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3.74 AVERAGE
3.74 AVERAGE
3.5 rounded up. Caveat: I have an extreme anti-unicorn bias that made this book challenging for me. I just really hate the infantilization of millennial women via unicorn culture and by extension, I hate unicorns. And this didn't have quite the same punch in its emotional range as the original comics. But still, a delightful and fast-paced read.
Noah’s first chapter book! Started reading a chapter or two daily with him and finished it just before his 4th birthday.
Lo que más me ha sorprendido de este libro es la capacidad que tiene la autora para transmitir espíritu de los comics a una novela.
adventurous
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
An alright read really picks up in terms of pacing and excitement in the second half, but the book falls flat at points which is likely due to the transition from comic books to a middle grade story. Just read the comics
I really like the Lumberjanes comics and so do our readers at school so I really wanted to enjoy this novelisation. Sadly I'm not convinced that the quirky, at times arch humour transferred as well to the longer textual format. At times the story was laboured and the book definitely dragged in the middle. The plot itself (finding some smelly unicorns and a mythical mountain) wasn't exciting enough to sustain my interest, let alone a younger reader's and although I did enjoy the deeper exploration of some of the characters' personalities I still feel that this is done neater and with more lightness of touch in the comics.
I'm a massive fan of the Lumberjanes graphic novels, and this prose with a few illustrations book is a delightful addition to the Lumberjanes canon. They're such great fantasy adventure books for kids. The plot of Unicorn Power! isn't groundbreaking amongst Lumberjanes stories, but it's fun and cute. This is more of an April story, but each girl in the Roanoke cabin shines.
adventurous
funny
lighthearted
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I know the target age group for Lumberjanes is, like, tweens... but I unabashedly love this series and the characters
I received a free copy of this at NYCC 2019. Many thanks to Amulet Books/ABRAMS.
Where was the Lumberjanes franchise when I was a kid?
The characters are wonderfully realized. Each child is so specifically drawn, they could be no one else. You can tell who is speaking the dialog before the narration tells you. They are that distinct. They are also very representative of so many types of people. Each Lumberjane has different interests, energy levels, home lives, strengths, weakness...you name it.
The story is good but not great. Typical tween hijinks with weird happenings and freaky encounters. It's all made enjoyable if you like the characters.
My one gripe is that the narration has a habit of telling the reader how things are. "She decided to do X because people should be like Y. It's just better that way. Obvi." I don't know if that's standard in middle grade books, but to me it's annoying. The girls and their kind, generous actions speak for themselves. The examples they set seems more than powerful enough to get kids thinking about healthy ways to interact with the world. The narration telling me afterward how to think just seems like a pile-on. Then again, I'm not the target audience, so YMMV.
Overall I wish things like this had existed when I was a kid. Girls of all types getting to wacky adventures was not a thing in media 30 year ago. Glad to see today's kids will have better reading options.
-S
Where was the Lumberjanes franchise when I was a kid?
The characters are wonderfully realized. Each child is so specifically drawn, they could be no one else. You can tell who is speaking the dialog before the narration tells you. They are that distinct. They are also very representative of so many types of people. Each Lumberjane has different interests, energy levels, home lives, strengths, weakness...you name it.
The story is good but not great. Typical tween hijinks with weird happenings and freaky encounters. It's all made enjoyable if you like the characters.
My one gripe is that the narration has a habit of telling the reader how things are. "She decided to do X because people should be like Y. It's just better that way. Obvi." I don't know if that's standard in middle grade books, but to me it's annoying. The girls and their kind, generous actions speak for themselves. The examples they set seems more than powerful enough to get kids thinking about healthy ways to interact with the world. The narration telling me afterward how to think just seems like a pile-on. Then again, I'm not the target audience, so YMMV.
Overall I wish things like this had existed when I was a kid. Girls of all types getting to wacky adventures was not a thing in media 30 year ago. Glad to see today's kids will have better reading options.
-S