Diario de Oaxaca: A Sketchbook journal of Two Years in Mexico by Peter Kuper 972.740222

Peter Kuper, a political artist and a comedy cartoonist, decided to try a change of cultural scenery in 2006 and skip the last two years of President Bush’s term. He moved to Oaxaca, Mexico to relax with his family and found himself surrounded by a teachers’ strike that became an international story of government corruption and control. He chronicled it all with sketches, letters home, and a diary presented side by side in English and Spanish. The result is a one of a kind piece of frontline journalism, travel document, and artistic expression.

This is a truly unique book. It achieves the rare feat of truly capturing a moment in time and place. Having never been to Oaxaca, I certainly can’t claim the book captures the Real Oaxaca, but it definitely captures the artist’s Oaxaca. This is a weird mix of story, art, graphic novel, and diary that is so much more interesting and original then the usual travel fluffery. It has political intrigue, fights against injustice, the Day of the Dead, and loads of insects. The art has quick ‘slice of life” sketches with pictures and other media added later. So it has a sense of capturing reality but also comments on it. It’s a really wonderful artistic achievement and both captures and celebrates a part of Mexico that is rarely looked at by America. If you are interested in art, comics, Mexico, or just want to practice your Spanish while reading a cool story with great art, then check this one out.

Punkzilla by Adam Rapp

Punkzilla is considered an epistolary novel, which is a story told through documents. In this case, Punkzilla’s (Jamie is his real name.) story is told through letters. He is conversing with his brother, Peter (referred to as “P”), who is dying of cancer. Jamie is writing to him on a bus on his way from Portland, Oregon to Memphis, Tennessee to see his brother before he dies. Jamie writes his brother of the adventures and experiences he has while on this cross-country journey. Travelling by bus is pretty sketchy, which is made abundantly clear based on the things Jamie sees while staying at seedy motels, stopped at eerie bus stations, and with the bevy of oddballs who accompany him on his journey. Jamie’s language is blunt, lucid, at times raw, but still poetic as he describes his current adventure and his memories. This is also an emotional journey for Jamie as he tries to reach his brother in time. The reader is fully in-tunes with his roller coaster of emotions as he travels across the country.

This book is dark, edgy, and contains some graphic content, which is typical of Adam Rapp’s work. I would recommend Punkzilla for older teens (Grades 10 & up).

Author Adam Rapp is a novelist, playwright, and screenwriter. Other books written by Rapp available in the Moore Young Adult collection are: Under the wolf, Under the Dog; 33 Snowfish; Little Chicago, The Buffalo Tree; and Missing the Piano.

Whirligig / by Paul Flieschmann

Humiliated after being jilted by a girl at a party, 17-year-old Brent decides life's not worth living and promptly steers his car into oncoming traffic, little realizing that his life isn't the only one at stake. In fact the accident leaves Brent relatively unscathed, soon allowing him back into the realm of consciousness only to learn how his rash behavior's involuntarily killed another person. The fatal victim is a first generation American girl named Lea, who at 18, was a senior in high school already accepted to a prestigious four-year university on scholarship. She would have been the first in her family ever to attend college.

Sentenced to indefinite probation and countless hours of community service, to say nothing of the permanent anguish and guilt, Brent's still not prepared for what confronts him immediately after the hearing. Lea's mother meets with Brent to discuss a court-approved 'trip' she wants him to take to honor Lea's memory. Brent is to ride a greyhound bus to all four corners of the lower United States, spending enough time in each region--Miami, San Diego, Washington and Maine--to construct a whirligig (hand-crafted object spun by wind) solely with his own hands, tools and resources. The four whirligigs are to be given as a gift to someone special at each locale in remembrance of Lea.

The book's non-linear sequence of events really allows the reader inside Brent's character. Once a self-seeking teen only interested in upward-mobility, Brent's post-accident demeanor remains absent of everything he once was, his mindset now one of quiet repose and contemplation as he meets with the opportunity for at least some restitution. Intermittent descriptions of the four individuals destined to be the gift-bearers provide a good balance to Brent's narrative, each interpreted as someone able to understand the whirligig's brevity of meaning.