Guantanamo Boy by Anna Perera YP FIC PERERA

Khalid is guilty until proven innocent.  A 15 year old British citizen, he is stolen from his family while on vacation in Pakistan.  He is imprisoned without trial, lawyer, or hope in Guantanamo Bay.  The only way to escape the nightmare of loneliness, fear, pain, and torture is to ‘confess’.  

Even though this is a fictional story it is inspired by all too real events.  Anyone that is interested in the War on Terror will find a lot to think about in Guantanamo Boy.  The political message is very direct and many readers may feel differently from the author, but I think people should give the book a chance.  The writing style is very plain and sometimes dialogue is a bit stiff, but the straightforward style makes the horrifying descriptions of torture very effective.  This is a raw and edgy story that never shies away from the ugly truths of ‘enhanced interrogation’.  I won’t say I ‘enjoyed’ this book, but I am glad I read this moving and frightening story of how innocence and freedom can be stolen.

The Merchant of Venice by William Shakespeare illustrated by Faye Young YP FIC SHAKESPE

Bassanio loves the fair Portia, but needs money to woo her. He calls upon his best friend and mentor Antonio who makes the mistake of borrowing from the banker Shylock.. Shylock hates Bassiano for a previous cruelty at the hands of his best friend, Antonio and for Antonio undermining Shylock’s business, so his terms of failure to pay on time are quite severe: a pound of flesh from nearest Antonio’s heart. When a turn of fortune forces Antonio to be late in payment, Shylock takes Antonio to court seeking his pound of flesh and Antonio’s life.

This is a part of a series of manga Shakespeare tales some of which I reviewed here. I quite like the elfin, fantasy style they use here. They do a good job of making Shylock look sinister and evil without looking like a stereotype. The layouts are quite good and there is a lot of fun and playful visuals with the romantic plot of the book. I do recommend reading this to anyone that would like to get into Shakespeare but is put off by the language, because visuals help make the action clearer. I will say that this book has some of the same problems of the play. The play can certainly be read as anti-Semitic. A great deal of learned scholars have argued that issue for many years, but it FAR too complicated to be settled by one blog post. The Merchant of Venice is a brilliant play and has a lot to say about mercy, justice, love, marriage, and bigotry, so it should absolutely be read and this is a great way to read it.

Parade (With Fireworks) by Mike Cavallaro YP FIC CAVALLAR

Paolo went to war and came home changed by it, but worse still is how his home is changing. Repelled by the violence of Chicago, Paolo returns to his Italian village to find that it has been invaded. Not by a foreign force, but an insidious and dangerous idea: Fascism. Soon after a tragic and violent end to a local parade, Paolo finds that all his ideas of justice and honor are obsolete in the new Italy.

I’ll start with the bad news. I wish that this book was twice as long. The story is developing so well and then everything ends quite abruptly. I really feel like Cavallaro could have begun the story sooner in Paolo’s life or ended it later than he did. However, the story we do get is pretty darn good. The art is beautifully painted and reminds me of Jeff Smith’s Bone series (YP FIC SMITH). Cavallaro, like Smith is able to use simple cartoonlike designs that convey a surprising depth of emotion. There is only one action sequence, but is so well done and iconic that is stands out as one of the better drawn shootouts I’ve seen all year. Cavallaro wrote Parade for act-I-vate.com, a collection of artists making free webcomics. It is an excellent site and worth checking out if you like comics even a little bit. And even though I feel like the ending should be stronger for Parade the excellence of the art make it a must read for fans of intelligent comics.

The Mockingbirds by Daisy Whitney YP FIC WHITNEY

After a party Alex wakes up naked in a room she doesn’t recognize. She doesn’t remember anything that happened the night before, but she knows she had sex. Once her friends make her realize that it is rape to have sex with an unconscious person she decides to push for justice, but Alex goes to Themis Academy. Themis is supposed to be for the best and brightest and she doesn’t believe the cops will help, so she learns about the Mockingbirds, a secret school court (inspired by the book To Kill a Mockingbird) that judges other students and hands out punishments. Will Alex find justice, and what would she do with it if she got it?

This is a really tricky book. A lot of readers may not like it, because the issue of date rape is such an emotional one. I won’t spoil the ending, but it certainly won’t satisfy some readers. This is a very intelligent look at the consequences of rape and the meaning of justice, but I’m still not sure if I agree with the novel’s idea of justice. I think the fact that Alex doesn’t tell anybody but other students is unfortunate, but unfortunately that is a realistic reaction to date rape. This novel doesn’t read like just a moral lesson. The Mockingbirds work through secrecy and their odd methods (also inspired by To Kill a Mockingbird) keep the book interesting. A new romance that Alex develops is also well developed. I liked that Alex is able to experience and appreciate joy and start to move past what happened to her. It shows that she is more than just a victim. All in all, this is a wonderful read for fans of realistic fiction that like to think. I can guarantee this book will make everyone that reads it think long and hard about the characters, the ending, and justice.