{"id":144,"date":"2017-03-20T18:17:00","date_gmt":"2017-03-20T18:17:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/writingya.com\/?p=144"},"modified":"2018-11-20T05:44:57","modified_gmt":"2018-11-20T05:44:57","slug":"cybils-finalist-review-mighty-jack-by","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/writingya.com\/?p=144","title":{"rendered":"Cybils Finalist Review: MIGHTY JACK by Ben Hatke"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Synopsis<\/b><\/i>: I was a big fan of Ben Hatke’s previous Cybils winner Zita the Spacegirl<\/i> (reviewed here<\/a>), and Mighty Jack<\/i>–a Cybils finalist this year for Elementary\/Middle Grade graphic novels–was a very fun reimagining of the Jack and the Beanstalk story. It’s got lots of action and adventure, with imaginative killer plants and monsters and a dragon, and a strong female sidekick for the hero. It also definitely leaves things open-ended and ready for Book 2, so don’t fret that you’re left hanging at the end! There will <\/i>be more to this story…<\/p>\n

Observations<\/b><\/i>: I like how this story depicts the idea of Jack and his family being poor in a modern setting rather than a fairytale one. His mother is working two jobs, and Jack is tasked with caring for a sister with challenges. He buys the magic seeds at a flea market. It’s a very creative and intriguing reinvention of a familiar story. I like that there’s a homeschooled friend, too\u2014at heart these are all characters whose stories aren’t shown as often, placed into the context of a story we all know. I sort of wish there wasn’t such an abrupt ending to Book 1, though–as mentioned above, readers are kind of left hanging. That always vexes me a little when I don’t have the sequel immediately at hand.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n
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Art-wise, I thought this one was wonderful! The pacing of the visuals vs. the dialogue was, in my opinion, perfect, and lends a lot to the storytelling style. The book was chock full of appealing characters and monsters, and I liked the scratchy-pen quality of the illustrations.<\/p>\n

Conclusion<\/b><\/i>: I honestly think you could hand this to any kid, especially fairy-tale fans–the balance of humor, fantasy, and adventure is perfect, and it isn’t too scary for younger readers.<\/p>\n

I received my copy of this book courtesy of the publisher. You can find MIGHTY JACK<\/i><\/a> by Ben Hatke at an online e-tailer, or at a real life, independent bookstore near you!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Synopsis: I was a big fan of Ben Hatke’s previous Cybils winner Zita the Spacegirl (reviewed here), and Mighty Jack–a Cybils finalist this year…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[11,2,31,12,32,44,14,5],"class_list":["post-144","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-adventure","tag-af","tag-cybils","tag-fantasy-sci-fi","tag-graphic-novels","tag-humor","tag-middle-grade","tag-reviews"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/writingya.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/144","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/writingya.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/writingya.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/writingya.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/writingya.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=144"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/writingya.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/144\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9251,"href":"https:\/\/writingya.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/144\/revisions\/9251"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/writingya.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=144"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/writingya.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=144"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/writingya.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=144"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}