Vulnerable: Rethinking Human Trafficking by Raleigh Sadler“In all of our well-intentioned rhetoric of ‘being a voice for the voiceless’, we forget that these people already have a voice—we are just talking so loudly that no one can hear them.”
Vulnerable focuses on the human trafficking movement and how as people who want to help and be there for the survivors, we must be vulnerable. Because so many survivors were preyed on for being vulnerable, we have to allow ourselves to be open and vulnerable with them instead of playing the heroes. Sadler tackles a wide variety of trafficking- sex, workers, and children- in the book and he is the founder of Let My People Go, so he has a lot of experience working with trafficking and its survivors. This book is mainly for Christians because it focuses on the basis of how Jesus made himself vulnerable for us and we should do the same for those made vulnerable by predators. However, there is a wide variety of resources covered that I had never before, so if you are not a Christian, I would still recommend this book. Trafficking is a book that everyone needs to learn more about because we have way too many misconceptions about what it is. I personally loved this book and recommend it anyone looking to actively stop trafficking and its normalization in the world (as well as America’s high society groups). This is a powerful book filled with testimonies, myths being debunked, scholarly discussions, and resources to challenge how you may be a part of human trafficking and enabling people to oppress and exploit people in vulnerable communities. This is a book I will uses a resource for many years to come.
Whimsical Writing Scale: 4.75
Plotastic Scale: 5
Cover Thoughts: I love the cover because each letter is the shadow of a person and it speaks volumes about the message of this book.
Thank you, B & H Books, for providing me with a copy of this novel in exchange for an honest review.
Beach Nightmare by Steve Foxe and Alan Brown3 stars
Emma has the worst luck when her phone falls into the water at the beach. It mysteriously reappears and strange things begin to occur. Emma just didn’t get her phone back, but the spirit of a girl trapped in the waves. This is a horror story graphic novel targeted towards younger audiences. I would compare it to Goosebumps in tone and severity of horror. It’s not grotesque or above age range. It was also really cool to follow a POC (never specified) main character in a horror graphic novel. POC are not represented enough in the genre and if they are it’s through stereotypes that the genre has set up, so it was cool to see a younger take be the starring role of the story. It ends on a much darker note than most horror stories do, but I find that it sets up young readers to be more aware that the horror genre does not always have a nice, neat bow and a happy ending. I would recommend this to younger children (fifth grade and up) who are interested in graphic novels as well as horror.
Whimsical Writing Scale: 3
Character Scale: 2.5
Plotastic Scale: 3
Art Scale: 3
Cover Thoughts: Creepy and spooky.
Thank you, Netgalley and Stone Arch Books, for providing me with a copy of this novel in exchange for an honest review.
Whimsical Writing Scale: 4
Character Scale: 4
Plotastic Scale: 3.75
Art Scale: 2.5
Cover Thoughts: This is a super cute cover.
Thank you, Netgalley & Viz Media, for providing me with a copy of this manga in exchange for an honest review.
4.75 stars
This is a fictionalized account of Kim Hyun Sook’s time in college during the strict and oppressive rule of South Korea’s Fifth Republic. During this time in 1983, riots were common at the universities
and protests occurred to fight against the censorship and dictatorship that was occurring. This graphic novel is based on real events, but blended together to protect the identity of many real people who fought for things to change in South Korea. This graphic novel was so good! What an important novel to read amidst the protests in America. The story has so much to unpack and walk through. There is fear and the desire to rise up, the importance of literature being uncensored and not banned, what protests mean, the generational importance and metamorphosis of protests, family and values. So many wonderful themes and the friendships and simple scenes of slice of life living reminded me of real college students. This is a great graphic novel to give to high school students or freshman in college. I wrote so many papers on the topic of banned books in college, but I had never heard of this group of these protests. I’ve heard about the banning, but I didn’t know the impact of the people of South Korea protesting and speaking up.
Whimsical Writing Scale: 5
Character Scale: 5
Plotastic Scale: 5
Art Scale: 4
Cover Thoughts: I love the different color schemes.
Thank you, Netgalley and Iron Circus Comics, for providing me with a copy of this graphic novel in exchange for an honest review.
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5 stars
This illustrated children’s book tells the story of the parable of the lost sheep. This is abeautifull story about how God is like a shepherd and we are His sheep. When a sheep wanders away and is in danger, God (like the shepherd) will leave the ninety-nine to rescue the one sheep and bring it back to the safety of a green pasture. This parable is so important and impactful. It is one of my personal favorite parables, so seeing it illustrated was a beautiful and tear-jerking experience. I think this a fantastic resource for parents or Sunday school teachers to use with younger children. This is a fantastic little book that I highly recommend.
Whimsical Writing Scale: 5
Art Scale: 5
Plotastic Scale: 5
Cover Thoughts: I love the illustrations, but I wish the skin tone was darker. Many of the characters had darker skin tones, so I think marketing the book more accurately would be more appropriate.
Thank you, Netgalley and Our Daily Bread Publishing, for providing me with a copy of this novel in exchange for an honest read.
