Title: the Absolutely True Diary of a Part-time Indian Author: Sherman Alexie Art: Ellen Forney page number: 230 Publisher: Little Brown and Company Intended audience : either 14-16 year olds, or noooooobody!!!! (depends on where you stand on censorship) Link to Barnes and Noble You must not read this post. This post is about The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian. This book has been banned at least 17 times since its publication in 2009. This book has many subversive topics. The protagonist confesses that he masturbates (something that has probably hurt the author in recent times), he shares his views on Christianity that will not please everyone. You must not read this post, this post talks about how the reader enjoyed this book. The reader had watched Smoke Signals and enjoyed it. With a good film like Smoke Signals where loss, coming of age and getting over grudges is brought up. Being a Native American is something that is put as part of the protagonists growing up. You must not read about how Ellen Forneys art style is whimsical and feels like something a young man would be doodling. Especially don't look at how it complements the tone of the story. Don't see at how it reinforces certain ideas or even showcases parts that the author took pride in. Whatever you do do not look up the author and think about the recent controversy regarding him and the #me too movement. Do not look at how the character of Arnold "Junior" Spirit went from a school on the reservation to a white school in search of a better future. Do not compare how his pursuit of a better future led to him feeling guilty about leaving his friends, hence the "part time Indian" in the title. Do not compare how his guilt yet persistence is reflected by him denying assault claims but by publicly apologizing for anyone he may have unintentionally hurt. Do not look at how his honest confession while defending himself is like the character displaying himself with flaws as well as talents.
Do not read the story about a young man who fought, do not compare it to how he is still fighting.
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This will be my final blog for this semester. I really enjoyed this activity. Although the suspense of not knowing whether I am meeting the professors expectations are a little bit annoying. I can say that this is overall a wonderful experience. I was surprised at how helpful the other students were to me. I was expecting some backlash for controversial books like Sherman Alexie's "The Absolutely true Diary of a Part-time Indian" but the feedback I got was much in agreement. The only thing I felt I disagreed on was a reader misinterpreting a cheeky way of encouraging people to research the author as advising people not to research the author. In the future if I am to make a controversial statement I will have to stop and make sure that this is something I am ready to defend to the end. I need to make sure this is something I not only feel like I can stand for, but feel like I can defend it without falling to name calling and using any logical fallacies. The books that I will conclude with are books about a personal passion of mine. I love drawing and making stories for comics and cartoons. I chose the book Adventures in Cartooning: How to turn your doodles into comics by James Sturm, Andrew Arnold and Alexis Frederick-Frost. Adventures in Cartooning: How to turn your doodles into comics by James Sturm, Andrew Arnold and Alexis Frederick-Frost. Publication date 2009 length 112 pages intended audience 4-10 year olds This comic is for people who like to draw but are self conscious about how their drawings look. This comic is for people who think about their work so much they fall into analysis paralysis. I enjoyed how there was a page that said "If you could draw the following figures" then you can make the adventure. The story begins with a princess in a tower who has gone missing. Then there is knight chasing a dragon. I found this a great set up to show the twist that the knight going after the dragon is the princess. I enjoyed the pictures of the horse doing shenanigans such as eating candy and hanging on to the tree like a cat. I can see girls who are into equestrian activities really connecting with the protagonist of this book. I like how the lesson would sneak in. Even though the end had drawing lessons, this felt like an adventure comic. My only critique is that it just started at the beginning, there needs to be more. Apparently the authors felt the same way because there are more in the series such as Adventures in Cartooning Characters in Action and Adventures in Cartooning Christmas Special. One book that I would like to compare it to is a book I would recommend for that young lady several years later. For seniors in high school and freshmen in college I would recommend Making Comics: Storytelling Secrets of comics, manga and Graphic novels. Author: Scott McCloud Publication date 2006 length 264 pages intended audience Senior High and college students. Making comics is seen, by many, as an essential to making comics. It is a sequel to the 1993 book Understanding Comics but is also stand alone. This looks at the philosophy of making comics. It talks about how to evoke emotion, how drawing things a certain way can be helpful or hurtful depending on where the eye of the reader goes. And there is a way to have the reader follow the panels in a certain direction. This book is for an older audience because it has many wordy lectures and exhaustively puts in examples from comics all over the world. It not only incorporates superheros but Manga and European comics, as well as slice of life comics from everywhere. In conclusion, Adventures in Cartooning is for the person who wants to draw a comic but is too afraid to begin. It has an unlikely protagonist in a princess and her horse which helps bring home the point that anyone can make cartoons not just the stereotypical nerdy boy. Scott McClouds Making Comics is a philosophical look at comics. It brings in research from all over the world, it is for the advanced comic book creator, even if they still are a lady who loves horses.
My last post covered the battle between investors over a comic book company in the 1990's. I was planning to cover a book that could be considered to be the companion book, even though it covers a different industry. I was thinking of showcasing the book The Death Of WCW by R.D. Reynolds and Bryan Alvarez, which chronicled the battle between wrestling shows WWE and the WCW. The reason why I changed my mind was because I came across a book that was better aimed at the youth market. The book I will be covering is WWE Official Annual 2018 with no discernible author. It contains 80 pages. I cannot tell who the audience is and will go into more detail as the blog progresses. When I picked up this book I was hoping it would help me understand televised wrestling in its current state. I went as far as hoping it would get me interested in the show much like Death of WCW got me interested in the show during the 90's. This did not. I have trouble figuring out who this book is aimed at. Many of the activities appear to be aimed at younger audiences. There are crossword puzzles, mazes and spot the difference pages. I would think that this is aimed at a younger audience. I also see that the writing has big words such as "igniting, supremacy and underhanded." One set of words that really jumped out to me was the description of Charlotte Flair where her bio has the words "Genetically Superior Athlete" which may be a title but comes off as being in very poor taste of words. Even though it is mostly pictures I found myself overwhelmed by how many facts and bios and different leagues and champions are going on. It may show the problems of televised wrestling even better than it does being a gateway to wrestling or an activity book for young fans. One book that I can compare it to is the book Ultimate Fighting: The Brains and Brawn of Mixed Martial Arts by Patrick Jones, published by Millbrook Press and is 64 pages in lenght. This book established right away why people enjoy MMA (Mixed Martial Arts) by asking the reader what would happen if a boxer fought a wrestler. After establishing the concept of MMA it goes into the history of the sport. It starts with ancient Greek art of "pankration" then brings up fighting legends like Bruce Lee and the Gracie family. It even covered a fight between Antonio Inoki and Muhammad Ali, which could technically be considered the worlds first MMA match but explained how the lack of structure made the match confusing and boring. I was impressed by how Patrick Jones would bring up moments steeped in controversy but would not take a side. For example, Jones brought up how the Jean Claude Van Damme movie Bloodsport provided inspiration but did not go into detail about the controversy over the movie claiming to be a biography about the martial artist Frank Dux while many people believe Dux was, and still is a fraud. If you would like to know more, I posted a video from a youtuber who goes into detail about the many things wrong with Fran Dux's story. The book continues by showcasing the most celebrated fighters and a summary of the best matches. I will admit I found myself glossing over these, but would go back to it when my father watches a fight and I would like to pay attention, even though I know very little about it. So my only criticism of the book is that I wish it had more photos. All in all, I feel this was a superior book to WWE Annual 2018 where the other felt like it was trying too see what sticks, I felt that Patrick Jones knew he was going for a pre-teen audience who knew nothing or little about MMA and would teach them about it.
The book that I am going to blog about is for a much older audience. There is nothing explicit or disgusting about it but there is a lot of jargon and can easily get boring. Why then should I write about this book? Well I have been trying to put off this book for a long time, but it continues to resurface in one way or another. The book is Comic Wars by Dan Raviv.
Right away you can see that the books artist has a good idea of the characters from the Marvel Universe. The book is made to look like a comic book, showing the two protagonists Carl Icahn and Ron Perelman. Captain America and She-Hulk look concerned while Wolverine sneers at the evil looking bankers with glowing eyes and dollar symbols. All the while Spider-Man delivers a punch line to the audience.
As I stated earlier the book drags a lot in the middle. If this were to be an activity book for youth, even older youth like junior and seniors in High School, I would recommend making a cliffs notes version of all but the first and last five chapters, or even try to make illustrations of what is going on. Dan introduced the book by having small descriptions of the characters and would show one page spreads of comics to help illustrate the sense of the chapter.
This is an important book because the comic book industry is suffering. You may not believe that considering how profitable the movies are, but the comic book sales are declining. It is like they are different worlds. Many creators are separating and starting their own comics or their own comic businesses. So far the successful ones bring up this book and how this has helped them not make the same mistakes over again. Also if you read this book you will see the name Avi Arad, who had the crazy idea of making the comic properties into movies, you will see his name in the credits of every movie even one I saw today, Venom.
Many people think they understand the comic book industry. When I was reading this my father told me the true hero of this story is Stan Lee. I didn't have the heart to show him the blurb on the back from Stan explaining that he gained a new understanding from it even though he was in the midst of it all. Although this is not intended for Youth, I think this could be an excellent teaching material to anyone who aspires to get in the comic industry (art classes.) This is good for anyone who wants to run a lucrative business (business class). There is even a lot of Hebrew and Yiddish vocabulary in the story because the main characters are Jewish (American History with a focus on the Jewish experience.) This book is potential. I am posting a link to a series I consider to be a sister series to help understand the industry behind comic books.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aQ2KzcSD1pE&t=55s
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November 2018
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