked the concept behind it and I wish it had more focus because it's actually a pretty great story with some big twists.
    Great list :D

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  19. I own a copy of The One and Only Ivan and really want to read it but am so afraid it will be super sad. I'll get to it eventually though. Love how you did your feature this week and it's great that you had some help.

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  20. The Amulet series is great, and The One and Only Ivan is on my TBR. Great list! Thanks for sharing, and for stopping by my TTT earlier. :)

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  21. I've seen really good things about The Nest and Amulet, so after Cecilia's recommendations I'm definitely going to need to pick them up. Please thank her for me, for making such a wonderful list!

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  22. I can honestly say the only one I've heard of Hugo but the covers look awesome!

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  23. Good list, I had Cardcaptor Sakura, Tsubasa Reservoir Chronicle and Magic Knight Rayearth on my list as well, also Tokyo Mew Mew has been on my to be read list for years.

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  24. I have heard that the Invention of Hugo Cabret is fantastic. I watched the movie but haven't read the book. I have also heard good things about The One and Only Ivan.

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  25. I used to watch Tsubasa Reservoir Chronicles a lot back as a kid. Loved it. And Suikoden! I've only played the first two games, but I agree that it's definitely an awesome series! I didn't know it had manga adaptations. Gonna check them out.

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  26. Amulet looks interesting. I've never read Cardcaptor Sakura - it's a Magical Girl manga, right? Did you ever read the WITCH comics?

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  27. Great list! I must admit that I've only read one manga so far, the Rurouni Kenshin series, which I was really obsessed over, hehe.

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  28. My 9-year old helped me with my list this week, and she is also an Amulet fan! She loves the Helen Keller book as well, and has The One and Only Ivan on her bookshelf but hasn't read it yet.

    Here's my TTT: https://4thhouseontheleft.wordpress.com/2017/01/31/top-ten-tuesday-ms-favorite-graphic-novels/

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