Book Review: "Level Up" by Gene Luen Yang

If you have ever had unrealistic parental expectations foisted upon you, Then "Level Up" by Gene Luen Yang is the book for you. Dennis Ouyang’s traditional Asian parents have already decided his future: college, medical school, and eventually becoming a gastroenterologist. (Gastroenterologist=poop doctor. They take care of the stomach & intestines.) Dennis, however, is obsessed with video games. So obsessed that he almost flunks out of college until four cute but increasingly creepy angels show up to help him along his path to being a doctor. In the end Dennis has to figure out what really makes him happy: sticking fingers up people’s butts or playing video games.

Gene Luen Yang also wrote “American Born Chinese,” a book I read years ago and has since been one of my favorite graphic novels. It may end up being replaced with Level Up. It’s like reading five different books in one: there are the video games & gamer boys, the guardian angels, the sort of love triangle, an awkward geek boy comedy, and his personal discoveries regarding his family and happiness. Another talent the author uses in both books is the ability to pull out a surprise ending after the surprise ending you just read. They’re like surprise surprise endings and you never really see it coming. Gene Luen Yang continues to prove how awesome graphic novels can be.

Also cool: it took me exactly 40 minutes to read it from start to finish. This would be a great pick if you need a meaningful book for a super last minute book project.

(Stupendously) Bad Trip

There are some people who are fantasy people. There are some people who are sci-fi people. Then there are people like Platte F. Clark who have decided why not have both? In the same book. At the same time. Which is one reason why "Bad Unicorn" has to be one of my top book picks this year.

Middle school is hard enough when your mom doesn't understand your gaming obsession and you have to watch out for a bully called the Kraken, but then Max Spencer discovers the weird book he's had for years is magic. Like, real magic. And he's the heir to the greatest sorcerer of all, Maximilian Sporazo. It gets even worse when he accidentally transports himself, his friends Dirk and Sarah, and his local gaming store owner Dwight hundreds of years into the future... Meanwhile, a sorcerer in another realm is looking to get a hold of Max and his book. He recruits Princess, the most feared unicorn in the realm, to help him. But how can you track someone who's time traveled? And how exactly does one get back to the right time let alone fight a carnivorous unicorn (in the past AND the future), especially when you've only just discovered you can do magic?

With a bad tempered zombie duck, man-eating unicorns, golf-worshipping monks, more zombies, scary dragons, robot reality TV, and a talking sentient centipede game, "Bad Unicorn" is hysterical and awesome in so many amazing ways. Go read it. Now.

Ender's Game: Earth is Losing...

After decades of battle against insect-like aliens, we still haven't found a general who can defeat them.We're running out of soldiers, we're running out of spaceships, and we're running out of hope. But maybe, with the right training, one special boy can be molded into a hero.

Ender's Game, by Orson Scott Card, tells the story of Andrew "Ender" Wiggin, who's only six when he's recruited to Battle School to learn strategies to defeat the aliens. I'm excited to see the movie adaptation next year, but you should definitely read it first, so why not now, before the hype starts and you hear spoilers?

Flights of Fantasy

The best part about anthologies and short story collections is finding an author you wouldn't have encountered otherwise.  And then devouring everything else that author or artist has ever written.  So pick up a copy of Flight, any of the volumes, and dive in.  There's something for everyone in this collection of indie comics edited by Kazu Kibuishi. 

The library has several comics by artists who've contributed short stories to Flight.

Sidescrollers

There’s a picture somewhere of my brother and I both trying to read this comic at the same time while eating oatmeal. It’s Christmas morning and everyone else is running around with new toys and videogames, but we’re totally immersed in Sidescrollers by Matthew Loux. And for one very simple reason: it’s awesome. And I know that sounds like hyperbole, but no, really. Awesome.