Today Marshmallow reviews a graphic novel with very few words, Zenobia, written by Morten Dürr, illustrated by Lars Horneman, and published in English for the first time in 2018.
Marshmallow reviews Zenobia, written by Morten Dürr and illustrated by Lars Horneman.
Marshmallow’s Quick Take: If you like reading books that have a deep meaning and require thoughtful discussion, then this is the book for you.
Marshmallow’s Summary (with Spoilers):Zenobia was the queen of Syria long ago. She was regarded as the world’s most beautiful woman and led like a man. She was powerful. Now, Amina—a young Syrian girl fleeing her country—uses that image to stay strong.
The story starts on a boat full of refugees all escaping Syria. The boat is small and stuffy and dangerous. When the boat is hit by waves, Amina is thrown overboard, off the boat and into the cold sea. As she sinks slowly, she thinks of her family and the last few days before the present day.
Amina and her mother used to play hide and seek. But on the day the mother had to leave her home, the two had been making dolmas. They had only salt and rice to use though. Her parents left to go to town to get more ingredients but never returned. Amina’s uncle came to the door, where she was sitting waiting, and told her they had to leave. They crossed a Syria devastated by war. The buildings and homes were demolished, while tanks proudly paraded around the ruined streets. Amina and her uncle found a man who would take them to a place “without soldiers,” but could only pay for one passenger. Her uncle selflessly gave Amina the seat, the only way out of Syria. She boarded the boat, and we come to understand that this is the one she is thrown off of by the merciless waves.
As Amina sinks to the bottom of the sea, she sees a sunken boat, overtaken by the ocean and covered in sea life: its name is Zenobia.
Marshmallow is reading Zenobia, written by Morten Dürr and illustrated by Lars Horneman.
Marshmallow’s Review: This was a heartbreaking story. I am not sure if it was inspired by a specific person’s story, but it is heartbreaking that many people have undoubtedly suffered similar fates. Zenobia is a book every person should read. There is no reason not to; it is easy to understand, quick to skim, and has a message that should not be missed. I read it and was not expecting a graphic novel or—is it even a graphic novel?—to be so moving. The ending seemed to be surreal since I didn’t think such a short book would be so heartbreaking.
Exposure to these kinds of stories makes it hard to hold onto hope. The world can be a terrifying, terrible place. Books like Zenobia and Refugee (another book that needs to be read by all) show what so many people are going through, all to reach a foreign country that is their only hope. Seeing what refugees are forced through just to try to get the normal, safe life they deserve is an experience we all need in the un-empathetic world we have made.
But there is undeniably hope. This book is a lesson that we all need. But we all need to also hold onto hope and do something to make our world better. In trying times, as cliche as this sounds, empathy and sympathy, love and compassion, understanding and action are what we need. It’s clear we are divided today, but we can come together and make beautiful things; we can make this world beautiful. At least, that’s what this bunny thinks.
Marshmallow’s Rating: 100%.
Marshmallow rates Zenobia, written by Morten Dürr and illustrated by Lars Horneman 100%.
Caramel reviews the graphic novel version of Escaping Peril (Book Eight of Wings of Fire) by Tui Sutherland (with art work by Mike Holmes).
Anyone who has perused any of our content here knows that Caramel loves dragons and by extension, Tui T. Sutherland’s Wings of Fire series. In the past few years he has read and reviewed quite a lot of the books in and related to the series. Today he reviews Escaping Peril: The Graphic Novel, the graphic novel version of the eighth book of the main series, written by Tui Sutherland, illustrated by Mike Holmes, and published in December 2024. As usual, Sprinkles is taking notes and asking questions.
Here are Caramel’s reviews for the five books that make up the second story arc (the Jade Mountain): Moon Rising, Winter Turning, Escaping Peril, Talons of Power, and Darkness of Dragons. And here are his reviews of the graphic novel versions of the first two books in the series: Moon Rising and Winter Turning. The current post contains his review of the eighth book, the third in this story arc.
C: This is about Peril, a Skywing with a weird mutation, called fire scales, where the scales are very hot and capable of burning almost anything.
S: Okay, you dove right into the world of Wings of Fire. So let us start slow. We are in this land of dragons, where there are a few different clans or tribes of dragons, each with their own special powers and strengths. And Skywings are one of those tribes.
C: Sure Sprinkles, but the readers already know all that. Or they should. After all, this is the eighth book of the series!
S: You have a point Caramel. I guess if anyone is reading our blog, even sporadically, they would know that! You have already reviewed so many books in this world.
C: Yes, I am not sure I can list them all. I mean there are fifteen books in the series, five books each for three different series, making up the main fifteen books. I reviewed most of those books. Then there are the graphic novel versions of them, but they are not all out yet. This is the eighth book, so I have reviewed seven of those so far. And then I reviewed a few other books about the dragons of the Wings of Fire universe.
Caramel is reading Escaping Peril: The Graphic Novel (Book Eight of Wings of Fire), written by Tui Sutherland and illustrated by Mike Holmes.
S: So okay, let us go back to Peril. So Escaping Peril is not about escaping danger, but escaping from this dragon named Peril, then?
C: You could read it like that, because Peril is dangerous, but also you could read it as Peril is the one escaping. Because the book is really about Peril discovering herself and saving herself from her queen.
S: That is a cool play on words then!
C: Yeah, it is. See why I love Wings of Fire?
S: Yeah, I can see that it is only about the wordplay. Not about the amazing dragons, not at all.
C: No, of course it is not only about the wordplay! It is the whole thing.
S: I know. I’m just teasing you, Caramel. I do know how much you have enjoyed reading these books.
C: Good. Glad we made that clear.
S: So Caramel, this is the eighth book in the series. But each of these books is about an individual dragon, and so perhaps one could read them out of order. What do you think?
C: Sure they could, but it makes a lot more sense if you read them in order.
S: So they are chronologically ordered, then?
C: Yes, definitely. So knowing what happened in the earlier books explains a lot of what is going on in the later books. But you are also right, that one could simply dive into this book, for example, and get a good sense of the world.
S: But it is clear to me that you think readers should start from the beginning and read every single book in order.
C: Yes. And then reread them. Over and over and over again. Like I have been doing all this time.
S: I know! Your copies of some of the books have really worn out…
C: I prefer to call them “well read” or even “well loved”.
S: I love that Caramel! I love that you love books!
C: Only some books!
S: Okay, that is right, but it is also perfectly fine! Anyways, back to Escaping Peril. I know you have already read the graphic novel versions of the first seven books and the illustrations are done by the same artist. So maybe there was nothing surprising about the illustrations this time?
C: That’s right, nothing surprising. Except of course these dragons are awesome and the illustrations all do a great job in helping me visualize them!
S: That is wonderful, Caramel. It seems like the author and the illustrator really made this work. Anyways, maybe this is a good time to wrap up our review. So tell me what you are most excited about, having read this book.
C: Well, now I am ready for the graphic novel version of the ninth book!
S: That will be released this year, I think.
C: Really? So happy to hear that! And I also heard that there might be a totally new sixteenth book! So I have a lot to look forward to.
S: I am so happy for you! And in the meantime we will read a lot of other books.
C: Of course!
S: So then, what do you want to tell our readers?
C: Stay tuned for more book bunny reviews!
Caramel is excited to have read Escaping Peril: The Graphic Novel (Book Eight of Wings of Fire), written by Tui Sutherland and illustrated by Mike Holmes, and looks forward to rereading it many more times in the coming weeks and months.
Today Caramel is talking to Sprinkles about Alamo All-Stars by Nathan Hale, published first in 2016. This is the sixth book in Nathan Hale’s Hazardous Tales series, and thankfully the sixth book Caramel happened to read from the series. (So finally these numberings match!)
Sprinkles: So here we are, talking about yet another Nathan Hale book.
Caramel: Yes! And this one is also a great book!
S: Oh, yes? So you have enjoyed reading about the Alamo? Isn’t that supposed to be a story of a big defeat?
C: Yes, but a very heroic one! And at the end of the book, the author ties things up by telling us how the U.S. in the end did win over Texas. So they lost Alamo first, but eventually they won it back. Kind of like losing the battle and winning the war.
S: I see. But it was also probably a heroic win for the other side, at least the stand at Alamo.
C: I suppose. You are right. All wars have at least two sides. When one side wins and celebrates, the other side is losing and facing great difficulties. So I like reading about wars and history, but it would be best if there were no wars. I think we can say that we have had enough wars. Maybe we do not need any more.
S: Such wise words from a little bunny…
Caramel is reading Nathan Hale’s Hazardous Tales #6: Alamo All-Stars by Nathan Hale.
S: Okay, so this book is all yellow!
C: Yes, you said last time that each book has one thematic color, so maybe you were right. This is the yellow book. There are other colors in the book too, of course but yellow is a lot more visible in this book than the others.
S: Is there any humor in the book? I mean it is about war and death again, but …
C: Yes. At least there are some light-hearted moments. And it does not feel as heavy as Donner Dinner Party.
S: I think that can be arranged. But maybe we can take a short break for a bit.
C: What are you trying to tell me Sprinkles?
S: Me? Nothing. Maybe there are other books you could read for the next week or two.
C: Maybe. Or maybe not. I do like these books!
S: I know. But maybe we can try a few other books for a bit.
C: I see what you are doing. And I guess we will see what you find for me to read for next week.
S: I mean, I won’t force you.
C: Hmm.
S: Okay, maybe this is a good time to stop talking about this book and wrap this review up. What would you like to tell our readers?
C: Stay tuned for more book bunny reviews!
Caramel enjoyed reading Nathan Hale’s Hazardous Tales #6: Alamo All-Stars by Nathan Hale and looks forward to reading many more historical graphic novels in the near future.
Given the morbid nature of the historical events described (involving death and cannibalism), this review might not be appropriate for very young bunnies.
Caramel reviews Nathan Hale’s Hazardous Tales #5: Donner Dinner Party by Nathan Hale.
Sprinkles: So Caramel, it seems like it is once again time to talk about a Nathan Hale book.
Caramel: Yes! It is great that I can read another one of Nathan Hale’s Hazardous Tales.
S: I know you love these books! So tell me, what is this one about?
C: It is about the people going to California in 1846.
S: Oh, I see, so this is about the Donner party, going west toward California and getting lost?
C:Yes it is.
S: So the dinner party part is kind of poking fun at the rumors that some of them ended up eating others?
C: Yes, but it is not a very funny joke in terms of what it means. And it is not rumors; the Wikipedia article says they actually ate some of those who died because they were weaker, but they apparently also killed two Native American guides and ate them.
S: Caramel, that is awful!
C: Yep, and disturbing.
S: I mean, the other books you read in this series also had people dying, there were many wars and such, but this somehow feels a lot more morbid.
C: Yep, it does. But apparently history can be pretty terrible.
S: I can see that this book is making that quite clear.
C: Yep, it certainly did for me.
Caramel is reading Nathan Hale’s Hazardous Tales #5: Donner Dinner Party by Nathan Hale.
S: So was reading this book a bit more challenging then? The story is pretty disturbing.
C: Yeah, it was a little, but the scary parts are mainly on a couple pages, making them easy to skip.
S: And it seems like an important story, about how humans can get quite vicious and terrible when they are desperate.
C: Yeah humans are sometimes very mean to each other, which is not a good thing.
S: I mean when you read Watership Down, we saw there that bunnies can also be cruel to one another, but at least we would never eat each other. We are vegetarian.
C: And I guess I will have to remind you that Watership Down was fiction, Sprinkles. This book is about a real event!
S: I know I know. I was just trying to lighten up the mood, but it is pretty difficult. So let us talk about the book in general. I suppose you had heard of the Donner party before. Did you learn anything new while reading Donner Dinner Party?
C: Yep, that sometimes the people in the past, and sometimes now, can be very mean to others.
S: So true. And so sad… Okay, I will now shift gears because this is getting a bit too sad. It seems these books are in color but always only a couple colors show up on each two-page spread. Is that correct?
C: yep, this one had around 8 different colors total.
S: But only a couple of the colors showing up on one page, right?
C: Yep, at most maybe 2-3 colors on one page.
S: But it still seems to work well, right?
C: Yes, it feels colorful at least.
S: After this I think there are still a few more books in this series. Are you interested?
C: Yeah, I can’t imagine there will be too many more cannibal stories in there.
S: I agree. Okay, so let us wrap this up then. What would you like to tell our readers?
C: Stay tuned for more book bunny reviews!
Caramel appreciated reading Nathan Hale’s Hazardous Tales #5: Donner Dinner Party by Nathan Hale and is ready for another adventure.
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