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Guest Post: Raina Telgemeier on Fairy Tale Comics

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Today we’re excited to have a short interview with Raina Telgemeier, as part of the blog tour for Fairy Tale Comics, which we reviewed on Friday. Do you know how fun it was to be asked if we wanted to interview Raina? We dug her take on Rapunzel and we were excited to ask her more about it. If you want to see what other contributors to the book have had to say about their art, you can see who else is talking and where they’re talking here. 



How did you become involved in the project? Were you approached by the editor and pitched a particular fairy tale, or did you select it yourself?
Editor Chris Duffy asked if I wanted to adapt Rapunzel for the book. It was a pretty easy decision.

What inspired you most with the source material of Rapunzel? When was the moment you knew how to approach the story?
One of the versions of Rapunzel I read included the detail about her mother being pregnant with her, and craving the rapunzel plant growing in a neighbor’s garden. That seemed very human. I like gardens and plants and vegetables (although I don’t have much of a green thumb myself), so weaving them into the story made sense. Logistically, the trickiest part was figuring out a way to avoid violence and death–which I realize is an important part of many fairy tales. But I just don’t have a taste for it.

Do you go for art first or story first? What’s your process?
For me they come together, as thumbnails. I knew I was working with an 8-page template, so I spent a few days reading over the various versions of the tale Chris sent, highlighting and rearranging my favorite elements from all of them, and then sat down and thumbnailed it all in a couple hours on a Sunday afternoon.

What challenges, if any, did you encounter writing such a short story compared with your long-form graphic novels?
With short stories, it’s all about compression. Most of the Rapunzel tales cover her birth, her childhood, and then the more dramatic events when she is a teenager. Some also jump ahead in time to Rapunzel living in the woods with the twins she and the prince have conceived. Distilling that all into a satisfying short was challenging, but I liked being able to strip away all the unnecessary components. Like most fairy tales, the story has a bone structure that works.

What fairy tale re-tellings or interpretations have you loved, in comics form or not?
We had various versions of fairy tale books and records and such around my house; my favorite thing was a German board game called Enchanted Forest, which had little game pieces shaped like pine trees, and each one had a tiny round illustration of a different fairy tale on the bottom.
I’m a Disney girl through and through, and with the exception of Sleeping Beauty and Cinderella, I love all the fairy tales they’ve adapted (those two leave me a little cold). However, I avoided re-watching Disney’s version of Rapunzel during this project, because I didn’t want to be too influenced by it.

If you were to create another fairy tale in comic style, which would you choose, why would you choose it, and what “twist” would you add to make it all your own?
Maybe Jack and the Beanstalk. Endlessly tall stalks and a castle in the clouds sound like fun to draw.

What’s next for you?

I’m working on a companion to my first graphic novel, Smile, called Sisters. That will be out in September of 2014.

Links of Note: 9/21/13

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Let’s put James Franco on all the covers.

So we’re more than half-way through September and I don’t know about you, but I didn’t realize that until the moment I began typing this. I’m still thinking it’s May.

Here’s a roundup of some of the things that have caught my eye in the last couple of weeks that I think are worth reading — and if you’re looking for a good laugh, make sure you click the link under the Franco cover above because I laughed until I hurt.

  • Here’s one for the bloggers/social networking folks: why successful networks breed good ideas. A lot of good food for thought on how and why writing and sharing on the internet are positive things. 
  • Librarian Valerie Forrestal wrote an excellent piece about redefining success in one’s career, particularly in a field like librarianship where honors and recognition can be contentious things. But this isn’t just for librarians. This piece has fantastic advice for anyone who works. 
  • Speaking of longer reads requiring some digestion, there’s this post by Foz Meadows about what mechanics we use when choosing our next reads. But more than that, it’s a musing about representation and browsing for books, particularly in brick-and-mortar stores. As I said, not light reading but certainly worthwhile. 
  • Are you reading YA Interrobang? It’s a weekly online magazine started by Nicole of WORD for Teens, and it’s fantastic. New issues are on Sundays — put it on your weekly reading rotation. 
  • Next month I’ll be posting a review of Robin Wasserman’s latest YA book The Waking Dark, but I wanted to share this great interview she did with Entertainment Weekly. Specifically, I found the discussion of how dark is too dark in YA was interesting. It got me thinking about how dark is too dark (I don’t think that exists) but more than that, whether or not my own expectations of dark are impacted by genre distinction. I read Wasserman’s book as straight-up horror, so I expected darkness. But would I feel that way if I hadn’t read with my perceptions of darkness and horror in mind?
  • Liz Burns has a great post about sexism and technology and how we possibly introduce girls into both. 
And if you’re in or near Austin, Texas next weekend, you should come out to the Austin Teen Book Festival. I’ll be there, and Kimberly likely will be, too. 

Dual Review: Fairy Tale Comics edited by Chris Duffy

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Kelly’s Thoughts


I’m not a huge fan of fairy tales. I like them well enough, but there’s little that compels me to pick up a fairy tale retelling — a good hook or jump off the tale can do it, though. And Fairy Tale Comics, edited by Chris Duffy, has a fantastic one: it’s a graphic collection of shortened fairy tales that span from your well-known stories to those which are far less well-known. Even more compelling is the fact this collection involves work from a lot of well-known artists in the comic world whose other works I’ve either enjoyed or are familiar with.

In other words, this isn’t just any re-made fairy tale comic book. It adds something entirely new.

All of the art is stylistic to the artist, as are the ways that they spin their fairy tales. These are shortened versions of the stories, so it is interesting to see what was kept in and what was removed — or what was swapped around all together.

Gigi D. G. did a spin on Little Red Riding Hood that was subtle but which made me fall in love with the way the story was told — rather than have the lumberjack be male, as it’s traditionally presented, it’s a female in this version. My favorite in the entire book in terms of art was Gilbert Hernandez’s Hansel and Gretel. Though I didn’t love it at first, I warmed up to it because it’s really funny. The expressions on the faces are excellent, and the use of color is really dynamic. The final page is perhaps where it shines the most: we see the kids shoving the witch in the oven, and there’s a great juxtaposition of the bright, candy-colored images with the house burning down, with red and black. It’s almost jarring, but in a way that’s funny.

I was a fan of Raina Telgemeier’s take on Rapunzel and I really liked the new-to-me fairy tale by Luke Pearson, The Boy Who Drew Cats. Even though it was unfamiliar to me, I found myself enjoying the read AND the art — one didn’t outshine the other. Graham Annable’s take on Goldilocks and the Three Bears surprised me in a positive way, being wordless and just as effective a story without the words to tell it. Even those who might not be familiar with the tale (little kids) would completely understand it by art alone.

What makes Fairy Tale Comics enjoyable is that even those stories and interpretations that didn’t work for me were quick and when I lost interest in a couple of them, I didn’t feel bad skipping them. This collection has some misses, but other readers may find what I consider a miss to be really stand out. The book is perfectly appropriate for very young readers, as well as those who are older.

Kimberly’s Thoughts

This collection is worth reading even if you only read The Boy Who Drew Cats. In fact, after I finished it, I made my boyfriend stop what he was doing and read it immediately so he could experience its joy. It’s so different from the other mostly Grimm and Perrault tales and completely refreshing. Also, very very funny. (Its author/artist, Luke Pearson, is also the creator of the 2012 Cybils finalist Hilda and the Midnight Giant, another supremely weird and weirdly funny little graphic story that I enjoyed quite a lot.)

The other stories, as in most collections, were hit and miss for me. While there’s certainly an enormous amount of creativity here, I was a little disappointed by how straightforward some of the tales were. By that I mean they followed very closely the storyline most readers are accustomed to, without a new twist to make them a bit fresher. The art is almost uniformly outstanding and interesting, but I wish there had been a little more oomph to the stories themselves.

I compare these stories to Nursery Rhyme Comics, the previous collaboration by graphic storytellers edited by Duffy. By necessity, authors/artists had to be a bit more creative when interpreting the rhymes, since the rhymes themselves were frequently nonsensical and didn’t have a built-in story. It was interesting to see how the artists could draw the rhymes to give them a story (or not). By contrast, most of the authors in Fairy Tale Comics stuck to the traditional stories you’ve likely read before.

That said, the graphic format may make the stories fresh enough for most readers anyway. There are a few writers/artists who took things a little bit sideways, making them more their own. (The female lumberjack is a good example.) And as Kelly mentioned, it’s a great collection for young readers who may come to many of these stories with new eyes, never having read them anywhere else before.

Fairy Tale Comics will be available on Tuesday. Review copy provided by the publisher. 

Time Traveling Teens

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Time travel is huge in YA fiction right now. If you know my reading tastes at all, you will understand that I am not sad about this. Buzz about forthcoming books indicates that the trend is only set to strengthen in the coming months and years.

I’ve collected a list of books published within the last year or so, as well as upcoming titles, below. Several are sequels, which points to the trend’s ongoing popularity. All descriptions are from WorldCat or Goodreads. Are there any I’ve missed? Any you’re particularly excited about?

Recent Titles

 
Unremembered by Jessica Brody: A girl, estimated to be sixteen, awakens with amnesia in the wreckage of
a plane crash she should not have survived and taken into foster care,
and the only clue to her identity is a mysterious boy who claims she was
part of a top-secret science experiment. Kimberly’s review

Vortex by Julie Cross: Despite his heartbreak at losing the love of his life, Holly,
nineteen-year-old Jackson throws himself into his role as an agent to
Tempest, the shadowy division of the CIA that handles all
time-travel-related threats, but Eyewall, an opposing division of the
CIA, puts the lives of both Jackson and Holly at risk again. Sequel to Tempest. 

Sapphire Blue by Kerstin Gier: Sixteen-year-old Gwen, the newest and final member of the secret
time-traveling Circle of Twelve, searches through history for the other
time-travelers, aided by friend Lesley, James the ghost, Xemerius the
gargoyle demon, and Gideon, the Diamond, whose fate seems bound with
hers. Sequel to Ruby Red.

My Super Sweet Sixteenth Century by Rachel Harris: While on a trip to Florence, Italy, Cat Crawford travels back in time to
the sixteenth century where she meets her ancestors, falls for an
aspiring artist, and becomes the target of an unwanted suitor.

The Cydonian Pyramid by Pete Hautman: Tucker Feye and Lah Lia each hurtle through time, relating their stories
in alternating viewpoints that converge at crucial moments. Sequel to The Obsidian Blade. Kimberly’s review

Erasing Time by C. J. Hill: Eighteen-year-old twins Taylor and Sheridan are pulled into the future
and must find a way to stop the evil government from using the time
machine again. Kimberly’s review 

Infinityglass by Myra McEntire: From the moment the Hourglass group violated the rules of the space time
continuum to rescue a murdered loved one, time has been in flux. People
from other centuries slide into our time, intruding into our space,
threatening our world. Frantically seeking a way to turn back this tide,
the Hourglass begins a search for the legendary Infinityglass, tracking
it to the city of New Orleans, a place where the past rests easily with the present. Conclusion to the Hourglass trilogy.

Kissing Shakespeare by Pamela Mingle: Although her parents are renowned Shakespearean actors, Miranda’s
performance in a school play is disastrous. But before she can get away
to hide, Stephen, a castmate, whisks her to sixteenth century England to
meet–and save–the young Will Shakespeare.

Timekeeper by Alexandra Monir: Bewildered by a new student at her Manhattan high school who does not
know her but seems to be Philip Walker, her lost love from her time
travels, and threatened by Rebecca, who has held a grudge against her
family for 120 years, sixteen-year-old Michele Windsor seeks help in her
father journals and The Handbook of The Time Society. Sequel to Timeless.

 

Dark Destiny by M. J. Putney: Tory and her friends receive an urgent summons, leading the young mages
known as Merlin’s Irregulars to ask Rebecca Weiss, an untrained telepath
from 1940, to join them in 1804 and stop Napoleon from invading
England. Third in Dark Mirror series.

Time Between Us by Tamara Ireland Stone: In 1995 Evanston, Illinois, sixteen-year-old Anna’s perfectly normal
life is turned upside-down when she meets Bennett, whose ability to
travel through space and time creates complications for them both. 

All Our Yesterdays by Cristin Terrill: Em must travel back in time to prevent a catastrophic time machine from
ever being invented, while Marina battles to prevent the murder of the
boy she loves 

Forthcoming Titles

Emerald Green by Kerstin Gier (October 2013): Since learning she is the Ruby, the final member of the time-traveling
Circle of Twelve, nothing has gone right for Gwen and she holds
suspicions about both Count Saint-German and Gideon, but as she uncovers
the Circle’s secrets she finally learns her own destiny. Conclusion to Ruby Red trilogy.

Time After Time by Tamara Ireland Stone (October 2013): Told from his point of view, continues the love story of Bennett, a time
traveler from 2012 San Francisco, and Anna, sixteen, of 1995 Evanston,
Illinois, as they try to make their relationship work despite his fear
that it is not meant to be. Companion to Time Between Us.

Timebound by Rysa Walker (October 2013): When Kate
Pierce-Keller’s grandmother gives her a strange blue medallion and
speaks of time travel, sixteen-year-old Kate assumes the old woman is
delusional. But it all becomes horrifyingly real when a murder in the
past destroys the foundation of Kate’s present-day life. Suddenly, that
medallion is the only thing protecting Kate from blinking out of
existence.

Timestorm by Julie Cross (January 2014): Sequel to Vortex and conclusion to Tempest trilogy.

Unforgotten by Jessica Brody (February 2014): After a daring escape from the scientists who created her, Seraphina and
Zen believe they are finally safe from the horrors of her past only to
discover that new threats await them. Sequel to Unremembered.

The Eighth Guardian by Meredith McCardle (February 2014): It’s
Testing Day. The day that comes without warning, the day when all
juniors and seniors at The Peel Academy undergo a series of intense
physical and psychological tests to see if they’re ready to graduate and
become government operatives. Amanda and her boyfriend Abe are top
students, and they’ve just endured thirty-six hours of testing. But
they’re juniors and don’t expect to graduate. That’ll happen next year,
when they plan to join the CIA—together. But when the graduates
are announced, the results are shocking. Amanda has been chosen—the
first junior in decades. And she receives the opportunity of a lifetime:
to join a secret government organization called the Annum Guard and
travel through time to change the course of history. No cover image yet.

The Fifty-Seven Lives of Alex Wayfare by M. G. Buehrlen (March 2014): For as long as
17-year-old Alex Wayfare can remember, she has had visions of the past.
Alex is desperate to find out what
her visions mean and get rid of them. It isn’t until she meets
Porter, a stranger who knows more than should be possible about her,
that she learns the truth: Her visions aren’t really visions. Alex is a
Descender – capable of traveling back in time by accessing Limbo, the
space between Life and Afterlife. Alex is one soul with fifty-six past
lives, fifty-six histories. No cover image yet.

September Debut YA Novels

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Ready for this month’s debut YA novels? We’ve been keeping track of debut novels throughout the year, and you can get to past roundups by starting in our August post and working backwards. 

A note about the definition of the word “debut.” I am strict in applying it — these are first-time works by first-time authors, unless otherwise noted. I don’t include first-time YA works by authors who have published in other categories. I don’t include YA authors who have changed their names (I’ve seen a number of lists including books that are by authors who have published in YA previously but who are writing under a pen name or have married and changed their publication name). The books included are debuts in the truest sense of the word.

If I am missing a debut novel by a traditional publisher out in September, let me know in the comments. All descriptions are via WorldCat unless otherwise notes. 

Not a Drop to Drink by Mindy McGinnis: Sixteen-year-old Lynn will do anything to protect her valuable water source, but the arrival of new neighbors forces her to reconsider her attitudes.

Relativity by Cristin Bishara: If Ruby Wright could have her way, her dad would never have met and married her stepmother Willow, her best friend George would be more than a friend, and her mom would still be alive. Then she discovers a tree in the middle of an Ohio cornfield with a wormhole to nine alternative realities. But is there such a thing as a perfect world? What is Ruby willing to give up to find out?

Thin Space by Jody Casella: Consumed by guilt and secrets about his twin brother’s death, Marsh Windsor is looking for a thin space–a place where the barrier between this world and the next is thin enough for a person to cross over–in hopes of setting things right.

Find Me by Romily Bernard: When teen hacker and foster child Wick Tate finds a dead classmate’s diary on her front step, with a note reading “Find me,” she sets off on a perverse game of hide-and-seek to catch the killer.

Project Cain by Geoffrey Girard: Fifteen-year-old Jeff Jacobson learns that not only was he cloned from infamous serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer’s blood as part of a top-secret government experiment, but there are other clones like him and he is the only one who can track them down before it is too late.

The Paradox of Vertical Flight by Emil Ostrovski: When, on his eighteenth birthday, Jack Polovsky’s almost-suicide is interrupted by his ex-girlfriend Jess’s call saying she is in labor, he impulsively snatches the baby and hits the road with his best friend Tommy and Jess to introduce baby Socrates to Jack’s aging grandmother.

All Our Yesterdays by Cristin Terrill: Em must travel back in time to prevent a catastrophic time machine from ever being invented, while Marina battles to prevent the murder of the boy she loves. 

Leap of Faith by Jamie Blair: Seventeen-year-old Faith shepherds her neglectful, drug-addicted mother through her pregnancy and then kidnaps the baby, taking on the responsibility of being her baby sister’s parent while hiding from the authorities.

Relic by Renee Collins: After a raging fire consumes her town and kills her parents, Maggie Davis is on her own to protect her younger sister and survive best she can in the Colorado town of Burning Mesa. In Maggie’s world, the bones of long-extinct magical creatures such as dragons and sirens are mined and traded for their residual magical elements, and harnessing these relics’ powers allows the user to wield fire, turn invisible, or heal even the worst of injuries. Working in a local saloon, Maggie befriends the spirited showgirl Adelaide and falls for the roguish cowboy Landon. But when she proves to have a particular skill at harnessing the relics’ powers, Maggie is whisked away to the glamorous hacienda of Álvar Castilla, the wealthy young relic baron who runs Burning Mesa. Though his intentions aren’t always clear, Álvar trains Maggie in the world of relic magic. But when the mysterious fires reappear in their neighboring towns, Maggie must discover who is channeling relic magic for evil before it’s too late. (Description via Goodreads). 

This is How I Find Her by Sara Polsky: High school junior Sophie has always had the burden of taking care of her mother, who has bipolar disorder, but after her mother’s hospitalization she must learn to cope with estranged family and figure out her own life.

A Wounded Name by Dot Hutchison: A reimagining of the world and story of Hamlet–from Ophelia’s perspective and set in an American boarding school.