Icebreaker

 

My Thoughts:

Mickey James III is supposed to be the golden child in hockey with a father and a grandfather who were National Hockey League legends. But this college freshman has so many pressures on his small shoulders from media, from other players, from his family, from himself. So when Jaysen Caulfield shows up as his teammate and largest rival for the number one slot in the draft, Mickey is full of rage that hides his fear as well as his lust for this boy that he cannot stop pushing away at the same time he wants to pull in. 

However despicable Mickey gets, though, the readers will try to hold on to him and cheer for him to find some kind of emotion between his rage and his feeling nothing at all. It is obvious to the reader that Mickey is severely depressed and we cannot wait for him to get the help he needs. It comes in the form of teammates, his sisters, and even his parents who he feels estranged from. I love how he gets to really talk to his father about the feeling of abandonment and it opens up for more conversation about what will make Mickey happy. The fact that it does not have to be hockey was the opportunity for Mickey to start on the path to healing. 

The enemies to lovers trope in here is obvious from the cover and the description, but what makes this better than just ok is both Mickey's very real and complicated struggles, but also Jaysen's ability to use his passion and ferocity on the ice but also be very different off the ice. Yes he is still passionate about taking Mickey down a notch, but he is also funny, soft, and invested in trying to make a relationship work. 

For those readers who like a good bro/enemies tussle to love interest book, this one is for you.

From the Publisher:

Seventeen-year-old Mickey James III is a college freshman, a brother to five sisters, and a hockey legacy. With a father and a grandfather who have gone down in NHL history, Mickey is almost guaranteed the league's top draft spot.

The only person standing in his way is Jaysen Caulfield, a contender for the #1 spot and Mickey's infuriating (and infuriatingly attractive) teammate. When rivalry turns to something more, Mickey will have to decide what he really wants, and what he's willing to risk for it.

This is a story about falling in love, finding your team (on and off the ice), and choosing your own path.

Publication Information:

Author: A.L. Graziadei

Publisher: Godwin Books (January 18, 2022)

Print length: 316 pages

Aniana Del Mar Jumps In

 

My Thoughts:

Ani is a 7th grade swimming prodigy, but Papi is the only one who comes to watch her. Ani would love to see her family in the stands, including Mami and her baby brother, but Mami is haunted by the ocean, so even if Ami is only in the pool, the two of them are keeping a secret from Mami. This secret, though, is literally destroying Ani's life. 

When Ani is debilitated with a mystery illness over the summer, not only is she not allowed to swim, but Mami makes her feel like the lying is her punishment for her illness. Ani wishes that she could speak up for herself and explain how swimming saves her and makes her feel free, but she does not want to hurt her mother, even if it hurting her instead. 

This novel in verse captures the physical and emotional pain Ani is going thorough by playing with poetry forms and concrete imagery. This was a powerful read full of waves of panic and pain, and hope. 

From the Publisher:

Aniana del Mar belongs in the water like a dolphin belongs to the sea. But she and Papi keep her swim practices and meets hidden from Mami, who has never recovered from losing someone she loves to the water years ago. That is, until the day Ani’s stiffness and swollen joints mean she can no longer get out of bed, and Ani is forced to reveal just how important swimming is to her. Mami forbids her from returning to the water but Ani and her doctor believe that swimming along with medication will help Ani manage her disease. What follows is the journey of a girl who must grieve who she once was in order to rise like the tide and become the young woman she is meant to be. Aniana Del Mar Jumps In is a poignant story about chronic illness and disability, the secrets between mothers and daughters, the harm we do to the ones we love the most—and all the triumphs, big and small, that keep us afloat.

Publication Information:

Author: Jasmine Mendez

Publisher: Dial Books (Mar 14, 2023)

Victory. Stand!: Raising My Fist For Justice

My Thoughts:

This graphic novel is reminiscent of the three graphic novels by the late Senator John Lewis, March. Taking place in a similar time, Dr. Smith's childhood in poverty as the son of a sharecropper is interspersed with the lead up to the 1968 Olympics in Mexico where Smith and his teammate John Carlos stood on the winner's podium after their track victory and raised their gloved hand in protest as the American flag was raised. This is an iconic photo usually seen in college history books with Smith and Carlos sharing one pair of black leather gloves. 

What needs to be learned from this book, and that is not talked about enough, is the backlash that these athletes received because of this silent protest. Although it is not true that their medals were stripped from them, when readers understand how these athletes were treated, then it is easier to understand why Kapaernick has never played in the NFL since his own silent protest.  This is a great time for this graphic novel to come out. Despite our seeming lack of progress in social equity and anti racist movements, despite our overturning of rights and our continued segregated schools, we need to find hope in these stories that the fight continues. 

From the Publisher:

On October 16, 1968, during the medal ceremony at the Mexico City Olympics, Tommie Smith, the gold medal winner in the 200-meter sprint, and John Carlos, the bronze medal winner, stood on the podium in black socks and raised their black-gloved fists to protest racial injustice inflicted upon African Americans. Both men were forced to leave the Olympics, received death threats, and faced ostracism and continuing economic hardships.

In his first-ever memoir for young readers, Tommie Smith looks back on his childhood growing up in rural Texas through to his stellar athletic career, culminating in his historic victory and Olympic podium protest. Cowritten with Newbery Honor and Coretta Scott King Author Honor recipient Derrick Barnes and illustrated with bold and muscular artwork from Emmy Award–winning illustrator Dawud Anyabwile, Victory. Stand! paints a stirring portrait of an iconic moment in Olympic history that still resonates today.

Black-and-white illustrations throughout

Author: Tommie Smith, Derrick Barnes

Illustrator: Dawud Anyabwile

Publisher: Norton Young Readers

Pubication date: September 27, 2022

Dragon Hoops

 

Gene Luen Yang, author/illustrator of American Born Chinese, Boxers and Saints, and Superman Smashes the Klan is, in my opinion, the most important Asian American graphic novelist on the scene today. He follows in the footsteps of Stan Sakai, creator of the Usagi Yojimbo universe and he brings his minority lens forward in this sports biography to honor the diverse players and coaches of the Bishop O'Dowd high school 2015 men's varsity basketball team in Oakland, California. At the time, Yang was also a high school math teacher at O'Dowd so this is also part of his story as the team heads to the state championships. 

What I found most fascinating about this book, besides the whole sports drama of it all is that at one point, his wife becomes his conscience, the fourth wall of the comic panels are broken and we get to see inside the many artistic and writing decisions that Mr. Yang makes to tell this story. Like he says, this season is Googleable, but it is in the choices he makes, revealed in a bit of inner dialogue as well as in the end notes, that make this intriguing.

On a side note, now that I have gone to reading electronic versus paper books, I slowed down on my graphic novel reading because the size on the iPad is a little too small for me to read text without zooming and then I do not see the whole page. However, I just received an iPad Pro 12.9 inch screen, so added to the Libby library app, this was my first library graphic novel read on this device and it is the perfect size. I am definitely going to go back to my online public library to gather more graphic novels, especially as we lost all of our Borders Books and most of the Barnes and Noble stores in Hawaii are also closing.