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Posts Tagged ‘graphic novel’

When a friend gave me a book called Unikorn with the image of a white puffy cloud unicorn on the cover, I read it immediately.

Unikorn, published in 2021 by Scout Comics and Entertainment Inc., created and written by Don Handfield and Joshua Malkin is a graphic novel written for young adults.

As such, it is definitely not in a genre that I usually read. But I kept reading and was pulled into the story. My friend, who I know through the Unitarian Universalist and vegan communities, knows that I am interested in all things unicorn.

Unicorns are magical creatures that disappear in times of strife which we are in now. It’s no surprise that unicorns are so popular because people are searching for the good. In the Middle Ages, most people routinely believed in the existence of unicorns.

In Unikorn, I was moved by a passage on the feelings of animals.

When the teenage girl narrator goes into the creature’s stall, the author writes in conversational bubbles:

“He felt your compassion.

“Animals don’t speak in words

“But understand emotion perfectly.”

When the narrator asks, “What’s that thing on his head?”

The caretaker of the farm responds:

“Just one of the many things that makes him special.”

In the end, the unicorn leads people to be more kind to each other. And when the last page was turned, the Unikorn did not disappoint. I thoroughly recommend Unikorn, published by Scout Comics and Entertainment Inc., and created and written by Don Handfield and Joshua Malkin. It is a force for good in the world.

This is Janet Mason with reviews for Book Tube.

To learn more about my latest published novel — The Unicorn, The Mystery, click here:

The Unicorn, The Mystery now available from Adelaide Books — #amreading #FaithfullyLGBT

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pride-flag-in-alleyThis year we celebrated Pride by going to see the lesbian musical Fun Home.  The celebration started when my partner Barbara won free tickets from WRTI, the local jazz radio station.

We started the evening with dinner and then a short stroll through the back alleys of Philadelphia’s “gayborhood” — where I found out that the Bike Stop still exists (from my memories of coming out thirty some years ago.

Fun Home is based on the 2006 graphic memoir of the same name written and illustrated by Alison Bechdel.  It is a touching coming of age story based on the author’s lesbian identity and that of her father, a closeted gay man.  The play didn’t disappoint, but when my partner left, she had a puzzled tone in her voice when she said that the audience was mostly straight people. Thankfully, the world has changed.

bike-stop-sign

fun-home-marquee

 

Barbara-stage-in-background

 

Fun-Home-stage-colors

 

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I’ve never met Alison but have long read her comic strip “Dykes To Watch Out For” and have read her graphic novels. Then when my book Tea Leaves: a memoir of mothers and daughters was published (2012: Bella Books), it was in the same review as one of Alison’s books in Curve magazine.

This blog post is dedicated to my late friend Toni Brown.Toni_Brown_author Toni was a wonderful poet and writer and you can hear her read her work by clicking here.

Before moving to Philadelphia, Toni lived for many years in North Hampton Mass. She may have told me that she once knew Alison Bechdel or it just may be that North Hampton (which I visited several times) was so very much like the “Dykes To Watch Out For” comic strip that I always associate it with her.  Thank you Toni.

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