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Cover of PRESENT, STILL MISSING

PRESENT, STILL MISSING

by his family and his little town of Midland Valley. But it isn’t long before cracks begin to appear: The persona of the cheerful and easy\u002Dgoing Daddy Irene remembers increasingly seems like an act Mr. Bracken is trying to maintain, and underneath this mask is an angry and frightened man, someone whose experiences in the war have wounded him in invisible ways. While the narrative largely follows Irene as she goes about the normal activities of a young girl in a small town, it also returns regularly to the unavoidable reality that Mr. Bracken is fighting an inner battle—and largely losing it. “We’d have been better off if he’d never come home,” Irene’s friend MaryEllen says at one point about her own ex\u002Dsoldier father. “At least then Momma would have a check from the gov’ment.” Irene’s worries reach a peak when her father opts for electroshock therapy, and Mach’s decision to narrate these tense and dark events from the perspective of a young girl ends up paying off wonderfully. Irene is innocent but tough (“I hope he feels the sear of my gaze,” she thinks about a boy in her class who’s just assumed the class girls won’t play in the upcoming baseball game, “because I am ready to broil him in hot flames”)\u003B readers will immediately bond with and relate to her, even when she’s privately her suffering father’s harshest critic."⭐ 4.8/5(4)

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Cover of PUMPKIN AND BEETLE

PUMPKIN AND BEETLE

by curious creatures\u003B their elementary school classmates include a mummy, a pumpkinhead, a witch, and a wolf. When Pumpkin and Beetle spot a comic book they want to buy in the town bookshop, they realize they need to earn money to buy it. A brainstorming session ensues, and they finally settle on selling crabapples. That idea is a bust (“I can find crabapples in the forest!” one of their prospective customers tells them), so they make various entrepreneurial pivots to create a more exciting product, eventually cooking up some rather burnt crabapple muffins. These, too, are a flop, and Pumpkin and Beetle are close to despair, but a timely barter just might be the solution to their conflict. An enjoyable exercise in persistence, problem\u002Dsolving, and happy compromise, this graphic novel features succinct text, ideal for readers of many skill levels, while the cartooning is more sweet than spooky. One of the friendly recurring characters is a floating, silently supportive pink ghost cat named Boo—an especially adorable addition. A glimpse into the comic that Pumpkin and Beetle are obsessed with purchasing and a presumably yummier apple muffin recipe round out the book."⭐ 3.7/5(45)

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