Black Butler

TITLE: Black Butler I
AUTHOR: Yana Toboso
RELEASE DATE: January 2010
PUBLISHER: Yen Press
PAGES: 184 pages
GENRE: Graphic Novel
OVERALL RATING: 2/5
APPROPRIATE AGE: grades 9-12 (language)

SUMMARY: Sebastian Michaelis is the faithful servant to twelve-year-old, Ciel Phantomhive, earl to the Phantomhive empire. On his own, after his family was taken from him by a fire, Sebastian does everything for the boy, from bringing him tea, trimming the edges, to killing all his captors when the boy is kidnapped. How does he do it all? It is truly more than any human can handle, but it makes you wonder if Sebastian is truly human at all. 

FAVORITE QUOTE: "...I am a devil... of a butler." 
   

WHAT I LIKED: My favorite part was when Sebastian has gone to save Ciel and all the servants are sitting around useless because they don't know what to do without Sebastian. When Finn goes to the drawer to retrieve the silverware for dinner and notices everything is gone, except the spoons. Then the next panel shows Sebastian throwing knives and forks like daggers, killing all of the people shooting at him. 

WHAT I DIDN'T LIKE: The story was a little cheesy. The spoiled brat, Ciel, and the clueless servants, Baldroy, Mey-Rin, and Finnian, that ruin everything. Sebastian, the butler that does EVERYTHING in the house, then the servants completely screw it up. I'm sure it is at the same standards of other manga-style stories, but it all seemed superficial to me. It seemed to be lacking a storyline, I understand it is only book one in a series with over twenty books. So I'm sure the story plays out over time, but I really don't see myself picking up book two. 

READALIKES: Death Note by Tsugumi Ohba

STATUS IN MY LIBRARY: The Black Butler series is one of the most popular series in the Graphic Novel section of my library. When I came in, we had the first five, during my time here I have ordered another ten. They are always checked out. However, due to the extreme violence and offensive language, I question if they are appropriate for my 7-8 grade school. However, I haven't had anyone challenge them yet. 

SERIES UPDATE: Book XXII is to be released on May 24, 2016. 

BOOK TRAILER: This isn't a book trailer as much as a preview for the manga, posted on YouTube by a fan 

I Am Princess X

TITLE: I Am Princess X
AUTHOR: Cherie Priest
RELEASE DATE: May 2015
PUBLISHER: Arthur A. Levine Books
PAGES: 245 pages 
GENRE: Mystery, Adventure, Graphic Novel
OVERALL RATING: 5/5
APPROPRIATE AGE: grades 6-12

SUMMARY: May and Libby meet on the playground in the fifth grade where they first create Princess X. May writes the stories while Libby draws the pictures. Their friendship is one for the ages, until one day Libby's mom falls asleep at the wheel, driving the car off a bridge killing herself and Libby. Or so May was told. 

Fast forward three years when May begins seeing her Princess X all over Seattle, in pictures on sign posts, patches on kids' backpacks, etc. She is everywhere, but how could that be? She and Libby were the only ones who knew about Princess X. Unless Libby is the one creating it all. After this, May is determined to get to the bottom of Princess X, which leads her on an adventure she never expected: computer hacking, kidnapping, and murder. 

WHAT I LIKED: I first saw this book because it was chosen for the 2016 Texas Lone Star list. As a middle school librarian, I try to read all the books on the list before suggesting them to my students. When it came across my path through a Scholastic Book Fair, the cover caught my attention, who doesn't love a pink princess with a katana sword? But what I really loved about this story is that the cute princess was just the beginning! I read this entire book in one day, I could not put it down! There wasn't a single slow part in the entire story line. I can easily suggest this book to all my students, we just need to get the boys past the pink princess on the cover.

WHAT I DIDN'T LIKE: I enjoyed every part of this book, the only tiny, miniscule thing I can complain about is the ending. I felt it happened too abruptly. There was such building up, the characters running for their lives and then all of a sudden, everything is happily ever after. I felt there needed to be a little more details about what happened after.

BOOK TRAILER: I wasn't able to find an official Book Trailer for I Am Princess X. But because I found this book through the Scholastic Book Fair, I have included a link to the video that they use to advertise the book: Scholastic's I Am Princess X Book Trailer