The Flying Beaver Brothers graphic novel series

Brothers Ace and Bub, distinguished only by the stripes on Bub's shorts, are two fun-loving beaver brothers that are hardly on the same page. Ace, the talented adventurous beaver brother, is showing off for Bub, as he takes a nap while guarding Ace's surfboard.

To both of their surprises, two evil penguins come and snatch up the surfboard! This sends the brothers on a mission to retrieve it, since the surfboard competition is the next day. Evil penguin meetings held in refrigerators, confusions over penguins and puffins, and even more shenanigans make up this first volume.

Throughout the monochromatic tones of the book, these brothers are goofy and fun. Similar to the Lunch Lady series, this is definitely great for younger crowds. There is enough text to keep them moving along, especially once the brothers discover what the penguins have in store for them.

This is only the first in the series,with four graphic novels so far. I can't wait to see what our kids think of it!

The Ghost Prison by Joseph Delaney

Billy Calder was dealt an unfortunate hand in life. An orphan, Billy was forced to get a job at age 15 simply because he wanted to prepare himself for getting out of the Home for Unfortunate Boys.

He is late to his first shift with Adam Colne, the night manager of the local Castle Prison. Though Billy had already has his training, he was not aware that he would become a night watchman. Someone had specifically asked for him during the evenings--Long Neck Netty. Colne warns him of the ghost prisoners, the ones who were executed for being witches or criminals, and how they terrorize the regular prisoners...and staff.

Billy is given a harsh warning to never enter the Witch Well. In it resides a monster unfathomable, in which Colne and Colne alone must feed, due to the danger of the witch. This warning is ignored when Colne is out sick, and the gateskeeper is too much of a coward to feed whatever is in there.

Fast paced and quick to read, this 98 page book is somewhat predictable as far as ghost stories go.The illustrations add to the story by showing the spooky atmosphere of this 17th century England world. Some of the illustrations don't fit the description of the characters (our protagonist is described as having curly hair, when is definitely sporting a Bieber hair-do), but they overall add much more meat to this otherwise tiny story.

This book also contains chapters. I really, honestly, could not tell you why. It seems like it should just be one tiny, long book, and that would be okay. The suggested age range for readers of this book is 12-16 years old, but I honestly think it's just for the subject matter alone. There is a gruesome scene that not even I was expecting! It's written at the level of a third or fourth grade student.

All in all, The Ghost Prison is a quick, fun spooky read, with the biggest twist happening at the end. Maybe save it for October, and ease on in to the spooky books for Halloween.

Happy New Year!

2014 came in with a mild clang in my household this year. The biggest change is in my self; I'm more determined, focused, and excited than I've been in a very long time. I thank my new husband for this; he's so encouraging and supportive of my creative and professional efforts, of which I have MANY. His is to branch into a creative field he's never done before (which I'm sure he will do so successfully), and mine is laborious and would take a whole other blog to describe.

I think I'm also going to reevaluate my Folio goals. My new priority: master the art of covering a book with the CoLibri machine. The first time I tried it, with the CoLibri lady present, piece o' cake. By myself? With a donated book? HA. It wound up covered and everything but it looks a little goofy. Just, slightly goofy, but enough that only I could notice.

Another is to make sure I take care of my tasks on time. I like to think I'm fairly decent about this, but I have a stack of book review magazines I need to get moving on, Bluebonnet party plans/decor, then good old Valentine's decorations, plus this, that, and the other thing. And then reading the books. Actually finishing them. I'm terrible at finishing things if I can't get into them, but I'm bound and determined to be better than the kids at this.

As long as we're going through unofficially official goals, my other one is to move more. Everyone has that yearly resolution to lose weight or become more active. I've decided since I spend a lot of my days at work, obviously, I should start using my time in a more efficient way. Getting up at least every 30 minutes, wandering through the shelves, making sure things are generally taken care of.

I'm also trying to reteach myself Adobe Premiere. This is annoying and challenging. Ugh.

Overall, I know 2014 will be an amazing year. I will continue to work with great people, stretch myself professionally, academically, and creatively, and strive to be the happiest Christine I can be.