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Tween Tuesday: Zita the Spacegirl by Ben Hatke

Tween Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted here at GreenBeanTeenQueen to highlight great reads for tweens. Join the fun and your link below!

Rating: 4/5 Stars

Genre: Graphic Novel/Science Fiction

Release Date: 2/1/2011

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About the Book: When Zita and her friend come across a meteor, the find a red button remote. Of course, curiousity gets the best of Zita and she pushes the button, sending her best friend to another planet. Zita soon follows and embarks on a journey in a strange new world to save her friend.

GreenBeanTeenQueen Says: I read a review of Zita the Spacegirl on Betsy Bird's blog and knew I had to check it out. Zita is a great new addition to middle grade graphic novels and I can't wait to start booktalking it. Zita reminds me a bit of The Wizard of Oz, Gregor the Overlander, and Astro Boy all rolled into one and set in space. Zita's adventures are exciting and fun and she meets a great cast of unique characters along the way.

One thing I love about graphic novels is the way the artist can connect the reader to the characters and portray emotion in a powerful way. Ben Hatke excels in that and there were characters I grew to love in this short graphic novel. I hope there are more of Zita's adventures to come.

The artwork reminds me a bit of Kean Soo's Jellaby, one of my favorite middle grade graphic novels, and I'm always a sucker for full color when it comes to graphic novels! The artwork is colorful and detailed and packs a lot of emotion into the small frames. There's lots of adventure in Zita's stories, so if you have fans who like adventure and outerspace, be sure to hand this one over.

A great new middle graphic novel-add this to your reading list if you work with tweens!

Book Pairings: Jellaby by Kean Soo, Amulet by Kazu Kibuishi, Flight: Explorer edited by Kazu Kibuishi, Gregor the Overlander by Suzanne Collins, The Search for WondLa by Tony DiTerlizzi

Full Disclosure: Reviewed from copy I checked out from my local library

Comments

  1. Great review!

    I'm also a sucker for the full color graphic novels, and this looks like a great one!

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  2. Nice review! We don't have many graphic novels, but I think the kids might like them. I'll have to keep an eye out for this one. Thank you.

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  3. I really want to read this, but the libraries in my area don't have it yet, and I'm too stubborn to buy it! It looks really great; thanks for the review.

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  4. This is stuck in "catalog hell" at our library and I am waiting for it! Thanks for the review.

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  5. Catalog hell? Noooooooo!!!!

    Karen, If you can get your library to pick it up I'll mail you a tiny Zita watercolor!

    -Ben Hatke
    http://letflythecannons.blogspot.com

    ReplyDelete
  6. Lawral-I love full color!

    Small Review-Yes, keep an eye out for this one and give it to your tweens-I'm sure they'll love it!

    Katie-I hope you get your library to order this one-it really is a great addition to the tween graphic novel collection.

    Karen-Ugh-I hate that-especially with books I'm eager to read.

    Ben-Thanks for commenting! I hope we have more of Zita's adventures to look forward to!:)

    ReplyDelete
  7. hey guys i'm gonna use my comment space to get out an idea i had,
    "book character of the month" it would be a monthly thing hosted on the blog i share with my sister, the inkwell (please check it out) and we would pick a character every month and then all would be free to write whatever they wanted about them, a editorial of sorts. all you would do is post in on your blog during the month and link up to us, and i might make a button for you all.
    anyways, just wondering if that sounds cool, or if any of you would be interested, or if it even makes any sense. please let me know here or at our blog www.thewell7.blogspot.com.
    please let me know, thanks!
    LF
    P.S. I'm thinking Prim Everdeen from Hunger Games for the first character.

    ReplyDelete

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