Helena Hawoode Henry is brilliant in her choice of character names, words, and the book’s title, Last Chance Live!. She masterfully threads together the story of Eternity, a death row teenager waiting… Waiting in an interrogation room only to be “hoodwinked ‘ into confessions. Waiting for the opportunity to participate in the reality show that could save her life if, for once in her life, she wins. If only to visit what, Disneyland, a place that Eternity longed for—a place of belonging, happiness, and community.

Haywood Henry’s storytelling is both poetic and more like nonfiction. Inner-city dialogue and vivid descriptions make the characters real. One could almost shudder to taste the institutionalized prison food described. Because the writing wraps the reader into the story, when Eternity admits to committing a horrible crime, her humanity challenges the reader to examine oneself and ask the question, ‘Does my life have enough value to be forgiven?’

Spoiler alert: Last Chance Live! will leave readers longing for ‘the happy ending’. But true to the author’s style. And be sure to read the Author’s Note, which provides hope and a challenge to take part in change.

Review written by Sidney Frazier-Barker, edited by Kristi Bonds

Will Eisner: A Comics Biography, written by Stephen Weiner and Dan Mazur is about the man, the myth, the legend who created the genre of graphic novels devoured by millions today. The book begins with “Billy’s” immigrant parents meeting in New York City early in the 20th century. Racism, constantly moving to new homes, and financial struggles shaped his childhood. According to our authors, it was during Eisner’s childhood that literature diverged on two paths: respectable and the “pulps”. Eisner was introduced to the pulps by a neighbor. More fast-paced and perhaps more lurid, Eisner’s imagination took off in the form of sketching. To help his family during the Depression, he began selling newspapers, and in newspapers, he discovered the comics. A high school art class gave him the confidence to ask to work for his high school newspaper. This also led to a new friend who introduced him to the concept of selling his talents, putting out daily comic strips, and inventing comic books sold at newsstands. This was the beginning of Eisner’s fame.

Authors Weiner and Mazur enrich the story in unique ways. They detail exactly how comics were physically put onto a newspaper back in the day with printing plates. They display how Eisner and his fellow business partner shift from creating pulps to jumbo comics, including hiring more people and building a drawing system to keep production smooth, and knowing when to say no to a deal that took away the creator’s copyright of the work.

People recognized Eisner as a pioneer after he came back to his art in the early 1970s. Entire books with full-length drawn stories that bookstores didn’t have a name for were given the name “Graphic Novels”. Weiner and Mazur weave their words and drawings into a detailed biography of Eisner, using the ‘illustrated novel’ style that Eisner himself invented. Perhaps without realizing the irony, students who pick this up will realize that they are learning the ‘origin story’ of the genre. And if they make it to the end, they will see that Eisner’s success is because he chose to do what he loved.

The Secret Astronomers is a gift to the curious mind and the reluctant reader. Jessica Walker’s creativity will intrigue anyone who opens to the first page, a note: “Find the oldest book in the Green Bank High School Library. Hidden inside are the secrets that are being left behind forever. If you’re smart enough to figure out the message, then you have a right to know why a small town in the middle-of-nowhere West Virginia is the center of intelligent life in the known universe.” A mystery?, a science reference book?, a challenging puzzle?, extraterrestrials? crop circles? pages missing from the old book? page to discover sticky notes, 3×5 note cards, and scraps of paper taped on EVERY page. The adventure begins.

Two teenagers attending a high school in rural West Virginia carry on written conversations that are tucked into the yellowed pages of a book published in 1888, and identified as ‘the oldest book in the school library’. One has lived in Green Bank since birth, the other, new in town, having moved from San Francisco, to live with grandparents after a parent’s death.

The two writers are at the library at different times. They both have found the old book. They never divulge their real names. They share details of their lives sparingly. They try to solve the challenge taped to the first page inside the cover. They discover much about themselves and each other by writing the notes that they tuck into the pages of the old astronomy book.

Walker’s artwork, and possibly the publisher’s creative team, make this look like a very old textbook from a back shelf in the school library, complete with doodles on the page edges and notes tucked into random pages. But wait, the title on the cover has been blacked out and changed. Hmm, we wonder what it was before.

The story emerges slowly and comfortably, then, all of a sudden, the direction changes. Something unexpected. Soon after, something else is discovered that changes the trajectory several times, revealing different clues. 

Walker creates this feeling of eavesdropping on the lives of the two teens. Teen slang, witty drawings and doodles, and enough twists and turns to keep the reader engaged through to the end make this “novel in notes” an entertainingly good read.