Brown Girl Dreaming

Written by: Jaqueline Woodson

First line: I am born on a Tuesday at University Hospital/Columbus, Ohio,/USA--/a country caught/between Black and White.

Why you should read this book: This lovely, award-winning autobiographical novel in verse examines the difference between north and south, black and white, age and youth, freedom and oppression, family and stranger, and a hundred other dichotomies as seen from the eyes of a young girl. Little Jackie seeks to understand the past and find order in the present in order to grow into her own future. Great first person recollections of family relations, the civil rights movement, growing up, and finding oneself.

Why you shouldn't read this book: No sympathy for Jehovah's Witnesses.

Shutter Volume 1: Wanderlost

Written by: Joe Keatinge

First line: Can we go home now?

Why you should read this book: Kate Kristopher has given up the life of adventuring that she inherited from her father: she's tired of chasing and being chased by monsters while staring into the complex chasm of reality. Her twenty-seventh birthday is also the ten-year anniversary of her father's death, and all her plans to live the quiet life of a professional photographer are disrupted when she is attacked by a bunch of scimitar-wielding ghosts and a mechanical man while visiting her father's grave. Suddenly, everything she thought she knew about her family and her personal history is shaken, stirred and turned upside-down, and it doesn't seem to matter that Kate's given up the life, because the life is not about to give her up.

Why you shouldn't read this book: You expect your father's secrets to stay buried.

The Savage Sword of Conan Volume 18

Written by: Chuck Dixon et al.

First line: The Zamoran dawn sheds crimson tears of a rebellion met with doom.

Why you should read this book: Fighting, death, thievery, death, sex, death, magic, death, betrayal, death, monsters, death, and more fighting, and more death. I should probably feel guilty about how much I enjoy slipping into the world of Conan, a world in which one man defeats gods (sometimes on a daily basis) and survives impossible odds every single day. Conan lives by a code, and while it wouldn't get you or me very far in our world, in Conan's world it always makes sense and it always ends with Conan surviving.

Why you shouldn't read this book: You demand accountability in your fantasy fiction.

Bad Bears and a Bunny

Written by: Daniel Pinkwater

First line: Irving and Muktuk are polar bears.

Why you should read this book: If you appreciate Daniel Pinkwater's zany brand of storytelling, you will enjoy this utterly ridiculous tale of two bad zoo-dwelling polar bears who are not to be trusted, but are still, for some reason, allowed out of the zoo to attend private parties. An altercation with a small white rabbit leads to bodily harm and eventually to the bears accidentally behaving themselves for an entire night. Very silly stuff for kids who like silly stuff.

Why you shouldn't read this book: You don't have the sense of a humor of a seven-year-old.

Tell Me a Dragon

Written by: Jackie Morris

First line: My dragon is made from the sun and the stars

Why you should read this book: It's simply gorgeous. Every page showcases a different dragon and its human companion, along with a simple sentence describing that dragon. Very magical and lovely.

Why you shouldn't read this book: You don't want a dragon.

Zoozical

Written by: Judy Sierra

First line: One blustery morning when frosty winds blew, When families stayed home, and when field trips were few, The midwinter doldrums arrives at the zoo.

Why you should read this book: It's a book of upbeat silliness about cabin fever and the restorative power of music. The old trope of "Let's put on a show!" gets revived by a bunch of talented zoo creatures who realized that their seasonal affective depression can be cured by intensively rehearsing for a musical, which they perform before the human audience that had abandoned them when the weather became inclement. With bouncing rhymes and whimsical Marc Brown illustrations, it's a good read-aloud selection for little people.

Why you shouldn't read this book: You believe that zoos are immoral holding pens for helpless animals who should run free.

The Favorite Daughter

Written by: Allen Say

First line: Yuriko came to stay with her father on Thursday that week.

Why you should read this book: It's a wonderful examination of identity in young children, with intersecting themes of divorce, race, culture, and artistic integrity. When a blonde Japanese-American girl brings her baby picture into school, her peers' reactions force her to confront the binary aspects of her heritage. A seemingly unimaginative art assignment provides the catalyst for her father to help her figure out how to reconcile who she is with who the world asks her to be.

Why you shouldn't read this book: You rub your chopsticks.

Identity Crisis

Written by: Brad Melzer

First line: "Any idea what's in it?"

Why you should read this book: It's generally considered a game-changing comic, a murder mystery that recasts familiar characters in new roles and exposes the secret realities of public images. I picked it up because a lot of people seemed to be referencing it and I felt that I ought to know what revelations it contained, only to realize two-thirds of the way through that I had already read it, but that it hadn't made enough impact on me that I recalled any part of the story. It seems like a reader would have to be fairly well-versed in the nuances of the DC universe to take full advantage of this book.

Why you shouldn't read this book: You don't follow Justice League in any way.

Beautiful Darkness

Written by: Fabien Vehlmann and Kerascoet

First line: He's coming! He's coming!

Why you should read this book: I am obsessed with this anti-fairy tale about innocent little fairies whose world is turned upside down when they realize they have been living their lives inside a little girl, and that their host has died and is no longer conducive to housing fairies. Thrown out into the wilderness, Princess Aurora does her best to normalize the transition for her subjects, most of whom turn out to be far less altruistic than she. This book offers constant surprises, and while some have criticized the depiction of the fairies as too adorable, their actions and attitudes take the story far from the realm of fairy tale and into the brutish lair of horror. (I have a lot more to say about this book, and my article on the subject is forthcoming at Panels.net.)

Why you shouldn't read this book: You collect Precious Moments figurines or enjoy the comic "Love Is...."

Age of Reptile Omnibus Volume 1

Written by: Ricardo Delgado

First line: [This is a "silent comic" and the story contains no text.]

Why you should read this book: If you like dinosaurs, drama, and vast, sweeping splash pages, you'll love this meaty volume comprising 3 miniseries. The dinosaurs, while mute, exhibit recognizable expressions, motivations, and actions, creating 3 compelling story lines. I discuss this comic, and the strengths of silent comics in general, in more detail in this article.

Why you shouldn't read this book: Can't deal with common carnivorous behaviors like killing and eating your enemies, or just random other creatures that happen to be passing by.