Schools Books

As soon as I finished Forests of Silence I plunged into Lake of Tears. This book kept me going with the series until the next one.

The Shadow Lord has taken over the land of Deltora and it is up to Lief, a young boy, Barda, an ex-palace guard and Jasmine, a wild girl who they met in the Forests of Silence to find all the jewels to the magic belt of Deltora to overthrow the Shadow. They already have the topaz but now they must find the next jewel in the deadly Lake of Tears.

Filled with new friends like Manus, and absolutely teeming with villains like Thaegan the witch and two of her children whom I will not name, Grey Guards, the Shadow Lord's evil servents and the treacherous Soldeen, I will treasure this book forever.

Lief and his friends have to find seven gems to put in a belt called the belt of Deltora. This belt has special powers that is the only thing that can stop the Shadow Lord from his evil rule. I loved how Lief would stick with his friends even in the most perilest positions. I think it's great that they could do anything if they put there minds to it.

Deltora Dead or Alive?


In the fantasy novel The Lake of Tears by Emily Rodda , Lief, the son of the King, Barda, a place guard, and Jasmine, a gypsy of the Forest of Silence, are the only ones that stand in the way of Thaegon, a sorceress of the Ruby territory, and the Shadow Lord's evil rule over Deltora. Deltora is a magical land.
Over 14 years ago Lief's father, mother, and his fathers friend met and decided that if the Belt of Deltora, a mystic belt made by the first king of Deltora to protect its people, was to be kept safe it should be worn at all times by the current King. But the Shadow Lord was quick, he sent big black birds called Ak-baba to steal the seven gems of the belt and hide them all over Deltora. The kids now quest to find all 7 gems; Topaz, Ruby, Opal, Emerald, Diamond, Amethyst, and Lapis lazuli of Deltora, the kids have made it through The Forests of Silence, defeated the guardian of the Topaz gem and placed the Topaz on the belt of Deltora. There is one down and six to go. They now must quest to find the mysterious Lake of Tears. The gossip about this place races around like wild fire. Most have never returned from this journey into the lake to retrieve the next stone of the belt. Lief hopes that he and his friends will return from this trip to the lake as it had worked out at in The Forests of Silence, a previous book.
This book has a lot of interesting riddles and messages. Emily Rodda scans pictures and diagrams into the book that makes all the mystery and riddles even crazier to decode. Emily also has written many other series like Dragons of Deltora. The stories of Deltora Quest, Deltora Dragons, and Deltora Shadowlands are interrelated as past and future. I would recommend this book to readers 9 years and up and all who have a strong stomach

This was a very good book, I like everything (the characters, story, magic...) but the bad dude.

The Lake of Tears is the second to the Deltora Quest series. In this book the trio of Lief, Barda, and Jasmine are off to the Lake of Tears to get the second gem to the Belt of Deltora. The gem was the Ruby, which they had to defeat the evil Thaegan to get. In the first book of the series, Lief found out from his father, Jarred, that he was the one who was meant to save Deltora by finding the Seven Gems of the Belt of Deltora. By defeating Thaegan they shall have two of the gems and be on there way to saving their home from the evil Shadowlord.
Emily Rodda used tons of details in this new addition to her fantasy series filled with mischief and mysteries. This book was probably the best fantasy book I have ever read and I recommend it to any fantasy, dragon, and magic lovers. I recommend this book to both boys and girl who are okay with some frightening events occurring throughout the book.

This book was a double-edged sword for me. The characters and their situations were so very interesting. The writing was wonderful too. I loved so much about it but the plot left me wanting something more.

Sandy is the son of one of the richest men in the world. His parents moved to a large estate in the country before he was born and Sandy's never known much about the outside world. But then his uncles try to kill his parents but only succeed in sending them and the butler's wife into a coma.

Sandy with the help of his newfound love interest, the nurse Sunnie, has to move his parents into the asylum next door. That is when the fun really begins. As Sunnie spreads her sunshine to every patient at Walnut Manor, Sandy learns about the world through this interesting band of misfits. Here I have to repeat, the characters and the dialog were great. Each and every character was endearing in their own way. It's just that with the exception of some elements, the story itself was predictable with love conquering all in the end.

I think this book would appeal more to grownups than kids. The editorial review that compares this book to Holes is not accurate, in my opinion. This is a character-centric book like Holes but this story is more about the family and love relationships of each character than the solving of an intricate mystery with many intertwining plots.

I recommend this book to older teens and even grownups looking for a quirky story with a bit of romance. There are lots of wonderful life lessons in this one. Kids looking for a mystery (as the subtitle -" or, How I Saved My Family from Being Poisoned" almost promises) should steer clear.

This book is the best! It's a page turner. I think everybody should read this book! IT'S THE BEST!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Wow! The best book I have ever read. I absolutely loved it! Many of my friends read it and when they said how good it was I tried it and I was blown away. Amazing!

I am an almost ten year old girl and I loved this book. It was
fun and silly.

Love Among the Walnuts is an enchanting read which teaches you the importance of family, respecting differences,and how to save your comatose parents and pet chicken from being further harmed by your greedy, criminal uncles. Take all of this, spin them up and add a hint of eccentricity and you get Love Among the Walnuts. 2 Thumbs UP!!!

The artwork stands out and the book is worth the price for that alone. The story itself is also wonderful and gives a good starting place for talking about what happens to a person after s/he "dies." My daughter loves this book.

Although my 20 month old is too young to understand the story he definately relaxes from the calm that this book brings to me as we read it together. Beautiful illustrations too.

I checked this out of the library and read it when I was 4 and have loved it ever since. It's one of those "must-have" books. It's a children's book but adults can enjoy it as well. The idea of the book is very sophistocated but can be easily understood by kids due to the simple language and color artwork.

I asked friends who practices Buddhism about any books that they could recommend that I could gift to a young friend who lost a companion very unexpectedly. Although they said that the content does not strictly follow Buddhist principles they suggested it with rave reviews. I was intrigued by the delicate simple manner of the story and noticed an interesting element in the illustrations ( read it to discover for yourself!)The story seems to soften the sadness of losing a loved one, reminds the reader of how dying is a part of living and raises hope that there is life after. It also beautifully narrates how fulfilling and rich a simple life can be. The illustrations are soft and enchanting like the story and the ending is all embracing....

Gorgeous illustrations and a truly beautiful story make this book a rare treasure in Children's literature. A valuable addition to the book collection of Buddhist parented children. Explains the process of death and rebirth/reincarnation in a gentle and interesting way. Not weird at all and so suitable for children of non-Buddhist background as well as it provides an valuable insight as to how Buddhism/other belief systems explain death and the afterlife.

I bought this book for my Nicholas. I love it more than he does. What a wonderful book. You will enjoy reading it to your children.

I read these many times in French (I grew up in French Canada). My son, a native Californian, discovered them at the library in English, and now wants to own them all. We both loved these books...it's like reading about Calvin without his Hobbes. He's a funny kid.

With all due respect to Ms. Coogan, contrary to her Editorial Review published herein, there is an earlier English translation of Le Petit Nicolas; published under the title, Young Nicolas.

It was translated into American English in 1961 by Ms. Stella Rodway for Hutchinson & Company and published in 1962. I know because I received a copy of this book in 1967.

The Phaidon Press version, published in 2005, is actually a 1978 Anthea Bell translation into British English.

With all due respect to Phaidon Press and Ms. Bell, I much prefer the American English translation over the Phaidon Press' Anglicized version (which renames all the key characters, changes a key nickname, and includes British phrases like "He looks a right twit with that bunch of flowers!").

Personally, when I am reading stories about an adventurous French student, I expect to find French names and phraseology. And who could forget Monsieur Dubon, "the Potato", saying, "Look me in the eyes!"

Fortunately, the humor of Monsieur's Goscinny and Sempé transcends all these minor concerns and thus the book deserves the score given.

What a sweet and funny book! I bought this for my own Nicholas when he was about 8, and I read it to him aloud. During the chapter about Old Spud, we were both laughing so hard I couldn't continue! It is such a simple story of a little boy's everyday escapades, but I love its old fashioned charm.

Written in 1959, it almost pre-dates television (Nicholas is hoping that his father will buy a TV, but he has seen it at a friend's house). Nicholas and his friends play games that would now be politically incorrect, but back then were just good fun.

My Nicholas is approaching his 10th birthday, and he still re-reads it, and considers this his favorite book.

I have a young, mischievous son named Nicholas whose reputation is known throughout my family. My sister came across the Nicholas series in a book catalog and mentioned it to me. I checked the first book out at our local library and thoroughly enjoyed it, as did my 9-year-old daughter. Although the series was written in France in the 1960's, one can still relate to its humor today. I have bought the 3 available books, plus pre-ordered the fourth. Hopefully, my Nicholas will enjoy this series when he is a little older, too!

This was one of my son's first Seuss books, and is one of my favorites. In the classic Seuss funny, whacky style, with its catchy rhymes, it gets the reader thinking about how important imagination is. This book is a celebration to the use of imagination, and who best to celebrate it that the very imaginative Dr. Seuss??? Definitely a great buy!

While this is not quite Dr. Seuss' most inspirational book, it is certainly up there and is the type of book happily devoted to creativity. The illustrations are fun and silly, as is the text, but there is still that smidgen of proper Seussian wisdom.

Not too long, not too short, extremely entertaining as all Seuss books.
I gave 4 instead of 5 stars because I am very frugal about scary images with my kids and as I read it I remembered a couple of the pages scaring me when I was young.

This is my favorite of all the Dr. Seuss books I have seen. It is imaginative and the illustrations are really fun. My son and I read this book so many times that we had to buy a new one. When my son was an infant I would find him sitting on the floor looking at this book on his own and he would be mesmerized for several minutes while turning the pages.

Oh, the Thinks You Can Think! Is a charming book by the immortal Dr. Seuss who wrote many fine children's books in his time. Oh, the Thinks You Can Think! is no exception. This book encourages children to imagine and eventually explore the world without fear.

The book has excellent illustrations that amuse children--and adults; and the rhyming text always impresses me.

The book starts by encouraging children to use their imaginations to think up what other animals and/or places in the world may be like. This alone can stimulate a lot of conversation between you and your child about other places in the real world and what life is like there. This will go a long way toward teaching younger children about the world out there that one day they will be exploring for real. In addition, the book also has Dr. Seuss using his own imagination to give examples to children as to how to use their imaginations; we get words about foreign things and sounds like "guff" and "schlopp." This does a marvelous job of teaching children to always be optimistic.

The book has even more value. Younger children will profit from learning words critical to their growing vocabularies including yellow, blue, red, pink, black, white, night, day, left and right--and more! Excellent.

The book cover withstands some throwing around just in case your child accidentally mistreats it; and, as always, the paper quality of these books by Dr. Seuss is very good.

I highly recommend this fine children's book. It teaches much to both very young children and older children as well. Get this and enjoy it with your growing child!

Torie and her sis, Sara have to go visit their grandparents for the whole summer. Niether of them are jumpping for joy. They go and meet two cosins. One whom they haven't seen for five years. Elija is tall, quiet, and shy. They meet Reenie for the first time. He is a highschool drop-out, mean, and a JD (Juvinile Deliquent) Torie befriends these two boys, yet they shut Sara out because she is stuck up, snoby, rude, and a sissie. The four kids soon discover an old secret in an old house. Torie, Elija, and Reenie come closer together suffering though fights, bother verbal and physical, yet these very fights make these cousins as close as PB&J. A tragic accident causes them to almost loose Sara. This part is sad because they had just yelled at her. She pulls though. Then the secret to the old house is revieled. In the end, someone dies. I won't tell you who, you'll just have to read it for yourself, but personally, he was my favorite character. This book shows how family relationships can effect eveyone, including a dead boy who haunts the house nextdoor. This book should be made into a movie. I can just picture the characters and how they would look and act. I bought this book out of desperation today. I went to the 75% off Bookstore and got it just because I would have to do a report on a book and just gravved Rimwalkers. I finished it about ten minutes ago and cried at the end. If you love romance, mystery, science fiction, family reationships, and death as well as life, THIS IS THE BOOK FOR YOU!!! I loved it and I highly recomend that you read it. It is very fast-pace and can easily be read in a day or two. Next time you are at the library, pick up RIMWALKERS BY VICKY GROVE. I KNOW THAT YOU'LL LIKE IT. I laughed, I cried, and I was a little scared. BELIEVE ME, YOU'LL LOVE EVERY FAST PACED PAGE OF RIMWALKERS

The book Rimwalkers by Vicki Grove is about two boys and a girl finding out who they are over the summer, which has its ups and downs, its goods its bads, they bond and figure out a mystery that has been haunting the farm for years.
I would recommend this book to fifth or sixth graders. It has just what kids this age are looking for: adventure, mystery, friendship, and danger. I am a sixth grader and I really enjoyed Rimwalkers. It has two hundred and twenty-three pages. It teaches an important lesson to never judge somebody by the way they act or the way they dress. One should take risks, and not always stand on the sidelines, but jump in the game.
The book Rimwalkers by Vicki Grove is an all around good book. Even though it might be aimed more for fifth or sixth graders, readers of any age would probobly enjoy it. So go ahead, get your copy of Rimwalkers, I promise you will enjoy it.

Rimwalkers was an awesome book. I would give it five stars.
Tory was older than Sara, her younger sister, yet she was always walking one step behind her. Until one summer vacation at her grandparents' farm and unexpected cousin named Rennie showed up. He was a daredevil and he helped Tory and Elijah, another cousin just as shy and quiet as Tory, to be more outspoken and to try new things. Tory, Elijah, and Rennie became really good friends, but they always left out the snobby little sister, Sara. Then on the last day of their summer vacation at their grandparents' farm tragedy struck and the tables turned.

I thought that it was a touching story made with realistic characters. The details were amazingly beautiful. Every thing about it was either dramatic or excitingly *daredevilish. I would definitly let a lot of my friends read this. I think most of them would really enjoy it. My favorite part was when Tory and Sara was on the bus and Tory was day dreaming about her and Elijah's past times together.

I thought that it was a touching story made with realistic characters. The details were amazingly beautiful. Every thing about it was either dramatic or excitingly *daredevilish. I would definitly let a lot of my friends read this. I think most of them would really enjoy it. My favorite part was when Tory and Sara was on the bus and Tory was day dreaming about her and Elijah's past times together.

Some people may shy away from this book because they think its about basketball. Wrong -- it's about life, about a person who happens to play basketball.

I think every girl should read this book, because it deals with Cooper's issues with self-esteem and confidence, overcoming poverty, and her pursuit of excellence. I also think every mother should read it, because the book shows how effective a role model Cooper's mother was to her. Maybe mothers and daughters should read this book together, and have discussions about it.

This is not an overtly Christian book, but Cooper is a Christian and does not hide her faith. It is not really an evangelistic book, though one can say it is pre-evangelistic.

This autobiography is one of the best, if not the best, that I've read. It's amazing how Cynthia Cooper writes her own story to motivate and make readers have more confidence. She's a real example of a true athlete hero, someone that can be a role model to all. Thanks to her and her success in the WNBA, she's given Women's Basketball a new meaning. Her determination and motivation to become successful is admirable. This book is really an inspiration to those who lack self-esteem and self-confidence. I enjoyed reading this book and I would recommend it to anyone because is really interesting and inspirational. I'm proud of Cynthia Cooper because she's a real good representative of Women's basketball and a great example of determination and success. She also proved that with God's help, anything is possible.

Cynthia Cooper could be a role model for anyone. She knows how to play the game of life as well as basketball: when to hold, when to fold, and a whole lot more.
What impressed me most? Signed to play in Italy, Cynthia didn't hang around being homesick. She took the opportunity to learn and grow.
My favorite scenes:

(1) New to Italy, she'd never even heard of famous cathedrals that someone asked her about. Later, she could have discussed the architectural history and features -- in Italian.

(2) She asked Ford to give her a marketing internship -- and she felt right at home with the men. I use this example a lot when I talk to parents who are concerned that their daughters are more interested in sports than school.

(3) She takes us behind the scenes of the championship Comets.

Hard to put down, well-written, honest -- the perfect gift for any WNBA fan or any young woman looking to her future, in or out of basketball.

Cooper's book has made me relieze that nothing can turninto something. Also Cooper provides a positive role model for anyonewho wants to better themselves and improve their way of life. This is a book that can be enjoyed by all. There was problems growing up, college, overseas (work) love, and death of loved ones. This tells the reader that everyone faces problems at many different stages of life. Also how they could be overcome with the correct outlook. END

This book is about the story and life of a great know person and athletic. It has its good times and bad times. It tells you what happened in her life till the time she published the book. It tells you from her first time she touched a basketball until she became the leauges MVP. If you want to read a great story about a player and her good times and bad times this is the book you should read. It is for sure the best book I've read about a great person and a life she lived. You should get this book no doubt.

The book, Six-Dinner Sid (Aladdin Paperbacks, purchased in 2008) included an advertisement for Cheerios printed on the inside back cover of the book. So every time you read the last page of the book, your child will see an advertisement from a cereal company. No, thank you. We prefer not to have advertisements in our children's literature.

Sid is a favorite at our house! Even when my daughter is in a foul mood, by the end of Sid we're all laughing again. The pictures are extraordinarily expressive and the story is endearing. We've even taken to call one of our cats who likes to overeat Sid!

My kids and I both love this book. The art is pretty without being distracting. Sid is drawn very expressively, and as a real character, without being a talking animal. The message of sharing, openess, and flexibility are important and come in handy in our lives.

This is a delightful story of a friendly cat! My students like to listen to this book over and over again!

Sid likes six different kinds of dinners, being scratched six different ways, and he sleeps in six different beds. He's just that way!

And... when everyone talks to each other... everyone knows, so no one minds.

An awesome polyamory fable, great for kids and adults.

The Skye in June

"The Skye in June" is a riveting, page turner. I wept. I laughed. I felt chagrined. I felt uplifted. June Ahern has an the ability to see inside her characters to the bone and flesh them out to make them as real as the folks down the block.
I'll miss knowing how these girls live the rest of their lives. I hope she continues their story-line in another book (or two!).

I loved this book!!! Aside from the vivid descriptions of San Francisco in the 50's and 60's, it tells a very heartfelt story of an immigrant family as they go through their trials and tribulations adjusting to life in a new country.

'The Skye in June' was written beautifully and revealed one girl's perseverance through a time of rejection and self doubt.

While the book told a story of a girl 'blessed' with psychic powers, it
heartbreakingly shows how some (including her own father) would
see this has a curse and what means they would go to rid June of
her 'gift'. This journey brought you to the depths of her despair and redemption.

I'm hoping there is a sequel to `The Skye in June'.

When a good friend showed me this book and recommended it to me, I was unsure if it was the kind of story I'd like. First of all, I thought from the cover that it was a book for a younger reader (young adult.) Now after reading it, it could be but delightfully I learned it's also a story for young adults upward. The Skye in June (the spelling Skye has to do with the mystery) captured my interest quickly. I love the way Ahern uses the Scottish terms and understand that she's originally from Scotland. Och, aye and lassie are easy to know but then she uses bauckle and nyfat. In one part she says, "Och wheest, all of you. My heids a loopin." How can I not use that? Fortunately she was reading at a bookstore in my area and listening to her speak these words brought forth from the group a mutual request to make a CD of the story - by her. Her use of the Scottish language gives the story vivid colorful realism and it doesn't stop there. The dialog
between the sisters (I have sisters, I know) is completely believable. I couldn't put this book down and found myself staying in bed in the morning reading it, taking it with me on the bus --- the family's journey away from Scotland led to an area in San Francisco I know well, The Castro. I hadn't thought of how, at one time, it's name was Eureka Valley. Although I missed the 60's in San Francisco Ahern's descriptive about her female characters, Catholic schoolgirls no doubt, coming of age during the early days of Haight Ashbury was a reminder of my own complexities of coming of age because of the 1960's revolution. I truly enjoyed being entertained while being educated about Scotland; the religious fight between Catholics and Protestants in Glasgow, which I had no idea existed and learning about the impact on Glasgow town during WWll, were just two examples of what I learned within the story line. The Skye in June is a
wonderful book of historical fiction and should be on the "must read" list for we women, young, old and older.
June's novel, " The Skye in June" is a true pleasure to read ~

June Ahern's tale of San Francisco in the 50's kept me engaged throughout. I don't often read fiction of this type, but since I know (and love) the author's Mother, I was drawn to it. Having read the book and enjoyed every page, it's the sort of book I'd have bought even if I didn't know the family! Ms Ahern made her main character's journey into the spiritual side of her young life compelling and fascinating. I found the entire story believable and enjoyable.

Meeting the McDonald family from Glasgow brought forth a smile to my heart. Althought the vocabulary of The Skye in June was unfamiliar I soon found a knowing that all immigrant families to America share. The deeper question is why for generations did we minimize our intuative power and why did June suffer needlessly unprotected by her knowing Mother? I loved the sister's personalities and the differences that make us all unique and yet a family. A charming easy read that will come to life easily for you thanks to MS Ahern's careful style.

When someone tries to blow up Jack Knight, and in the process gets some of his family, he will slowly come to the realisation that he has some growing up to do.

He kicks against this for some time, but his father, a couple of local cops, Opal City herself, and the need to do something about The Shade and The Mist start to move him in the right direction.

Starman, written by James Robinson,with art by Tony Harris, Peter Snejbjerg and others, details the exploits of Jack Knight, the son of the aging 1940's Starman, as he struggles with the family business, his personal business and Knight's Past, his, um, business business. It's got science, mystery, romance, cowboys, pirates, and some of the most pure heroism that was presented in the grim and shallow world of 1990's comics. This is one of those great series, Sandman-style, which is loved by comic and non-comic readers alike. This is where I first saw the pencils of Ex Machina artist Tony Harris. I had such a man crush on this creative team, when I met them at a convention in 1996 I giggled Japanese schoolgirl style and averted my eyes. I palpitate at the thought! James Robinson complimented me on my shirt, which I had cleaned especially for the occasion. This is the comic that made me love DC comics, made me embrace my inner collector, and kept me returning to the comic store.

I have to admit I like the new Starman alot. But I donthtink everyone would.

Great stories, great art, coloring...I have all the 7-8 volumes in the tpb format. The character is written very well. The Sandman stories are especially good, as well as JSA related and even the filler stories with Starman's brother, and Opal City's historical characters. Bank robbers, pirates, aliens, poets, fantasy, sci fi, tattoos, etc...what more could one want?! Also the substitute/guest artists are as good as the regular artist.

However I am a little dissappointed that DC never mentions any ratings for their books similar to Marvel. The new Starman Series by James Robinson is NOT FOR KIDS. Although not overly gratuitous visually, there are bedroom scenes, with semi-nudity(no full frontal), drug use(only one issue), as well as homosexual characters(which is not overly emphasized or distracting to the comic. only noticed this rare&few times. no sex, just words of "love forever")but it may offend some people, and confuse or harm children's moral upbringing. As an adult, they dont get in the way of the main characters virtuous and heroic qualities but they may cause some people who are offended by that kind of thing to miss the overall well-crafted story plots. For others it may cause them to imitate those scenes. I dont like them in a comic book. Personally the parts of the story that show those scenes really dont add that to the plots very much. But I dont believe the writer was trying to shock anyone, just make society more comfortable with this type of relatonship. I would have rather those ideas/characters remained out of the books, or "faded to black" (as one homosexual scene was). I still give the books the highest marks for overall artisitic presentation.

Starman has since departed from the superheroe scene(i think?) but this run of stories has many many great moments in the modern super hero context. Just be careful if you are scensitive to the "adult" situations. They show this Starman superhero and related friends, associates, as very human persons, equiped with fallen human nature, and have to go through their own personal, yet in some cases, universal, spiritual and vocational superhero trials and tribulations. These trials are moral & emotional, that many people can relate to on a down-to-earth level. I tend to think of these stories as kind of modern greek mythological hero/fable stuff anyway. But just because greek stories have all the sex and stuff doesnt mean I like to read, or see, in contemporary novels. I pretty much find it insteresting how Robison included the adult situations, but ignore it overall. However, there is more to emotional maturity then sexual relationships, or positions. At least Robinson provides enough character depth & developement to overshadow these unnecessary plot developments. That is where his writing talent really impresses in dealing not with physical strength, but virtuous strength, in terms of acquiring courage, and in some cases, emotional & spiritual growth. Interpersonal relationships between family and friends also play a strong part in the stories as well.

But if you are senstitive to the adult themes maybe the original Starman Archives is your style. There are moments where Harris's & Robinson's modern Starman stories really are the best I have ever read. All though there is alot of art deco, art nouveau, and film noir symbolism throughout their work that allows their style to be respectful of the past. Some of Harris's visual treats could make terrific posters. The inker is especially sensitive to his style. The modern Starman handles the adult themes well in many instances, but they couldve been done even better. If you look at film noir, alot happened that you didnt need to see to help create drama. I am afraid Robinson couldve been more graphic, but he also couldve been less so. For instance issues about adultery(not shown in this particular issue) had wonderful, morally and spiritually uplifting conclusions, with effects that run throughout the Starman series, but he didnot have to show the adulterous act to make us know it happened. For me the resolution was marvelously handled, that it overshadowed what was "shown", however many people might have missed the great ending because of being "shown" too much. "One does not have to see the sin, to learn from it." However, I must restate, Robinson didnt necessarily cross the line of decency, but got right up close to it...even dance over it...to close for me, but still accomplished a great piece of story telling.

No offense meant by my comments, just some thoughtfulness that I think DC should include in its packaging, or on its website. Right now one would think Starman is just like any other comic for kids, when SOME issues, NOT ALL, are more like R rated, G, or even PG.

I hope DC puts out the remaing issues. I believe about 20 more need to be released in tpb.

Yankstar

James Robinson shows his brilliance in crafting vivdly fleshed out characters in his highly entertaining revision of the superhero genre in the 'Starman,' series. This first volume opens up in typical anti-hero fashion with a mortal character reluctantly thrust into the role of superhero and his subsequent struggle to assume such a larger then life identity. While the story and plotting in vol. 1 is decent and perfectly serviceable, the strength of this series is ultimately found in the wonderful character development that takes shape through dozens of chapters. Jack Knight, the hero of this tale, comes across as an everyman with a fascination for kitsch collectibles and pop culture while constantly struggling to find comfort from his transformation to super-being. Good heady stuff without taking itself too seriously.

Almost everyone in comics got the wrong message from "Watchmen" and "The Dark Knight Returns." Rather than learning that superhero comics could be about more than adolescent fantasies they simply embraced the violence of those books and created comics that catered to a darker set of adolescent fantasies than the old Superman or Spiderman comics did. Comics didn't grow up; they just went from being geeks to juvenile delinquents.
I say almost everyone because there are a few notable exceptions where people have written superhero comics for grown ups, or to use Neil Gaiman's words comics that are "about something" (about something other than muscles, spandex, and maiming and killing "evil doers" that is). Kurt Busiek of course, and strangely enough Alan Moore himself are the examples everyone knows about. Unfortunately, James Robinson's work often falls between the cracks, and that is a shame, because "Starman" is a comic that is truly about something.

Aptly enough a good bit of what the comic is about is growing up. Early in the series Knight mocks things like family, duty, and honor, but Jack coming to embrace those things as well as responsibility is the heart of the whole series. Spiderman and Superman are great metaphors for adolescence, "Starman" is a story about coming out of a prolonged adolescence. Jack Knight isn't an obsessed Rorschach or Batman driven by internal demons in a near psychotic quest for vengeance. Rather, he's a self-centered hipster who gets in the superhero racket out of duty, family oligations, and loyalty to his beloved home town.
But really I make it sound all stodgy and positively 19th century Prussian, and it isn't. As well as being about something the series is a lot of fun. Robinson clearly loves all those old guys in tights and all the baggage that goes with them, but in his hands it really isn't baggage. You get explosions, evil plots, crime waves, superhero team ups, and everything you expect in comics, but you get meaning too. On top of that Robinson has a knack for creating characters and enough attention to detail to bring them to life. The O'Dares could have degenerated to Irish-cop stereotypes, the Shade a mere metropolitan killer, or Knight a hipster with superpowers, but none of them did. They all seem like living breathing people, and that's not something you can say for characters on a good many acclaimed television shows.
"Starman" was one of the best comics of the 90's and the best place to start is at the beginning.