Firebreather (Story Written by Phil Hester, 2010)

Genre: Fantasy

Honors: None yet, new movie

Review: Duncan seems like a normal teenage boy.  He lives with his single mother, goes to high school, and dresses like a typical teenager. Unexpectedly his father, a huge fire breathing monster called a Kaiju, crashes a teen event, literally, and takes him to an underground world where he explains that Duncan is no ordinary boy.  Duncan has special powers such as the ability to breath fire and, despite his small size in comparison to his father, is destined to protect the world and keep peace between the Kaiju and the humans and at the same time try to find peace and acceptance within himself. 

Opinion: I was looking forward to this one; the commercials made it look awesome.  The animation did not disappoint, but the story itself felt a bit flat and predictable.  I think the best part of this film is the graphics and the action scenes.

Ideas: This would be great inspiration for graphic arts classes. 

Daria (Created by Glenn Eichler Susie Lewis Lynn, 1993-1997)

Genre:Contemporary

Honors:None Found.

Review: Daria is a cynical, intelligent, and strangely likable teenager that spends most of her time feeling superior to most of her classmates.  She has a very popular sister, Quinn, and the two are so different they are constantly getting in each other's way.  Jane, Daria's best friend, is a talented artist and is equally fed up with the status quo.  Each episode of this animated series shows Daria in a teenage situation and includes a creative array of teenagers and the adults that torment them. 

Opinion: This is hilarious! Daria is witty and rude, but I love her.  While I think I'd have to be teenager to truly enjoy her angst, it is not wasted on adults.  Teens, especially, those that do not consider themselves part of the "trendy" group will relate to Daria and her comedic situations. 

Ideas: Have a Daria costume contest.  Who can look most like the real Daria or Jane?  (Nerd glasses are in style right now, Daria would fit right in!)

Token by Alisa Kwitney and Joelle Jones

Genre: Graphic Novel

Honors: None Found

Review: In this black and white illustrated novel Shira, 16-year old girl, attends a Jewish High School in Miami Beach, Florida.  She has a lot of trouble fitting in and spends most of her free time with her grandmother, and her elderly, yet spunky best friend Minerva.  Shiras’s already difficult life becomes more problematic when her father starts dating his secretary and shows no patience or understanding towards his daughter and her feelings about the relationship.  As an outlet for her frustrations Shira starts shoplifting and spending romantic time with a young man from Spain named Rafael.  Sadly, Shira's father dismisses his daughter's emotional difficulties and decides to marry his girlfriend and move Shira away from her home and her grandmother and Minerva. Shira's story will resonates with teenagers and the relationship between Shira and her father will engage teens that also feel misunderstood by their parents. 

Opinion: This was high-quality graphic novel with an interesting story. 

Ideas: This is a great graphic novel to recommend to teen girls that have difficulty getting into Manga because it reads left to right and follows the formula of a problem novel.