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A Librarian Takes on the Book Riot Read Harder Challenge: Read an All-Ages Comic, Task 1

18 Jan

This year I decided to follow the Book Riot Read Harder 2017 Challenge. I said the same thing about the 2015 and 2016 challenges but didn’t succeed. But this year I’d like to complete the challenge! Sharlene has inspired me with her Dewey Decimal Challenge, so like her, I will write about the books I read here for the Book Riot Read Harder Challenge to hold myself accountable.

I set the barrier for entry low by choosing to complete the “Read an all-ages comic” task first. I recently became aware that Jem and the Holograms have been revived in comic book form, and immediately borrowed the first two volumes. As a kid I loved watching the Jem and the Holograms cartoons, which aired from 1985-1988 (seasons one, two, and three on DVD are available to borrow). What I remember most about Jem was her pink hair. I thought it was so pretty and believed that I would have pink hair when I grew up. While I lived through the era of using Manic Panic and even Kool Aid to dye hair wild colors, I never experimented with those means. But now I have something to talk about with my hair stylist…

Back to the comics!

Jem and the Holograms, by Kelly Thompson

jem-holograms

Jem and the Holograms, the first volume that collects books 1 through 5, establishes the Holograms’ origin story. Jerrica Benton is the manager and lead singer of the band, with her sisters Kimber the keytar player, Shana the drummer, and Aja the guitarist. The story opens with the band trying to record a music video to submit to a contest sponsored by the Misfits, but Jerrica’s stage fright impedes filming. After once again failing to perform and overhearing her bandmates’ frustrations with her, Jerrica goes home where she discovers Synergy, an Artificial Intelligence (AI) computer designed by her late father that allows Jerrica to transform into the fearless pink-haired Jem. As Jem, Jerrica is able to record the video, which takes off and threatens the Misfits, led by the volatile Pizazz, and breeds a rivalry.

I loved the art in this edition. Each woman has her own distinct style, and diverse body types are depicted. Truth be told, I prefered the Misfits’ edgier color palettes over the Holograms’.

The story was fun to read, too. A forbidden romance develops between the Holograms’ Kimber and the Misfits’ Stormer. Jerrica dates Rio, a reporter who is writing a story about the Misfits but becomes intrigued by the Holograms, in particular the mysterious Jem who is never in the same place as Jerrica.

Jem and the Holograms Vol. 2 Viral, by Kelly Thompson

jem-holograms-viral

What makes Viral, the second volume that collects books 6 through 10, different from the first volume is the pop culture references. In the opening story, the exhausted Holograms argue over what movie to watch and we see their dreams where they are characters in their favorite movies that you will recognize, with Synergy playing a key role in each dream. I personally liked the story that imagined the Holograms and the Misfits as babies, a la The Muppet Babies cartoon (another childhood favorite!) with Synergy as Nanny, who we see only from the knees down. Viral ends with several cliffhangers and I am anxious to read the next volume to see where the story goes.

If reading these doesn’t give you enough Jem, you can borrow the recent live action movie of the same name on DVD or Blu-Ray. While I didn’t love the movie, I enjoyed Juliette Lewis as the band’s villainous manager Erica and Kesha’s cameo as Pizazz. What can I say, I think Pizazz is more interesting than Jerrica/Jem. Although regarding hair color inspiration, I am not sure green hair would be as flattering as pink.

So, this is my first completed Read Harder Challenge task. Stay tuned for the next one!

Do you have any special reading goals for this year? Let me know in the comments.

-Written by Kerry Weinstein, Reference Librarian

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Dewey Decimal Challenge: Book 2: The Second Book of General Ignorance: Everything You Think You Know Is (Still) Wrong by John Lloyd and John Mitchinson (The 000s)

12 Jan

The very first thing that you should do once you have selected a nonfiction book is check the copyright date. Certain nonfiction subjects can become dated relatively quickly, especially books on medicine and health as well as space and astronomy. You wouldn’t want to borrow a book on our planetary system with a copyright date before 2006 as Pluto would still be considered a full-fledged planet! The 000s are one such area where you should be on the lookout especially concerning books about computers (004s) and general encyclopedias (030s). And speaking of the 030s, that’s just where we are headed–specifically the 031.02s.

The Second Book of General Ignorance: Everything You Think You Know Is (Still) Wrong by John Lloyd and John Mitchinson (031.02 LLO)

second-book-gen-ignorance

The Second Book of General Ignorance, written by John Lloyd and John Mitchinson, is what is referred to as a trivia book and is a sequel to a bestseller based on the British television panel game QI. Lloyd and Mitchinson are also the TV series-creator and head-researcher, respectively. The first book in the series, The Book of General Ignorance, aims to address and correct misconceptions people often have regarding common knowledge–that is to say things that we assume to be known by most people. The Second Book of General Ignorance follows suit providing answers to a multitude of questions while giving a brief explanation of why people might be making the wrong assumptions about a particular topic considered to be well-known. For example, if you had asked me last week about oranges–how I would determine whether one is ripe enough to eat–I would have revealed my total ignorance of this commonly enjoyed fruit. In fact, the ripeness of an orange can never be determined by the color of an orange’s skin because most oranges are artificially colored via ethylene gas. I’ve already shared this bit of knowledge with three people this week because it bowled me over! I will never avoid a greenish orange again.

Not only will taking a dip in the 031.02s aid you in winning trivia night, this pool of condensed knowledge will surely spark your curiosity. After learning from Lloyd and Mitchinson that the often cited spelling rule “i before e except after c” was abandoned in the UK in 2009, I had to know more about the history of the disputed old mnemonic. Something to keep in mind when reading any trivia book is that most topics are oversimplified. This is fine unless you intend to spread the word that if caught in a riptide, you should simply tread water as opposed to the conventional wisdom of swimming parallel to the shore. Then more research might be wise. For the record, I did look this up, and it is legit–studies have shown that your odds are better if you tread water.

Lloyd and Mitchinson’s book covers a lot of ground in just under three hundred pages from topics of geography to history to science. Unfortunately, there isn’t necessarily an obvious order to the book–no chapters or headings of any kind. While some questions seem to be grouped according to topic (Cleopatra questions are located near questions about Julius Caesar), most do not (sports questions next to questions about a bat’s eyesight). This is a disadvantage if your intention is to study a certain subject, but shouldn’t be a deterrent if you’re just hungry for bits of information.

I have always loved trivia books. I read and reread David Feldman’s Imponderables: The Solution to the Mysteries of Everyday Life, which taught me that there is no difference between a day that is “partly sunny” as opposed to “partly cloudy” except the time of day and perhaps the weathercaster’s outlook on life. There are so many assumptions that we make on a daily basis and so many questions to which we simply don’t know the answer (even if we deal in oranges). Trivia books can make us feel both incredibly ignorant and, after reading, finally enlightened.

-Written by Sharlene Edwards, Senior Children’s Librarian

Click here to read past posts about Sharlene’s Dewey Decimal Challenge!

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