Bill Bell, with text by Frederica Templeton
Smithmark
Fiction, YA Picture Book
****
Cat Hiss-Tory
Cat Hiss-tory: A Feline Tour Through the Ages
Bill Bell, with text by Frederica Templeton
Smithmark
Fiction, YA Picture Book
****
Cat Hiss-Tory
DESCRIPTION: Phineas T. Tiger offers a unique look at historic events and cultures from a feline perspective, told by Bell's illustrations and Templeton's words. From Cat Creation through modern times, from the Aztecs to the Chinese, Phineas tells all.
REVIEW: I admit to buying this one for the whimsical, imaginative illustrations that fall just sort of the Cute/Sap line. Well, that and the reduced price. That's also why Bell's name is listed first - this is primarily a showcase for his pictures, rather than a "history" book with his illustrations augmenting the text. The fact that this is listed as Fiction indicates the depth of the "history" outlined. What story there is seems to jump about; the pictures are more interesting. There are a few details that only older readers might appreciate, being familiar with the events described, but all ages should enjoy Bell's illustrated history book.
You might also enjoy
Heart of a Tiger (Marsha Diane Arnold, YA Picture Book - A kitten tracks a tiger in the jungle)
Catkin (Antonia Barber, YA Picture Book - A small cat must rescue a child from the fairy king and queen)
Comet's Nine Lives (Jan Brett, YA Picture Book - A cat searches for a home before he runs out of lives)
Star Cats: A Feline Zodiac (Lesley Ann Ivory, Picture Book - Illustrated zodiac featuring cats)
Snow Leopard (Jackie Morris, Picture Book - A magical snow leopard protects a village)
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The Jaguar Princess
Clare Bell
Tor
Fiction, Fantasy
****
DESCRIPTION: Young Mixcatl is abducted from her remote tribe and sold into slavery in ancient America. Though she has little memory of her previous life, other than an aptitude for drawing the beautiful Aztec hieroglyphs, she is very aware that she is unlike her captors. Her senses seem different, and at times she feels herself shifting into something inhuman, almost bestial. These shifts grow stronger and more dramatic, and harder to control Her secret heritage, rooted in the long-lost Olmec pantheon, is a threat to the local Aztec regime, where the Speaker-King has become obsessed with slaking the gory thirsts of the god Hummingbird-on-the-Left. Will Mixcatl's powers be enough to awaken the people to the bloody madness that their worship has become, or will she be sacrificed to feed the Aztec gods?
REVIEW: I liked this story, especially because it took place in ancient Mesoamerican cultures. It's nice to see something that's not dictated by the standard European/English quasi-medieval fantasy ideal. Of course, in school, I was always ticked off that the Americas were glossed over in history, as was pretty much anything not in Europe or the Mediterranean area (until 1492, that is.) Perhaps it's some sort of New World pride, or maybe it's residual rebellion from my school days, but I think the American civilizations are at least as fascinating as those cultures which were reviewed ad nauseum in history classes year after dull year. Bell establishes a believable pre-Columbian Aztec world. The plot moves at a fair pace, with intriguing characters and nice settings. Personally, I think it wants a sequel, but so far I haven't seen any sign of one.
You might also enjoy
City of the Beasts (Isabel Allende, YA Fiction - American teenager finds mystical adventure in Amazon Jungle)
The Maya: Life, Myth and Art (Timothy Laughton, Nonfiction - Mayan culture)
Catfantastic anthologies (Andre Norton and Martin H. Greenberg, editors, Fiction - Fantasy/sci-fi stories about cats)
Jake Ransom and the Skull King's Shadow (James Rollins, YA Fiction - Two modern kids swept into alternate world by Mayan artifact)
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Candorville: Thank God for Culture Clash
(A Candorville collection)
Darrin Bell
Andrews McMeel
Fiction, Comics
*****
DESCRIPTION: Lemont, an aspiring freelance writer, Susan, a Latina striving for success in the corporate world, and Clyde, a would-be rapper living the gangsta life, deal with problems from racism to politics to simply getting by in a crazy world in Darrin Bell's nationally-syndicated comic strip Candorville.
REVIEW: In a time and country where thinking and asking questions seem taboo, it's nice to see someone willing to point out the hypocrisies of all sides of today's hot-button issues. Unfortunately, being willing to say what some consider unspeakable means that Candorville's often the first comic on the chopping block in today's ever- shrinking, ever-less-funny newspaper comic pages. Funny and insightful, but not for the close-minded.
You might also enjoy
Welcome to Jesusland! (Formerly the United States of America) ("Landover Baptist Church", Fiction - Articles and stories skewering the hypocricies of right-wing ultraconservative Christianity)
Help is On the Way: A Basic Instructions collection (Scott Meyer, Comics - Witty observational humor)
Pearls Before Swine comic collections (Stephan Pastis, Comics - Twisted, astute humor)
Close Encounters of the Worst Kind: A Brewster Rockit collection (Tim Rickard, Comics - Sci-fi humor)
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