Art Club

Art Club Dare to Create was published on February 6, 2024. The story was inspired by the author’s own childhood and paints a picture of an aspiring young artist on a mission to prove that the arts are worth fighting for. The book was written with 8 - 12 year olds in mind.

The publisher's summary:

Dale Donavan has heard the same lecture over and over again: Art will get you nowhere in life. A kid with a creative streak, Dale wants nothing more than to doodle, play video games, and create comics forever—maybe even as a full-time job one day. But between his grandfather pushing him to focus on his studies and a school with zero interest in funding arts programs, Dale feels like his future has already been decided for him. 

That is, until he comes up with the perfect plan: What if he starts an after-school art club, gathers a team of creative students like himself, and proves all the naysayers—his stubborn vice principal in particular—wrong? This might just work, but if the club isn’t financially successful by the end of the semester, the school with shut them down. This may be Dale’s only chance to show the adults in his life that a career as an artist is not just a dream but a possibility! 

The club doesn't get going until the halfway point in the story. The first half sets up the reason it was created as well as all of the obstacles that were put in the kids' way. The main obstacle is Mr. Ruffins, the school vice principal. He tasked the students with researching and writing a paper on a well paying career they are interested in. He hopes students will pursue math or science. Dale only likes reading comics so he takes a risk in writing his paper on the cartoonist field. This backfires on Dale but he convinces another teacher to sponsor an art club to show Ruffins that it can be profitable. If the club fails, Dale will flunk his class. 

The book teaches that there are many choices a student has to make before pursuing an art career. Dale is interested in becoming a comic book creator who does his own illustrations. Other students in the club like creating video games, drawing and fundraising. Their sponsor, Miss Jen'ae, begins with teaching the club members about different types of art and even takes them on field trips to art shows and comic conventions. Dale ultimately hopes that his school will resume teaching art classes.

Of course, there is a happy ending. Art Club is a fun read and is an ideal reading choice for a youngster interested in art. 5 out of 5 stars.

White Faced Lies

In China, local companies hire white (but not necessarily qualified) Americans to lend them credibility. Cons such as these, known as "face jobs", are instances in which Chinese companies hire foreigners to pose as professionals to lend credibility during meetings, press conferences, and other events where "face" is paramount. This fictional account of one man's experience working in this industry is the subject matter of the book.

Veteran "face-jobber" Stanley Becker has been in China for ten years trying to earn money to build a ranch in China. When a young man, Jared, approaches him and explains that Stanley is his long-lost father, Stanley lets him tag along on jobs. Since some of these jobs are considered two man jobs by employers, Stanley had to find someone anyway to work with him who doesn't need the money.  Stanley needs the entire payment for these jobs in order to keep his ranch so he lets Jared pretend to be his assistant. There is just one problem though. A Chinese factory worker whose brother died from drinking tainted soda wants revenge from the CEO of the soda manufacturer. Stanley posed as this CEO on one of his jobs.

The writers, Eric Flanagan and Sam Voutas, are filmmakers. The book's plot was originally intended to be a movie script. When they realized that China was not a viable shooting location, they decided to make their story into a graphic novel.  It is a funny, fast read that shows how much research they did into this industry.

5 out of 5 stars.

Family Style

Thien Pham's debut graphic novel is a moving young adult memoir about his search for belonging in America. Thien left his native Vietnam at age five and together with his family emigrated to the U. S. His family spent several years in a refugee camp in Thailand before getting permission to travel to America. The family struggled both in the camp and in California where they began their new lives. 

Thien's first memory isn't a sight or a sound. It's the sweetness of watermelon and the saltiness of fish. It's the taste of the foods he ate while adrift at sea as his family fled Vietnam. Through each chapter of their lives, food takes on a new meaning. Strawberries come to signify struggle as Thien's mom and dad look for work. Potato chips are an indulgence that bring Thien so much joy that they become a necessity. Behind every cut of steak and inside every croissant lies a story. And for Thien Pham, that story is about a search - for belonging, for happiness, for the American dream. The story ends on a happy note with a fortysomething Thien becoming a U. S. citizen and registering to vote. 

The author originally published this memoir serially to Instagram. His artwork is done in traditional six-panel comic strip panels and he used Procreate to do the drawings on an iPad. The drawings are colored with a muted brown palette. If you loved Gene Luen Yang's American Born Chinese and Thi Bui's The Best We Could Do you will want to read Family Style.

5 out of 5 stars.

Night at the Belfry

James Ransom is 74, and a far cry from the tough young boxer he remembers from the 80's. Sick of growing increasingly powerless and reliant on others in his old age, James reconnects with a former trainer and hatches a possibly-fatal plan to regain the control he believes he's lost. He plans on training for a final boxing match during which he hopes to die. His trainer is searching for the right opponent while James trains. In the meantime, James' daughter is constantly checking on him and wonders whether he should be living in an assisted living facility. James wants to avoid that possibility at all costs.

As I advance in age I find myself liking stories about seniors more and more. There is no reason to accept crappy behavior from the younger generations and our hero James finds an interesting way to become stronger. After getting mugged on a train by a kid he gets up early one day to see if he runs into the kid again. James sees him on the street and punches him in the face but gets injured in the process. The important idea here, in my opinion, is that he gets his revenge.

The artwork is beautiful and I liked the cool toned purple and blue palette. Xavior Saxon not only wrote this engaging story but he also did the artwork. Night is his first graphic novel and I am looking forward to seeing what he brings us in the future.

5 out of 5 stars.

Sunburn

 Sunburn is Andi Watson's fourth graphic novel. Sunburn is a sweet, clean fiction story about 16 year old Rachel. Rachel is happy to have found a summer job at a butcher's shop where she will be mopping the floor and performing other mundane tasks. At the last minute her mother receives a phone call from her best friend Diane with an invitation for Rachel to spend the summer in Greece with her. Of course, Rachel decides to give up that summer job and take a free trip to Greece.

Rachel hasn't seen Diane and her husband Peter since she was a baby. However, she assimilated into the Greek culture swiftly and even made a friend. Benjamin is attracted to Rachel and she feels the same way about him. They spend most of their days and nights together getting to know one another. 

Sunburn has no foul language, violence or sex so it is appropriate for kids. The adults do alot of drinking and party every night. Rachel and Ben tag along with them. There is a mystery concerning why Diane invites a young person every summer to her home and Benjamin has something to do with it. I couldn't figure it out though. The story is illustrated in the blues and whites that you see in Greece which made the story more attractive to the reader.

This is a lovely story. 5 out of 5 stars.

Acting Class

Acting Class is cartoonist Nick Drnaso's third graphic novel. I had high expectations for the book as his earlier Beverly and Sabrina novels were excellent reads. When I saw the advertisement that said it was a follow-up to Sabrina I thought that it would be a sequel.  It wasn't.

The publisher's summary:

From the acclaimed author of Sabrina, Nick Drnaso’s Acting Classcreates a tapestry of disconnect, distrust, and manipulation. Ten strangers are brought together under the tutelage of John Smith, a mysterious and morally questionable leader. The group of social misfits and restless searchers have one thing in common: they are out of step with their surroundings and desperate for change.

A husband and wife, four years into their marriage and simmering in boredom. A single mother, her young son showing disturbing signs of mental instability. A peculiar woman with few if any friends and only her menial job keeping her grounded. A figure model, comfortable in his body and ready for a creative challenge. A worried grandmother and her adult granddaughter; a hulking laborer and gym nut; a physical therapist; an ex-con.

With thrumming unease, the class sinks deeper into their lessons as the process demands increasing devotion. When the line between real life and imagination begins to blur, the group’s deepest fears and desires are laid bare. Exploring the tension between who we are and how we present, Drnaso cracks open his characters’ masks and takes us through an unsettling American journey.

I was disappointed with the novel. It is not a straight fiction story like Sabrina and I was bored throughout the entire book. Also, it was hard to tell the characters apart because their faces sometimes looked similar. A female character looked like a male character at one point so when they began an improv exercise, it was difficult to tell who was working on their acting skills. The improv exercises were geared toward easing each character's shortcomings so when a few succumbed to fugue states, I was very confused. At the end I did not see any strings being tied up so what was the point of the book?

2 out of 5 stars.

Ballad for Sophie

Ballad for Sophie is a cute graphic novel about a fictional French pianist Julian DuBois. Born in the late 1920s Julian, the heir of a wealthy family, meets Francois Samson, a janitor's son, at a piano contest in Cressy-la-Valoise. Julian wins because his mother bribed the judges but Julian knows that Francois was a better player. It bothers him his whole life. Julian has phenomenal success and is adored in France, selling many records and playing to sold out crowds. He even meets Francois' wife and has an intimate affair with her. The plot then moves to 1997 with an old and bitter Julian meeting a journalist from Le Monde named Adeline Jourdain who wants to interview him. She arrives at his home, a huge mansion that he inherited from his mother, and prods him to talk about his life.  He begins to tell his story but when she reveals that she is Francois' daughter, Julian composes his first score, a ballad for her.

I enjoyed the book but it was a little boring in the middle. It was a beautiful story, though, and quickly picked up when Julian began to understand his accomplishments, failures and how to behave as a good person. The characters were fully developed which gave the story depth. It was a fun read that transported me to France in my comfy chair and I highly recommend for anyone who wants to relax for a while and forget the present.

4 out of 5 stars.

Olympia

Olympia is the sequel to The Grand Odalisque. Characters Carole and Alex are childhood friends who are partners in art theft crimes. They have been working together for nine years. With just a few days having past after their theft of the famous painting The Grand Odalisque at the Louvre, they are hired by a mobster to steal an ancient mask. With that theft completed they are then given their next assignment: to steal three paintings. Edouard Manet's Olympia is one of them. It is located in the Petit Palace in Paris. With the help of their mutual friend Sam the ladies begin planning the heist. Of course, they encounter several complications including the fact the Carole is nine months pregnant. They use modern technology and common theft how-tos to carry off the assignment. The English version of this graphic novel was published on March 1, 2022 by Fantagraphics.

It was easy to get back into the story from February 2021's The Grand Odalisque. The reader doesn't really need to know anything special from the earlier novel in order to follow the story.  The ladies were shadowed by the mobster's hit man, Antonio, as they planned and executed the theft. It was amusing to see them sexually harass Antonio and get no response from him. They used the same phrases that men use when they harass women. The howdunit of the theft was enjoyable. There were enough twists and turns to satisfy the mystery reader but the artwork is what made the Parisian setting extraordinary. The architectural line drawings let you know where the setting was located. 

All in all, Olympia was a fun read. I am rating it 5 out of 5 stars.

Flake

 

• Publisher ‏ : ‎ Jonathan Cape
• Publication Date:  April 2, 2020
• Language ‏ : ‎ English
• Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 176 pages
• ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1787330583
• ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1787330580

Flake is a graphic novel that celebrates ice cream. The story revolves around Howard Grayling, a second generation ice cream vendor. He runs his deceased father's territory in the northwest England town of Dobbiston. Howard sells ice cream from his van. He begins to notice a sharp downturn in business and soon realizes that a competitor named Tony Augustus, Howard's half-brother, is trying to take over his territory. Tony's business has been expanding all over the Northwest as he pushes other ice cream vendors out of business. If he can get Howard's territory, Tony will be the only vendor in the region. Howard gets help from his friends in the Dobbiston Mountain Rescue Team to overcome all of the obstacles in his way. Flake is Matthew Dooley's debut graphic novel.

What an enjoyable read! It is a light story that is appropriate for young readers. There are no sex scenes or dirty words. The artwork has been drawn in a whimsical style that matches the uncomplicated plot and is drawn in the usual comic strip format. All of the characters have round faces and stocky bodies. It makes them appear overweight but perhaps they are not. The story itself was fast paced. The characters are just as well developed as you would see in a fiction novel. I think a sequel is in order here.  It would be a shame to not hear from these characters again.

A fun read.  5 out of 5 stars.

Swine

    Publisher: ‎Humanoids, Inc. 

    Paperback: ‎120 pages

• Publication Date: 10/5/21
• ISBN-10: ‎1643376047
• ISBN-13:‎ 978-1643376042
• 
  
• Swine takes the cake. The story premise concerns a miracle that the biblical Jesus performed.  Two thousand years ago Jesus confronted the demon Legion in the exorcism of the Gerasene demoniac and cast them into pigs to drown in the sea. You can read about it in Mark 5:1. The author poses this question: what would have happened if every pig didn't drown as Mark tells us. Tyrone Finch imagines that a handful of the swine swam to safety and have spent the centuries planning revenge and causing a few random disasters along the way. His plot is certainly creative. Swine contains all ten issues of this miniseries and it is Finch's first comic.

The pigs are responsible for the sinking of the Titanic, the Hindenburg disaster and other disasters in history. Chasing down and killing these pigs are a man and woman team who are joined by the same tragedy. Ellis Rafferty spent seven years in prison after being wrongly convicted for the murder of his wife, minister Becky. He asserts that the pigs killed her. Now released, he seeks to avenge her death. Joining forces with Becky’s sister, Zoey, they hit the road to chase down and kill the pigs. 

While the story is a little far fetched, it was entertaining. The graphics were beautifully drawn by Mauricet and colored by Lee Loughridge in those bright colors that I love. I must say that the pigs were amazingly drawn with every type of facial expression that there could possibly be. They are agile and can fly through the air when they want to attack a human. That old adage that when pigs fly . . . comes true in Swine. Each release begins with the traditional culinary drawing of the pig which shows where certain cuts of pork come from the body. It is a true devotional for the consummate pig lover.

5 out of 5 stars.

The Delicacy

James Albion's The Delicacy is a fictional story about the restaurant industry told in graphic novel format. Set in the world of flashy restaurants, this story of greed and ambition comes with a macabre ending as rare and delicious fungi spell trouble for two brothers who are running a restaurant. 

The story opens with Tulip and his brother Rowan having left the simple comforts of their remote Scottish island with a plan to grow succulent, organic vegetables in an idyllic market garden, and to open a restaurant serving these wholesome culinary delights to the busy sprawl of London. However, the world of fine dining seems impossibly competitive until they discover a delicious new species of mushroom. The dish brings diners in droves, catapulting their small restaurant to success beyond their wildest dreams.  Pressured by the demands of a hungry city, Tulip decides to crack the secret of their new ingredient's growth. But just how much will he sacrifice to feed his own insatiable ambition?

I was not expecting this comic to be so suspenseful. If it wasn't for the graphics, I would call it a cozy mystery. It has a perfect mystery plot with fast pacing. The Tulip character surprised me. His ambition seemed to be unbelievable. I don't think new restauranteur's would want to expand their business as fast as Tulip. However, the stress he endured created more and more suspense for the story. The ending was unexpected and I am still not sure how I feel about it. I was wanting something else while I was reading but I guess karma finally found its way to Tulip.

I LOVED The Delicacy and highly recommend it. 5 out of 5 stars.

Saga #55

Saga is back! After reading the newest Saga release, number 55, I had to go back to an old edition in order to remember where the story left off 3 years ago. I didn't recognize any of the characters. This was an easy adjustment though and then I re-read #55. There is no recap of the story at all here. It just starts off running in a new direction. I must say that I did not remember a ton of foul language or explicit sexual drawings in earlier editions of this comic. Note, though, that the pages of release 55 are filled with graphic sexual illustrations. 

The story itself was interesting. Marko and Alana's daughter Hazel is now the main character. After stealing a record, Hazel is chased through the streets of a new planet with her sidekick Bombazine. Together they plan on selling a nutritious baby formula in order to support themselves. Of course, they are plagued by cops, terrorists and pirates.

As you may have already heard, Marko was killed off at the conclusion of #54. We did not know whether he would survive an attack against him or not until now. He was a great character and I will miss him. Alana survived the attack, however.  The next release in this comic will be on February 23, 2022. I think we all are looking forward to it.

We Only Kill Each Other

Comixology has issued three releases to date of the We Only Kill Each Other comic by Stephanie Phillips. I have read all three. The 4th comic will be released on February 15, 2022 and the 5th on March 15, 2022. It is a gripping story about Nazi Party sympathizers in the United States before the beginning of WWII as well as the Jewish gangsters who oppose them. The story takes place in 1938 New York City and is based on actual events. Dark Horse will publish a paperback containing all five comics on April 19, 2022. I am planning to buy the paperback because this is a story that I will want to read over and over.

Levi Solomon and Jonas Kaminsky are Jewish gangsters. Jonas is a rising small time gangster who is embroiled in a turf war with Solomon and Solomon is an old time mob boss with millions of dollars tied up in gambling and booze. However, they have something in common. They both hate Nazis. Jonas is tasked with attending rallies held by Nazi sympathizers to stir up trouble and trouble seems to always find him. The Jonas character is the protagonist. We read about his life experiences with anti-semitism including being told he cannot play baseball because he is Jewish.

The comic reads like a traditional mystery novel. Each release ends with suspense and I hate having to wait another month for the next installment to be published. If you haven't tasted this comic yet you may want to wait until the paperback is published. It will be a joy to binge read the entire story.

Roofstompers

Roofstompers is TKO Short Limited Edition #8. TKO issues 3 short comics every quarter and Roofstompers is from their September 2021 release. In this comic, New York City surgeon Carrie Thurston tries to unwind from her stressful job by going on a hunting trip to Wind River, Wyoming. However, she does not find any relaxation. Carrie is assaulted by a wild bear and taken in by an elderly couple who live in the woods. Adelei and Seraphine are helping her recover from her physical wounds but as the weeks go by, Carrie suspects that they are not what they seem to be. They have strange visits every night from what they call the roofstompers. The story then turns into sci-fi.

This comic is only 20 pages long but it still has a complete plot. There were many surprising twists and turns and each page forwarded the story using both dialogue and drawing. The eerie atmosphere added even more to the comic. I enjoyed the color scheme for the artwork. Ian MacEwan did both the drawing and coloring for the comic. The passage of time is shown through the use of colors. They show each of the seasons and one page can have more than one season on it. 

Simply fabulous!  5 out of 5 stars.

The All Nighter

The All Nighter is a comic book series by Chip Zdarsky and Jason Loo. It is the story of four vampires who operate an all night diner. The vampires look like humans but they never age. The third installment of this 5 ebook series will be published next week on November 30, 2021. In February 2022 a print edition of the series will be published that contains numbers 1 through 5 of the series. It is a fabulous story and the author is talking with Amazon Studios to develop The All Nighter into a movie. Per the Head of Content for Comixology, Chip Mosher, the story is about the importance of found family and the dangers of pretending to be someone other than who you are.

Alex, Joy, Cynthia and Ian have agreed to blend into human society by operating the diner. It is only open from sunset to sunrise. The group is not allowed to go out in public because they do not want humans to know that they exist. Alex, however, is bored flipping burgers and is dying to get outside and be himself.  He dreams of being a superhero. Joy is a woman trapped in a child's body who wants to be seen for what she is. Cynthia is a former high powered business executive who wants the respect that the used to command. Ian is the leader of the group and he just wants a simpler life. Their identity remains secret within the restaurant and all of them try to not give in to their thirst for blood. 

The comic is a fun workplace comedy as well as a superhero epic. Two police officers are regular customers and they offer some smiles with their own comedy act. Alex, who loves superhero movies, decides to go outside during his shift, don a cape and start fighting bad guys. Unfortunately, his trip gets noticed by The Takers, an organization that will kill any vampire who becomes noticed by humans. Ian and Cynthia do their best to hide Alex's activities when they are visited by Frankenstein from The Takes. 

A great read!  5 out of 5 stars.

Tunnels

Rutu Modan is one of my favorite comic writers. Tunnels is her 4th graphic novel to be published. She also teaches at Bezalel Academy of Art & Design in Jerusalem.  In Tunnels we read about a race to find the Ark of the Covenant in underground tunnels on the Palestinian side of Israel. When a big antiquities collector is forced to donate his entire collection to the Hebrew University in Jerusalem, Nili Broshi sees her last chance to finish an archeological expedition begun by her father decades earlier. She believes that the dig will locate the Jewish Ark of the Covenant, the most important artifact in the Middle East. Motivated by a desire to reinstate her father's legacy as a great archeologist after a rival accepted the tenure her father earned, Nili gathers a ragtag crew to help her: a religious nationalist, her traitor brother and her childhood Palestinian friend. As Nili's father slips further and further into dementia, warring factions close in on and fight over the Ark. The author believes that the biblical Israel lies in one of the most disputed regions in the world, occupied by Israel and contested by Palestine.  Often in direct competition, Israelis and Palestinians dig alongside one another, hoping to find the sacred artifact which is believed to be a conduit to God.  

Tunnels is a great adventure story.  It delves into the world of Israeli archeology, the rivalry in academia and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.  As the author stated in her Afterword, Tunnels is the most complex story she has ever written. The story grabbed me from the beginning. I knew that it was fiction but everything seemed so real. Perhaps this is because the characters have both good and bad attributes, just like the rest of us. There are plenty of twists and turns in the story for mystery readers as well. In addition, there are a few subplots that add to the story.  For instance, Nili believes that a tablet uncovered by an antiquities dealer, who buys from ISIS, will uncover the place where the Ark is located. Someone has to be able to decipher what the tablet says, though. 

The pacing of the comic is perfect. It is a brilliant story with awesome illustrations by the author.  I am so glad that Ishai Mishory translated this book into English so that I could enjoy it.  Tunnels is a fabulous read.  5 out of 5 stars.

Home

I have just read Home #1 through #5 and it is fantastic. It is the story of a mother and son who leave Guatemala on foot and enter the U. S. illegally. Mercedes Gomez and eight year old Juan do not speak English and are surprised to find out the there is a new American president who has closed the border. When they left Guatemala two weeks prior, Obama was still the president. President Trump immediately changed the rules concerning immigration when he took office but Mercedes did not know about the rule changes. Throughout their first 2 weeks in America they were held in "the cage" as it was called. Later Juan was taken away and held with other kids. Shortly thereafter he was bussed to another location. Mercedes did not know where her son was taken and offered to return to Guatemala if she could get Juan back. However, she was told that it was too late. 

While this story was sad, it has its positive moments. Soon after arriving in the US, Juan discovers that he has supernatural powers. While living with an aunt he begins to learn how to control his power. When Juan finds out that his mother will be deported, his powers get out of control again and bring devastation to . . . I'm not going to tell you. If you haven't read this comic series yet, you need to get it ASAP. It is a great story.

Sweet Tooth Compendium

I was excited to get the Sweet Tooth compendium edition for my birthday last month. I had heard that this edition sold out on its publication date three months ago so imagine my surprise to receive it in the mail. Being late to comics, I hadn't previously read this story. The Compendium contains all 40 issues of the comic. The covers for each issue are also included in the book. 

Sweet Tooth takes place in a post-apocalyptic world where some of the characters are human/animal hybrids. The main  character is a young boy named Gus, a half human, half deer hybrid. He has antlers growing out of his forehead and is a chocoholic. Gus has been raised by his Bible thumping father in isolation after a manmade pandemic that began ten years earlier. When his father dies Gus is on his own. He soon meets Jepperd, a drifter who promises to help him. The two of them begin a journey into a devastated American landscape in order to locate The Preserve, a refuge for kids who are hybrids.  

The Compendium Edition, published by DC Comics, has been printed on semi-glossy paper. The pages are glued to the cover. I wish that it had been smyth-sewn because it's 915 pages will probably come loose. However, it was certainly put together better than my Saga Compendium, published by Image, and the GSM of the paper is higher.

This comic is going to look good on my bookshelf. I love to see these chunky books lined up in a row. I am rating Sweet Tooth 5 out of 5 stars.

Pound for Pound

Underground MMA fighter Dani Libra fears nothing except her recurring blackouts that obscure her bloody past. She is an immigrant from Mexico but when her sister is kidnapped, Dani must return there in order to find her. In the process she must shine a light on the darkness in her mind from the blackouts and keep her demons at bay long enough to save her sister.

Pound for Pound is a fantastic crime thriller with plenty of twists and turns. Dani is a badass woman with a zest for winning. She gets herself involved in many violent fights in order to get what she wants.  Dani is a great character. Her blackouts are primarily obscuring a violent crossing into the U. S. from Mexico that was undertaken when she was young. Her parents passed away in the crossing and Dani and her sister were luckily adopted by a stranger. 

This emotion filled story is complimented by the artwork. The reader can see Dani's emotions when she tenses her face, arms and legs and also when she has tears and blood flowing out of her mouth after being struck. The punches during the fights are also accentuated by the drawings as well as with the words "crack," "ugh" and "whack." 

There is some politicking here on the issue of immigration from Mexico into the U. S. that I don't think added much to the story. The main point of the comic is to tell a crime story. With several villains in Mexico featuring in the plot, the reader picks up enough about the current thoughts on Mexican immigration that we do not need narrative or dialogue on the subject.

Pound for Pound is a great read!  5 out of 5 stars. 

Sara

In the cold winter of 1942, the second winter in the siege of Leningrad, Soviet sniper Sara and her seven female comrades are fighting against the Nazi invaders. At this point in the war the Russians are losing the battle. As the fighting intensifies, Sara's squad wonders if they can survive the turbulence of war. As women they know what will happened to them if they are taken prisoner and all of them vow not to be taken alive. The women try to make headway in the war by effecting one kill at a time. Sara is the undisputed best sniper. She has become a legend in the minds of the Nazis, which the sniper team learned about from a German prisoner of war. The Germans say she has killed over 300 soldiers but Sara disputes the number. 

This is a classic war story. The book combines six issues of a comic by the same name and it is based on a true story. We see the horrors of war here with our heroine booby trapping dead Nazi soldiers with grenades. When the Nazis find these bodies they will turn them over, activating the grenade and killing themselves. It's an easy way for Sara's kill numbers to rise.  We also see the Sara character changing as the war continues during the year.  When the village that her family resides in is destroyed by the Nazis, she becomes totally focused on killing as many of them as she can. She becomes a ruthless and efficient killer. We also see Sara talking to herself as she focuses her gun on the Nazi soldiers that she plans on killing. She takes her time before firing to ensure that her position is not spotted by Nazi snipers and becoming a target herself. 

Sara is an impressive narrative of soldier's lives fighting for survival on the Eastern Front in WWII.  5 out of 5 stars.